Dark Patterns in Action

EDIT 3/14/24 7:20 PM: I claimed that it wasn't possible to buy an A&M cap and gown from anywhere besides Herff Jones but this claim turned out to be inaccurate. I was able to buy one from TXAG Store. This is something that isn't made apparent by A&M, as seen in my customer journey.

Spring break. So much to do. I have to work on the budget sheet for my 447 class, write some blog posts that have been in my backlog, find an apartment, find a new bank, and order a cap and gown for graduation. Cap and gown is easy. I am required to order them through the Herff Jones website. (Eww) Enter my school and… $205???? I knew it wouldn’t be cheap but really? Do I have to buy these envelopes and stole? No, but Herff Jones wants me to think I do.

Dark patterns are when screen designers purposefully create UI that tricks a user into doing something they don’t mean to. Have you ever seen a button on a webpage that was actually an ad in disguise? How about a site that asks if it can use third-party cookies but hides the no option in a menu that’s difficult to get to? Or maybe something more subtle. Like buying a cap and gown and having a hard time finding how to buy just the cap and gown.

I knew I wanted to write about dark patterns, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to write. That was until I tried purchasing my cap and gown for graduation and I was disgusted by what I saw. L/et me walk through my customer journey.  

After looking up “tamu cap and gown” I found myself in the graduation section of Aggie One Stop. From there I clicked online order and was redirected to the Herff Jones website. Herff Jones also sold the caps and gowns to my high school. A sales rep visited the school trying to convince a bunch of kids from the valley to spend extra money to buy graduation packages and rings. That experience left a bad taste in my mouth, so I went back to the site and asked the Miss Rev chatbot if there were any alternatives. It just gave me a link to the Herff Jones site. The information on the Aggie One Stop site says that I should be able to purchase it through Barnes & Noble at Texas A&M but that appears to be wrong. Either way, Herff Jones would most likely get my money no matter where I purchase from, so it doesn’t really matter. 

After selecting my school on the website I was asked to pick my school, campus, or organization. This is where things start to get gross. My options are cap and gown with optional ivory announcement, cap and gown with optional Texas Aggies Announcement, or School of Medicine. When I select School of Medicine, I then have to choose which announcement I want so all options include the "optional" announcements. When I select the other two options, I pick whether I’m a bachelor's or master's student.

Once I fill out all the required fields, I get to click the bright red “SHOP” button.

On the screen below, where do your eyes jump to? Where would you think to click next.

Probably the big red button. This is not a coincidence. This took me to the graduation packages section of the site where I could see that I could get the "best value" if I spent $400. Where is the package that doesn’t cost me a month’s worth of groceries? That would be under “Cap & Gown” which is the fourth option on the menu that is a lot more subtle than the big red buttons I’ve been clicking on.

Why was the cap and gown option not on the first page? Because the margins for paper are a lot better than the margins on a cap and gown. The A&M stole and cap and gown cost about $124 when purchased separately. The cheapest graduation package is $82 more expensive than that and all it includes besides the stole and cap and gown are 25 announcements and envelope seals. $82 for 25 pieces of paper with stickers! $82 is the price of the cap and gown for crying out loud!!!

Heads up, if you can't tell already, the rest of this post is just me venting. :)

While I am sure that some people would happily order these packages, I’m positive there are a lot of people who ordered them without realizing they didn't have to purchase a package. The people who gave up and didn’t notice the “Cap & Gown” tab. To be fair, 20 years from now, I’m sure those customers are going to look back fondly on the envelopes that changed their lives. They will probably thank Herff Jones for coercing them to buy that precious paper.

This type of design is morally wrong and I hate that A&M partners with this company. What kind of death grip does Herff Jones have on the cap and gown industry that allows them to get away with this? Are there literally no other options? Does this kind of obvious abuse of dark patterns embody loyalty, integrity, excellence, leadership, selfless service, and respect?

I know that this type of design is common on many e-commerce sites and Herff Jones isn’t some kind of evil mastermind. They are one entity among many that act scummy with the intent to take advantage of people. The same way funeral parlors jack up the prices of caskets. I understand these companies need to make money, but it can/should be done by providing a valuable service. You don’t have to trick people into purchasing something they want. What needs to happen to stop this kind of practice?