Hi Nir. Taking a moment to share that I found this article distasteful in a number of ways. One of them was to compare Weight Watchers with technical applications. Knowing nothing about WW, I did some research, looking for how they manipulate their members.
Reading posts by disgruntled WW participants, I found nothing to back that up. Instead, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the payment aspects, the quality of staff, & the types of changes made to their apps. No manipulation in any of that.
People willingly join to meet their weight-loss goals, so everything is very up-front, the requirements & methodology clearly stated — from what I found. This is to compare apples to oranges, as the manipulation being coded into apps, along with the design process being directed to manipulate people, is hidden from view. People don’t sign-up to be manipulated in hidden ways. Companies designing manipulative products are not at all forthcoming about their strategies & tactics.
The honor, ethics, & integrity of any non-disclosed manipulation are beyond highly questionable, they’re barely present. What I read in your article was not much more than a justification for how you & others in such business earn their living.
Yes, buyer beware is also the case, as it would be equally weak to blame our modified behavior on these products. However, I think you realize that if such algorithms were translated into non-tech language many companies & designers would be justifiably ashamed to have them exposed. At best they’re questionable, at worst, immoral.
Money is not evil, but the worship of it is, & that’s what’s behind this whole scenario — anything to make a buck, say anything to justify same. Get decent folks like you to front for what’s being done by many who don’t make that grade. Let the innocence hide the corruption, IOW.
We’re all out to be the best we can be. It’s time for humanity to wake-up & stop kidding ourselves about so many things. Wishing you the best as you go forward, but please stop kidding yourself. If you’ll look deeper, you can spot these rationalizing justifications that don’t hold ethical water, that don’t speak well for who you truly are — IMO, but of course. 😉
~♥~
