About Dark Wiki
Exposing the design tricks that manipulate billions of users daily.
Our Mission
Dark Wiki is an investigative exposé platform dedicated to identifying, documenting, and analyzing dark patterns — deceptive design techniques used in digital interfaces to trick users into actions they didn't intend to take.
We believe that understanding manipulation is the first step to resisting it. By documenting every known dark pattern with real-world examples, severity assessments, legal analysis, and remediation guidance, we give consumers, designers, regulators, and researchers the tools they need to fight back.
What We Cover
Our encyclopedia currently documents 50 dark pattern categories, each with:
- Worked examples — 40 of them, 33 paired with an honest alternative.
- Severity assessments — A 1-10 severity score based on financial harm, scale of impact, and regulatory attention.
- Legal analysis — How EU, US, and UK regulators have addressed each pattern through legislation, enforcement actions, and fines.
- Detection checklists — Practical guides for identifying whether you're being manipulated.
- Remediation guidance — Ethical alternative designs that respect user autonomy.
Our Approach
Dark Wiki takes an investigative journalism approach to UX analysis. We don't soft-pedal. When a company uses a dark pattern, we name it, document it, and explain exactly how it works psychologically and why it may violate consumer protection law.
Our analysis is built on:
- Published academic research on deceptive design
- Publicly reported regulatory enforcement actions
- Publicly observable interfaces
- Industry reporting and investigative journalism
- Direct observation and testing of interfaces
Who We Are
Dark Wiki is a property of Garnet Grid Consulting LLC, a technology consulting firm specializing in software engineering, AI, and digital strategy.
We practice what we preach. Dark Wiki itself is designed with zero dark patterns:
- We carry third-party advertising, which sets cookies; our disclaimer says so plainly.
- No confirmshaming — our newsletter signup says "No thanks" not "No, I prefer to be manipulated."
- No fake urgency — our content is always available.
- No hidden costs — everything on Dark Wiki is free to read.
- No obstruction — if you want to leave, just close the tab.
Contact
For press inquiries, research collaboration, or to report a dark pattern:
- Email: [email protected]
- Consulting: garnetgrid.com/contact
If you're a designer or product manager who wants to audit your interface for dark patterns, we offer professional UX compliance audits.
Our Sister Projects
- VibeCodeWiki.ai — The encyclopedia of AI-assisted coding and vibe coding techniques.
- The Internet's Wishing Well — A community-driven platform for shared hopes and wishes.
- Garnet.AI — AI-powered technology solutions by Garnet Grid.