A QUT study of 20 popular paid and free apps for children aged 5 to 8 years found that most contained deceptive design patterns aimed at attracting children to paid content, increasing their time spent using the app, or encouraging them to watch advertisements for other products.
Both free and paid apps found to have this content
Of the 20 apps studied, only five had no deceptive patterns
Common techniques include employing cute characters to encourage children to paid content and requirIng them to watch ads to continue playing.
Corresponding author Professor Daniel Johnson from QUT's School of Computer Science and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, said the study found at least one deceptive pattern in 15 of the 20 apps.
"Some apps contained as many as six deceptions and our analysis found that while free apps contained a greater variety and frequency of deceptive patterns, they were often present in paid apps as well" Professor Johnson said.
"That said, five of the apps we reviewed contained no deceptive patterns, which shows that it is possible to make a successful app without including them, and that parents can hope to find apps free from deceptive patterns for children to play"
Professor Johnson said the most common techniques included the use of cute or familiar characters that encourage children towards a certain option such as paid content, requiring they watch ads to continue playing, or making other options hard to find.
"Other deceptions are to make an ad look like part of the game so a child will tap on it and be taken to another app or a purchase, or sales techniques such as 'bundling' purchases or emphasising more expensive options".
"We observed these strategies, often in combination, alongside parental control systems that appeared easy for children to circumnavigate."
Professor Johnson said that it may not be realistic to completely avoid deceptive patterns in children's playful apps.
"Our findings are concerning given children's relative vulnerability and the potential for unsupervised use," he said.
"We recommend parents engage in short periods of co-play and discussion to help children learn to recognise and critically engage with deceptive patterns such as disguised ads.
"Parents or caregivers could have ongoing conversations explaining digital literacy and self-regulation by, for example, teaching children that bright, large or attractive elements may be designed to influence them, and that limited time prompts are designed to rush their decisions.
"We are now conducting research into effective techniques to educate children about deceptive patterns including the development of an app that highlights these patterns to children in-situ."
The researchers recommend improvements in app design and policy:
Better user warnings and enabling reviews to flag deceptive patterns.
Deceptive pattern badges like food-health ratings, to inform users.
More finely grained age appropriateness ratings
The research team comprised: Professor Johnson; Dr Madison Klarkowski, Dr Janelle Mackenzie, Ella Horton, all from QUT; Dr Nicholas O'Donnell; Dr Sumudu Mallawaarachchi and Professor Steven J Howard, from University of Wollongong.
The study, From playful to manipulative: Exposing deceptive patterns in digital applications for young children, was published in the International Journal of Child-Computer Interactions.
(Photo: from left Dr Janelle Mackenzie, Professor Daniel Johnson, Dr Madison Klarkowski).
