The Gruen Transfer is consuming the internet
The Gruen Transfer describes how confusing layouts on platforms like Facebook lead to impulsive purchases. EU regulations require equal ease for subscribing and canceling services, advocating for simpler user experiences.
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The concept of the Gruen Transfer, originally observed in physical retail environments, is increasingly manifesting online, particularly on social media platforms like Facebook. This phenomenon occurs when consumers enter a space with a specific intention but become distracted by a confusing layout, leading to impulsive purchases. Facebook's news feed, initially designed to streamline updates from friends, has evolved into a cluttered mix of ads, memes, and influencer content, making it difficult for users to focus on their original purpose. This trend extends beyond social media to various websites that employ disorienting designs to encourage impulsive behavior. Users often find it challenging to navigate processes like account deletion or subscription cancellations, which are intentionally complicated. The article suggests that there may be a tipping point where excessive complexity negatively impacts user experience, akin to a Laffer Curve in web design. In the EU, regulations require that the process for canceling services be as straightforward as subscribing, highlighting the need for balance in user experience design. The author expresses a desire for similar principles to be applied in physical retail settings.
- The Gruen Transfer describes how confusing layouts lead to impulsive consumer behavior.
- Social media platforms like Facebook have become cluttered, distracting users from their original intentions.
- Many websites use disorienting designs to encourage impulsive actions, complicating processes like account deletion.
- EU regulations mandate equal ease of use for subscribing and canceling services.
- The author advocates for simpler user experiences in both digital and physical retail environments.
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- Many users express frustration with confusing interfaces on platforms like Amazon and Facebook, leading to impulsive purchases or disorientation.
- Some commenters question the relevance of the Gruen Transfer to certain examples, such as Wikipedia, arguing that not all disorientation is intentional.
- There is a call for better regulations to ensure that canceling subscriptions is as easy as subscribing, highlighting issues with current practices in the telecom industry.
- Several users share personal experiences of being sidetracked or overwhelmed by digital content, indicating a broader concern about user experience design.
- Some comments suggest that the manipulation of user intent through confusing interfaces is unethical and detrimental to user autonomy.
27 commentsI've bought two wrong things accidentally on Amazon as a result: After searching for a surge protector, i bought a power strip that lacked a surge protector because it was among the search results and i didn't notice it.
And after searching for neoprene shorts i accidentally bought shorts that weren't made of neoprene because they also appeared among the results.
Also when searching for shoes in my size, i see prices for the shoes in other sizes. It's hilariously bad.
As a result, i avoid shopping on Amazon.
Shoutout to sites like geizhals.at that will let me filter by dozens of attributes per category to find the perfect product.
Went through Copenhagen airport recently. Right after security, there is a sign “All gates ->” which takes you on a detour through the main “taxfree” shop - that is close to. as low at it gets imo.
That and the cookie popup DOM node...
So yeah, while the Facebook timeline is a mess, the real question is: what is the intended purpose of scrolling the timeline in the first place? For most users it isn't a clear case of "I want X" and they don't actually have a specific goal in mind. Instead, it's some combination of seeing what your friends are doing and be entertained by novel items. From that perspective it's inevitable that the timeline would end up this way.
It feels petty to complain about but it just _throws_ me off my intention almost every time.
I'll open a smartphone. Open Instagram. Scroll through for a while. And then realize my intent was originally just to send someone a message.
Modern UI is definitely disorienting.
The feed as a basic concept is great. It's basically an inbox, and no more of a Gruen Transfer enabler than an email inbox. Hell, it's no more inherently an enabler than an aisle in the store. It's not the existence of the feed, it's what's in it.
Facebook's feed is what allowed me to see what my friends were up to without clicking on every single profile. That made Facebook hugely more useful to me than MySpace.
But there are eyeballs on the feed, and money to be made by showing ads to those eyeballs and capturing more minutes of attention to in turn show more ads. That's the incentive.
I doubt that feeds are case of you can't find what you were looking for. I don't think most users are looking for anything in particular when they browse a feed. Now jamming more things in the search page may count. And Twitter's nasty habit of shifting around what you're looking at so you can't find a post surely counts.
Is it true? Is it a new thing? Could someone tell the telco industry, surely they are unaware of that, because as recently as last month, I had to threaten legal action again a european telco who refused to not automatically renew my "pre-paid, subscription free" plan... Any reference to that regulation would be appreciated.
That's bizarre.
When I go to m.facebook.com it consists of posts from people I know and groups I'm in.
There are occasional carousels of People You Might Know or Groups You Might Like, but other than that it's just words and photos from real people.
if u make a more than normal transfer they want u to jump hoops or somebody from call center calls u is this transfer what u wanted to do sir?
store the money in the bank, dont spend it.
They should be prosecuted for it.
Sites like Etsy implement this dark pattern in ways intentionally intended to make CSS-based blocking of injected sponsored products difficult to block. The arms race between user agents and corporate manipulation continues, and corporate web designers will use every tool available to subject users nonconsensually to their preferred experience. This is why I consider it a net loss for users to add functionality to the "web platform". The corporation is your enemy and they're well-funded.
> I like this idea of ‘complexity’ as a measure for legislation.
So, if all you needed to do to subscribe was to find an ad on Facebook encouraging you to do so (which was the only place your plan was offered), to cancel, you need to... find another ad on Facebook encouraging you to cancel?
If subscribing required you to visit a physical store to verify ID (pretty common for SIM cards here), it's fine to also require that to cancel the contract, even though there's no point for it?
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