Deceived by Immersion: A Systematic Analysis of Deceptive Design in Extended Reality

Abstract

The well-established deceptive design literature has focused on conventional user interfaces. With the rise of extended reality (XR), understanding deceptive design's unique manifestations in this immersive domain is crucial. However, existing research lacks a full, cross-disciplinary analysis that analyzes how XR technologies enable new forms of deceptive design. Our study reviews the literature on deceptive design in XR environments. We use thematic synthesis to identify key themes. We found that XR's immersive capabilities and extensive data collection enable subtle and powerful manipulation strategies. We identified eight themes outlining these strategies and discussed existing countermeasures. Our findings show the unique risks of deceptive design in XR, highlighting implications for researchers, designers, and policymakers. We propose future research directions that explore unintentional deceptive design, data-driven manipulation solutions, user education, and the link between ethical design and policy regulations.

25 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables

References in corpus (5)

• Showing Academic Performance Predictions during Term Planning: Effects on Students' Decisions, Behaviors, and Preferences
• I am Definitely Manipulated, Even When I am Aware of it. It s Ridiculous! -- Dark Patterns from the End-User Perspective
• About Engaging and Governing Strategies: A Thematic Analysis of Dark Patterns in Social Networking Services
• Defending Against the Dark Arts: Recognising Dark Patterns in Social Media
• Privacy in Immersive Extended Reality: Exploring User Perceptions, Concerns, and Coping Strategies

Cited by in corpus (7)

• From Motivating to Manipulative: The Use of Deceptive Design in a Game's Free-to-Play Transition
• Who is Responsible When AI Fails? Mapping Causes, Entities, and Consequences of AI Privacy and Ethical Incidents
• Computer-based Deceptive Game Design in Commercial Virtual Reality Games: A Preliminary Investigation
• Culture Clash: When Deceptive Design Meets Diverse Player Expectations
• Immersive Invaders: Privacy Threats from Deceptive Design in Virtual Reality Games and Applications
• A Systematic Review of User Experiments Measuring the Effects of Dark Patterns
• Mind Games! Exploring the Impact of Dark Patterns in Mixed Reality Scenarios