Identifying Deceptive Patterns Across Three Age Groups: A Heuristic-Based Cognitive Walkthrough Study of Mobile Apps
2026-07-06 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer Interaction
AI summaryⓘ
The authors studied how mobile apps trick different age groups—teens, adults, and older adults—into doing things they might not want to do. They looked at 30 apps in 6 categories and found that most use a 'nagging' trick to get users to act. Entertainment apps had more tricks than others, and apps for older adults often used sneaky tactics more than those for younger people. The authors suggest creating fairer design rules to protect users from these tricks based on their age.
Deceptive patternsCognitive walkthroughNagging patternSneaking patternMobile appsAge groupsUser manipulationApp categoriesEthical design
Authors
Nasra Hassan, Hala Assal
Abstract
Deceptive patterns are tactics used to manipulate users into performing unintended actions. Today, many of these deceptive patterns are implemented in mobile apps targeting diverse age groups. In this paper, we employ a heuristic-based cognitive walkthrough to explore how deceptive patterns are tailored to three age groups, specifically teens (12-17), adults (18-49), and older adults (50+), across different app categories. By analyzing 30 apps spanning 6 categories, we found that 93% of these apps use the nagging pattern. Furthermore, our findings reveal that entertainment apps contain significantly more deceptive patterns than other app categories, such as music/books. Our data also shows that entertainment apps for older adults use sneaking patterns more frequently than entertainment apps for teens or adults. These findings call for the development of more ethical, age-specific design guidelines to protect users from targeted digital manipulation attempts.