Design Ethics vs. Dark Patterns

Hi 👋, I’m Pasha Kontur, Head of Product Design at Storyby with 10 years of experience building and scaling digital products. I work at the intersection of design, growth, and data — and I’ve seen first-hand how “small UX decisions” can turn into big business outcomes (good or toxic).

Selling online is no longer “a storefront + a checkout.” It’s an attention war powered by ad auctions, rising CAC, endless experimentation — and AI that can generate funnels faster than teams can review them. In this environment, it’s tempting to push conversion with dark patterns. The problem: what boosts CR today can quietly destroy net revenue tomorrow through refunds, chargebacks, support load, platform risk, and loss of trust.

⭐️ In this article, you’ll learn:

• What dark patterns really are (controlled ambiguity + psychological pressure — not “smart marketing”)
• The 8 most common dark patterns used in paywalls, pricing, and subscriptions
• The business motivation behind each pattern — and the hidden cost in metrics
• Which Nielsen heuristics each pattern breaks (and why that matters)
• A practical “how not to get trapped” checklist for users
• Clear, actionable ethical replacements that still convert
• Why AI won’t fix this for you — and what responsibility stays on product teams

You’ll see examples inspired by real-world flows from subscription apps, AI tools, checkout funnels, and digital services — plus a straightforward framework to audit your own product in minutes.

Meet me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pasha-kontur-613088167/Design works:https://dribbble.com/konturpasha/shots

Don’t forget to rate it — your feedback really helps 🙏

❤️ This mini-course is shared for free, but if it brings value, you can support my work at any amount. Thank you!