Ask HN: What are some examples of purposely bad UX
Specifically within the context of a company trying to discourage certain behavior. For example, it seems to be purposefully difficult on most tech platforms to edit your data privacy settings
Much worse is their help, it's designed to be as unhelpful as possible and make it impossible to actually contact someone.
Uber overall is about as user hostile as you can get. Everything is set to force you on one path and give you no options or recourse. And from the drivers perspective, it's all dumped on them. There is no way to complain or get any help from uber for their awful app, all you can do is complain about the driver.
Also, everything about reddit, and any websites with modal popups.
Edit - honestly, most of the internet fits what you describe, outside HN, some blog sites, and some documentation sites. It might be better to ask about good ux
Edit 2 - I'd add that what is particularly vile, with respect to uber vs others, is that with uber, the user is ostensibly the customer. Websites can be forgiven in a sense because they are not for you, they are for advertisers, so it's not surprising they dont put your interests first. But uber, and some others, have taken this user hostile philosophy and ported it to apps where the user is actually the paying customer.
This is, I think, engineered to be as deficient as possible, not an accident at all.
- restraint devices (everything from infant play pens, to straitjackets, to "keep out" signs, to barbed wire fences).
- punishment (all forms: punishment is a deliberately bad user experience in order to discourage a behavior).(Punishment sometimes involves restraint devices).
- security mechanisms of all sorts (security mechanisms are predicated on presenting a discouragingly shitty experience toward those who are unauthorized; sometimes there is a spillover shittiness to the authorized users as well).
Security device: A good bike lock is a shitty user experience for the hoodlum who wants the bike; having to lug that lock around and use it all the time isn't a great experience for the owner, either.
Restraint device: A speed bump is a kind of restraint device. It restrains the use of vehicular speed. The user experience is shitty; you have to slow down, and still get an annoying bump.
1. Automatically install updates (recommended)
2. Check for updates but let you choose to install them
OK, I clicked 2. Then a few times a day for a month am subjected to a popup notification saying "Update Firefox - 1. Now 2. Dismiss". 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2...I relented eventually. It seems I don't actually have much of a choice, as I loathe popups.