Intentional Bad Design and My Frustrations

Case 1: The Airtel Experience

It started like any other day. There I was, casually checking my mobile data on the My Airtel app, when BAM! Another notification popped up, reminding me of some service or offer I had zero interest in. Annoying, but no big deal, right? Until it happened again… and again.

So, naturally, I decided to do what any rational person would—turn off the notifications. Easy enough, I thought. But after diving deep into menus and swiping through every possible option, I realized… there was no such setting! It was like the developers didn’t want me to find it.

Case 2: The bKash Experience

Fast forward to bKash—It took the notification game to a whole new level. Not only did it notify me about everything, but it vibrated for each one. Spoiler alert: I couldn’t find the setting to fix this either.

Solution??

At this point, I did the only thing left in my power—I headed to my phone’s settings and switched off notifications for both apps entirely. While this stopped the endless pings, it also meant I was missing important alerts—like transaction confirmations. Not exactly ideal.

The Dark Pattern

Well, there’s a term for it. It’s called a dark pattern—a sneaky design tactic where apps intentionally make things hard to find to keep you more engaged. In other words, this wasn’t just bad design—it was intentional bad design. This is frustrating.


At the end of the day, I’m left wondering: How many other ‘choices’ are really choices at all?

Tags