A Bengaluru-based product designer took to X to slam Urban Company’s app for using “dark pattern” design tricks to fool customers. Due to the unwanted feature in the app, Chandra Ramanujan’s elderly father ended up paying for the company’s premium plan, even after not wanting it.
Ramanujan took to X to share a post regarding the same and posted a screenshot of the app’s “dark pattern”. “My dad (late 60s, not tech savvy) got confused by one of the worst dark patterns I've never seen inside the Urban Company app, and ended up paying for UC plus even though he didn't mean to. They automatically add a 6-month membership to your cart and make it confusing to remove,” he wrote.
My dad (late 60s, not tech savvy) got confused by one of the worst dark patterns I've ever seen inside the Urban Company app, and ended up paying for UC plus even though he didn't mean to. They automatically add a 6 month membership to your cart and make it confusing to remove pic.twitter.com/1kN8Bx73W0— Chandra Ramanujan (@NCResq) March 25, 2024
To verify the interface and see it for himself, Ramanujan downloaded the app and added a service for Rs 259. He added it to the cart and the value automatically increased to Rs 419 when he was trying to checkout. Calling it “basket sneaking” and “illegal”, Ramanujan wrote, “I couldn't believe it so I tried to replicate it. I downloaded the app, and the same splash screen came for me. At the 25-second mark, see how the basket value changes automatically when you click on the add to cart CTA. This is basket sneaking and it is illegal.”
I couldn't believe it so I tried to replicate it. I downloaded the app, and the same splash screen came for me. At the 25 second mark, see how the basket value changes automatically when you click on the add to cart CTA. This is basket sneaking and it is illegal pic.twitter.com/Ni9XskdDjLRelated stories
— Chandra Ramanujan (@NCResq) March 25, 2024
“Lost a lot of respect for Product Designers at Urban Company. There are better ways to get revenue than this. What are you even doing,” he wrote in a separate tweet.
As Ramanujan’s post went viral, several social media users expressed their opinions in the comments section. Some people also shared their own dissatisfactory experiences with Urban Company.
“The option of not paying for plus is in red so it feels like the wrong option to pick. Not sure if it was meant to be a dark pattern but there could have been a clearer distinction here for sure,” one user wrote.
Another user commented, “Reported this a year ago, nothing happened. As a designer, one of the first responsibilities you have is to be honest in design. They should avoid using such trickery.”
"Most of these funded apps have ethical issues. @Swiggy doesn’t have a delete profile option (please to see @zomato
has it in settings) and when you reach out to Swiggy’s support or email them to get your profile deleted, they still don’t do it," a third user remarked.
The viral post caught the attention of Urban Company's director for design Amit Jaglan who assured of a solution by Tuesday. "As a principle, we always strive to do right by our users and our partners. We will fix this by next week, Tuesday," Jaglan wrote.
https://t.co/OMky6fNrR8— Amit Jaglan (@iamjaglan) March 29, 2024
"Thanks Amit for sharing this," Ramanujan responded.
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