Dark patterns manipulate or trick users, rather than help them. It’s easy to try and trick your users with your UI, but don’t—it only breeds distrust in both you and the internet.
It’s not an easy thing to do: to come across a new software vendor and instantly believe the benefits they promise. The way a copywriter spins the app’s selling points will certainly help, but designers and developers need to help, too. By adding trust marks like testimonials, FAQs, security seals, and more into your sales pages, any fears or concerns prospective users have about your app will disappear.
You need your website to convince visitors to download or buy your app. So, you add a call to action that invites them to demo the product. But then you think, “Maybe they want to learn more about the features?” So, you add a CTA for that, too. And then one for Case Studies and another for your blog posts. However, as you add more buttons to your website, what you’re really doing is increasing the likelihood that they’ll walk away confused, frustrated, and without any desire to enter the app at all.