I have a feeling that this HN submission is rather some test run which dark patterns work well on technically affine users. :-)
Having the knowledge which dark patterns even work well for technically affine users while still being "socially acceptable" can be worth a lot of money to specific companies.
renato_shira 2 hours ago [-]
as someone who builds mobile games, the execution here is great. but what makes dark patterns actually effective isn't really the visual tricks, it's the context they exploit: time pressure, social pressure, and cognitive load.
you're standing at a checkout with someone watching, a line forming behind you, and the default tip is pre-selected at 25%. the "trick" isn't the UI, it's that calculating a custom amount requires more effort than just tapping accept.
same principle applies in mobile game monetization. the IAP prompt doesn't convert because the button is cleverly placed, it converts because you just failed a level, you're emotionally invested, and the "fix" is one tap away. the real pattern is always: create urgency, minimize friction for the desired action, maximize friction for the alternative.
anonymous908213 20 minutes ago [-]
Bot account. Last active with two posts in 2017, then started spamming today with the usual HN spambot formula. As usual, doing the weird thing that only the HN spambots do where it's almost always exactly three paragraphs of 1-2 sentences each. Not sure why they prompt for that formula but it makes it very easy to spot out. For me, I guess. This is voted to the top and the bot has over 50 karma so apparently most people are unable to detect LLM spam even when they make it as obvious as they possibly can.
charles_f 7 minutes ago [-]
As a master in commenting I would argue that this is quite smart. Indeed this might be a bot.
Or maybe it's not, who knows? It's sometimes hard to tell with comments.
It's just the times we live in, uncertainty is a given, most of the time we don't know. I guess we'll have to make do.
ChadNauseam 11 minutes ago [-]
I just wish they would use bigger models. These ones always write stuff that makes no sense. Like it says "the same principle applies to mobile games" then describes a different principle
Rebelgecko 2 minutes ago [-]
There's some bots on HN who write much more coherently and get a decent # of upvotes. I was only able to catch one because the comment started with something along the lines of "Here's a smart response for a technical audience about _____"
Bjartr 9 minutes ago [-]
Might be because while it's not high quality, it is ultimately a constructive comment. So this might be a case of https://xkcd.com/810/
dunham 45 minutes ago [-]
I've got a local cafe that pre-selects a $3 tip on a $5 purchase.
Graziano_M 27 minutes ago [-]
I try to 'punish' for these and tip less than I would normally.
Wowfunhappy 25 minutes ago [-]
> it's that calculating a custom amount requires more effort than just tapping accept.
0% is easy to calculate.
buzzerbetrayed 19 minutes ago [-]
Exactly this. Why are you tipping if you’re standing up?
O5vYtytb 27 minutes ago [-]
Buy me a coffee? Jokes on you I just practiced avoiding this.
zippyman55 2 hours ago [-]
Nice! I’ve started only tipping on fridays for coffee, etc.
I’m a great tipper at restaurants
But being hit up for a $5 tip for a $4 drink is way wrong.
I’d tip you, but today is Thursday!
12 minutes ago [-]
kstrauser 2 hours ago [-]
I tip great at sit-down restaurants. I don't tip at fast food places, or carry-outs where they don't actually provide and service, or at the oil change place.
Summary: if I didn't tip in a situation 10 years ago, I'm not going to start now.
kulahan 55 minutes ago [-]
I tip my barista and budtender a dollar every visit, personally. I love those people though. Restaurants get 20% unless they fuck up, then it's 15%, unless it was absolutely egregious.
That's it. I cut my own hair.
kstrauser 26 minutes ago [-]
My barber earns his fat tip taming my unruly cowlicks. Barista and bartender? Definitely. Cashier at a convenience store? Oh hell no.
Mr-Frog 1 hours ago [-]
My current strategy for how much total I'll pay for a coffee is FlOOR(price+.50) + 1, which keeps the bill nice and clean and kicks some goodwill towards someone who makes less than 1/5th the average earnings of my coworkers.
SoftTalker 1 hours ago [-]
I make my own coffee. It's not hard.
1 hours ago [-]
Liftyee 50 minutes ago [-]
Actually doesn't make for a bad reaction time and processing game since you need to think fast and avoid distractions.
Mobile offers a speed boost for taps but heavy nerf to text entry tasks.
tedchs 21 minutes ago [-]
The "buy me a coffee" button at the end is :chefskiss:
amarant 46 minutes ago [-]
Made me want to sing that classic song from the animated movie "sausage party"
This was cool, but I got to one where it would load after every button you click. That's fine, but then I "lost" because it simply wouldn't load a winnable option in time it seems. Maybe I was moving too fast and missed the real button, but I still didn't tip in the end, so eh.
kstrauser 2 hours ago [-]
I hate every bit of this. Well done!
Rendered at 03:20:53 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
Having the knowledge which dark patterns even work well for technically affine users while still being "socially acceptable" can be worth a lot of money to specific companies.
you're standing at a checkout with someone watching, a line forming behind you, and the default tip is pre-selected at 25%. the "trick" isn't the UI, it's that calculating a custom amount requires more effort than just tapping accept.
same principle applies in mobile game monetization. the IAP prompt doesn't convert because the button is cleverly placed, it converts because you just failed a level, you're emotionally invested, and the "fix" is one tap away. the real pattern is always: create urgency, minimize friction for the desired action, maximize friction for the alternative.
Or maybe it's not, who knows? It's sometimes hard to tell with comments.
It's just the times we live in, uncertainty is a given, most of the time we don't know. I guess we'll have to make do.
0% is easy to calculate.
Summary: if I didn't tip in a situation 10 years ago, I'm not going to start now.
That's it. I cut my own hair.
Mobile offers a speed boost for taps but heavy nerf to text entry tasks.
"Just the tip"