Mapping the Scholarship of Dark Pattern Regulation: A Systematic Review of Concepts, Regulatory Paradigms, and Solutions from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

TL;DR

This systematic review analyzes interdisciplinary scholarship on dark pattern regulation, highlighting legal and technical challenges, current inadequacies, and promising solutions for more effective governance of manipulative online design practices.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of legal and HCI perspectives on dark pattern regulation, identifying key problems, critiques of current laws, and proposing innovative regulatory solutions.

Findings

Legal frameworks are inadequate in addressing dark patterns.

Technical and accountability solutions show promise for regulation.

Legal pluralism could transform dark pattern governance.

Abstract

Dark patterns, design tricks used on online interfaces to manipulate users decision-making process, have raised public concerns. However, research on regulation of dark pattern remains underdeveloped and scattered, particularly regarding scholars views on the concept, regulatory paradigms, and solutions. Following PRISMA guidelines, this paper systematically reviews the formats and content of regulatory discussions on dark patterns from the interdisciplinary scholarship of Law and Human-Computer Interaction. A total of 65 studies were analysed through content and thematic analysis. This study synthesises the unique trends and characteristics of legal scholarship on dark patterns, identifying five root problems and triple layered harms. It critiques current regulations in terms of legal theories and sectoral legislations, highlighting their inadequacies in addressing dark patterns. The paper also critically examines existing proposed solutions, including paradigmatic shifts in legal doctrines, refinements to existing frameworks, technical design-embedded solutions, and accountability measures for design practices. This research critically discusses the current barriers to effective dark pattern regulations and explores promising regulatory solutions. The difficulty in identifying the normative nature of various forms of dark patterns, in identifying evident and actionable harm, and the expanding scope of dark patterns connotation inherently hinders effective regulation. However, technical design-embedded solutions, accountability frameworks, and practical design guidelines offer potential routes for more proactive regulation, while legal pluralism stands as a promising macro-level change in regulatory paradigms for dark pattern regulation.