OECD Dark Pattern Harm Taxonomy
Overview
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development framework classifies dark pattern harms across six dimensions, providing a structured way to assess the impact of manipulative interface design.
The Six Harm Categories
H1 — Harm to User Autonomy Compromises user agency by forcing choices users wouldn’t otherwise make, limiting available options, or obfuscating the decision-making process.
H2 — Financial Loss Manipulates users into unnecessary purchases or overspending through interface design.
H3 — Privacy Harms Induces users to share excessive personal information without full understanding, elevating their risk exposure.
H4 — Psychological Detriment and Time Loss Places emotional and cognitive strain on users, exploits vulnerabilities, or wastes user time.
H5 — Weaker or Distorted Competition Prevents or dissuades users from comparison shopping, distorting market dynamics.
H6 — Reduced Consumer Trust and Engagement Erodes trust through deception about information sharing or spending, particularly when users later discover the manipulation.
When to Use This Framework
- Evaluating interface designs for potential manipulation
- Prioritizing which patterns to address (H2/H3 most severe)
- Communicating harm to non-technical stakeholders
- Regulatory compliance assessment
Limitations
The framework identifies harm categories but doesn’t quantify severity within categories. Multiple harms often co-occur (72% of dark patterns in the comprehensive taxonomy trigger multiple harm types. The psychological impact dimension (H4) is particularly difficult to measure.
Related: 01-atom—dark-pattern-definition