Insights

Dark patterns are interfaces that try to trick their users into doing something they would otherwise not want to do. They are lucrative, but damaging to both the user experience and the brands that employ them. As a designer, I find this topic really interesting: How can we guarantee benefits for our users and meet our business objectives at the same time? I got the opportunity to speak about dark patterns and persuasion at SXSWi 2016 in Austin, Texas. Here, I’ll summarise the highlights of my experience.

Our latest R&D project is stealing the spotlight in our Farringdon office! We're enticing the public to hack our logo - changing the classic Cyber-Duck colours in an interactive light installation. Today, we explore how the light installation and web app were developed, and explain how you could select, prototype and launch R&D ‘side’ projects like this. 

The best brands are flexible: letting their assets breathe, enriched with fun, rich content and experiences. Our latest R&D project invites you to put your own stamp on our classic Cyber-Duck. Hack our logo – switch the colours from our web app and send to our Farringdon window, right from your smartphone. 

On Wednesday 27 – Thursday 28th April, we’ll be heading down to London’s Olympia Central for Marketing Week Live. Meet us to discover how we can solve your creative and technical challenges – and hear about ‘Branding as an Infrastructure’ from our CEO!

We kicked off the first night of our popular event series for 2016 with a sneak peek at the innovation on offer at SXSW, the revered set of festivals in Austin. The Digital Pond featured stellar speakers from the UK, exploring how we can leverage psychology to engage our target audiences. 

We are excited to announce the start of a new project with GBG’s CitizenSafe, a certified identity verification provider with GOV.UK Verify. Cyber-Duck will lead an integrated marketing campaign, creating diverse, digitally engaging content to build consumer awareness and trust in the new brand. 

With just a few weeks to go until the 30th annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, the countdown is well under way. To celebrate, Cyber-Duck is bringing the centre stage closer to home: organising the UK’s largest pre-SXSW event on March 2, 2016. Speakers from this year’s festival will give our Digital Pond an exclusive first-glimpse of their talks before they fly off to Texas. Don’t miss out – sign up today!