Previous investigations have primarily concentrated on recognizing a variety of deceptive tactics known as dark patterns. As a result, this study aims to identify and rank the categories and practices of dark patterns.
A comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the dark patterns. To prioritize these categories and practices, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process methodology was used.
By conducting a comprehensive literature review, six categories of dark patterns and 22 specific practices associated with them were identified. The findings of this research reveal that among the six dark pattern categories identified, sneaking emerged as the most deceptive practice.
This study has focused on identifying dark pattern practices as existing studies lack consensus and limited studies have attempted to prioritize these dark pattern practices. Moreover, this study intends to raise user awareness regarding these deceptive unethical tactics, stimulate further research in this area and will assist practitioners in managing user experiences while considering the presence of dark patterns.
