In Refund Rumble, ethics clash with profits as Executives and Designers grapple with their roles in shaping customer experiences. Step into customers' shoes and navigate the challenges they face due to dark patterns.
Through interactive gameplay, these company decision-makers are educated about the impact of their choices on the e-commerce landscape.
It's time to rethink priorities and embrace accountability.
Refund Rumble
Roles: Research, Interviewing, Ideation, Wireframes, Prototyping
A Game of E-Commerce Challenges
Team: Lucia Pineda, Christie Lee, Apeksha Jain
The Design Process
UNDERSTAND
We aimed to broaden our knowledge of the e-commerce landscape due to its frequent use in our lives and the frustrations it can bring. In our exploration, we came across the concept of dark patterns within e-commerce. These tactics tend to affect individuals less experienced with digital technology, digital novices, who bear the brunt of their impact.
Dark Patterns
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Manipulates users into undesired actions, often benefiting the company.
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User clarity compromised, leading to unintended actions (e.g., accidental purchases).
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Frequent dark patterns breed distrust in online services, hindering digital engagement.
The Digital Novice
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Someone with minimal experience using digital technologies like computers and smartphones.
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They lack proficiency in navigating digital tools and tasks, requiring guidance to enhance their digital literacy.
12% of boomers reported that it was so difficult to return a product online that they ended up keeping it.
Source​
Stakeholder Map
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To better understand the decision-making process behind the design of products and services.
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This map visualizes the different roles involved, underscoring the significant influence of designers and executives.
RESEARCH
To gain further insight into this problem space, we conducted interviews with both digital novices and decision-makers (designers and executives). These interviews also provided us with a better understanding of the emotions that customers may experience when making a purchase on an e-commerce platform.
Interview Insights
Waveline of Emotions
This waveline highlights the different emotions customers go through when they shop online. Swipe right to see what happens when things don't go well.
DEFINE
We asked ourselves:
"What if we created something that could evoke empathy in these decision-makers towards digital novices when designing their services or products?"
Let's create a game that evokes the emotions customers experience while navigating these dark patterns.
We believe that gamifying an experience is a fun way to get our target audience engaged. Here, we decided to target the decision-makers who wield the most influence over the end product or service – namely, designers and executives.
DESIGN
We wanted to mimic the actual emotions users go through when completing a task on an e-commerce site (as seen above).
The following waveline represents what we envision the game that we’ve designed to feel like.
(And if we’re being completely honest, the “accomplishment” part might not even happen at all, and that reflects what customers really go through.)
Wireframes
We based the structure of our wireframes on popular e-commerce websites (Net-a-Porter and Sephora to name a few).
To add an element of fun to the game, we used cartoon-like characters instead of real people.
Anxiety-inducing colors were used on purpose (red and orange) to heighten the stress one feels when navigating unfamiliar digital spaces.
FINAL GAME
We split the game into three distinct levels, where each level requires the user to accomplish a straightforward task on the e-commerce website (ex. Locate the return policy for your jeans that are missing a button).
However, we've embedded numerous dark patterns and challenging obstacles along the way, testing their ability to navigate through them and successfully complete the tasks.
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Here are some of these features:
A continuously visible countdown timer to exert pressure on the player
Frequent pop-ups with a small exit button that becomes visible after a short delay to challenge the player's patience
A chatbot that consistently delivers unhelpful answers to questions, serving as a time-wasting or frustrating user experience
Unfamiliar language and text-heavy sections to hinder players in their search for specific information
OUTCOMES
We tested a functional prototype of the game in front of an audience, including an experienced strategic designer. She experienced the same frustration and emotional journey as digital novices (just like the rest of the audience).
We discovered that this game doesn't only evoke empathy in decision-makers for digital novices but for anyone in general. During testing, even tech-savvy individuals experienced frustration similar to digital novices.