Dunkla Änglar

: En undersökning av hur änglamönster påverkar förtroendet för spelutvecklare i free-to-play mobilspel

Abstract

Free-to-Play (F2P) has become the dominant business model for mobile gaming
applications. However, the F2P financing model has shown a downside in that
game developers have been forced to look for alternative ways to generate
revenue from players. This includes methods within UI and UX-design that are
known as "dark patterns". These dark patterns guide, persuade or deceive users to
make decisions that they probably wouldn't have made if they were fully
informed. The widespread use of these dark design patterns has led to a decreased
trust in F2P-games and the gaming. In this study, we have explored an opposite to
dark patterns that we have come to call "angel patterns". Furthermore, we
investigate through a qualitative approach whether the implementation of angel
patterns in a self-developed gaming application affects players' perceived trust in
the game developer compared to an application that uses dark patterns. The
conclusion of our study is that while angel patterns can contribute to a good
gaming experience, they do not necessarily affect trust in the game developer.
Instead the study suggests that good, clear, and ethical design is crucial to winning
players' trust. The study also concludes that there is value in continued exploration
of angel patterns as it can lead to improvements in the user experience and
perceived value for the user in both F2P games and the digital goods and services
sector as a whole.

Date of Award	2023-Jun
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Kerstin Ådahl (Supervisor) & Martin Wetterstrand (Examiner)