Deceptive vs persuasive design

The main difference between persuasive and deceptive design lies in user consent. Persuasive design asks for users' permission to persuade.^[1] It respects users and aims to improve their experience. For example, a fitness app might use notifications to encourage users to exercise more. Users can choose to follow these suggestions or ignore them. The goal of persuasive design is to help users make good choices.

On the other hand, deceptive design tricks users without their knowledge. Users might think they are making one choice, but the design tricks them into doing something else. A common example is a website that makes it hard to find the Unsubscribe button for a newsletter, tricking users into staying subscribed. The goal of deceptive design is to benefit at the expense of users.