iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 25/11/2025

I would love to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout this journey! While the dissertation carries my name, it was certainly not a "one-man job."

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 25/11/2025

The included research investigates deceptive design strategies in various online contexts, with a particular focus on social media. The work further explores how responsible and ethics-informed design can help reduce manipulation and support more transparent, user-centred technologies.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 25/11/2025

I’m truly honoured to share that my dissertation, "Mitigating Dark Patterns Through Responsible Design – Ethical Design Considerations for User-Centred Technologies", has been awarded the “Thematischer Preis” of the Bremer Studienpreis 2025. 🥳 #Bremen #UniBremen

Two men in suits standing next to each other. One holding a price certificate, the other a bouquet of flowers.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 15/10/2025

Such an amazing article and very well-written. Really happy I got to chat with @caitlingilbert.bsky.social about the problems of social media, specifically TikTok. The harm of TikTok constantly engaging its users can be linked to studies showing that overuse of social media decreases well-being.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 16/07/2025

🎉I am extremely happy to be part of a wonderful group to organise CUI 2026 and bring it to the city I grew up in - 𝘽𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉! If you work in the field and want to engage and be part, we made an open call to look for organising committee members: forms.gle/9HjLsSz4uZFK...

forms.gle

CUI 2026 - Open Call for Organizing Committee Positions

Thank you for your interest in being part of the CUI 2026 Organizing Committee (OC)! CUI is the premier venue for research in human-computer interaction issues in speech and language technology, with...

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/04/2025

Really great tips to enjoy CHI and not get fully overwhelmed! Thanks @altoombs.bsky.social 🙌

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/04/2025

And in the same session, right after: "Getting Trapped in Amazon's "Iliad Flow": A Foundation for the Temporal Analysis of Dark Patterns" 📅: Wednesday, 30 April, 2:10 pm - 2:22 pm. 📍: G304 🔗: programs.sigchi.org/chi/2025/pro... 📄: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

programs.sigchi.org

Conference Programs

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/04/2025

On Wednesday, 30 April: "A Comparative Study of How People With and Without ADHD Recognise and Avoid Dark Patterns on Social Media" 📅: Wednesday, 30 April, 2:10 pm - 2:22 pm. 📍: G304 🔗: programs.sigchi.org/chi/2025/pro... 📄: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

programs.sigchi.org

Conference Programs

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/04/2025

On Tuesday, 29 April, our SIG will be on Global and Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Dark Patterns and Deceptive Design Practice ダークパターンとひとをだますデザインに関する国際的かつ学際的な交流 📅: Tuesday, 29 April, 2:10 pm - 2:22 pm. 📍: G217 🔗: programs.sigchi.org/chi/2025/pro... 📄: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

programs.sigchi.org

Conference Programs

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/04/2025

While it’s already great enough to be at #chi25 and meet old and new friends, I am also excited to be part of a SIG and two papers. Here, I’ll collect the details if you’re interested in this work and want to connect:

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/04/2025

#CHI2025 is kicking of in #Yokohama 🌸 and what a fantastic location to host and get to visit! Very happy to be here 🎊 Each year, I am impressed by the size of this community and the great energy it holds! Looking forward to a fascinating and inspiring week!

Stage for the opening keynote of the CHI 2025 conference.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 25/04/2025

Just made it to #Yokohama for #CHI2025 and I am extremely excited for our SIG on #DarkPatterns and the fantastic people I will get to talk to!

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 24/04/2025

Hey @derossinger.bsky.social, das meiste entweder online via Google Scholar, der ACM digital library oder über meine Website (www.thomasmildner.me). Wenn du was nicht findest, sag gern noch mal Bescheid und ich versuch zu helfen :)

thomasmildner.me

Thomas Mildner

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 05/12/2024

The second is titled "Finding a Way Through the Social Media Labyrinth", for which I am incredibly happy that it received an honourable mention 🏆. Huge Thanks go to my co-authors Gian-Luca Savino, Susanne Putze, and Rainer Malaka. doi.org/10.1145/3701...

doi.org

Finding a Way Through the Social Media Labyrinth: Guiding Design Through User Expectations | Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 05/12/2024

The first was "Level Up or Game Over" 🎮 for which I want to thank my former student Sam Niknejad whose thesis is the foundation for this work. And of course all other co-authors: @nimazargham.bsky.social, Susanne Putze, and Rainer Malka! 🎉 doi.org/10.1145/3701...

doi.org

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 05/12/2024

This year was my first time at #MUM2024, and what an incredible community and conference it was! Thanks to all who made it happen in #Stockholm. ❄️🇸🇪 Not only did I co-host a workshop, but present two papers. And it still doesn't stop here: We received an honourable mention for one of them! 🏆

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 04/12/2024

As one of the authors, currently it’s only in ACM’s digital library. But I will also upload our author version on arxiv.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 30/11/2024

🚅Again in a train to the airport for my final conference of the year and what better destination than #Stockholm! At #MUM2024, I get to co-host a workshop and present two papers.. did not expect this academic year to wrap with such a wonderful opportunity! Thanks to all!

Foto out of a train in late autumn. The Rhein river and some wine fields are seen.

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Reposted by Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner)

Bristol Interaction Group @bristolhci.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Thursday's online #HCI BIG TALK: Heloisa Candello from IBM Research Brazil talks about #CUI #AI and #responsibleAI in her talk "A human-centered approach to responsible conversational user interfaces." Online, free, all welcome! 2pm GMT, sign up here: bighci.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/10/03/b...

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Reposted by Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner)

colin gray @graydesign.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Great writeup of Veronica Krauss and team’s work on #darkpatterns and #generativeai by @stokel.bsky.social! Such a timely paper and good to see it reaching a broader audience. www.fastcompany.com/91233844/cha...

fastcompany.com

ChatGPT was tasked with designing a website. The result was as manipulative as you'd expect

In a new study, researchers found that ChatGPT creates websites full of deceptive patterns.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 22/11/2024

The German science magazine „Spektrum der Wissenschaft“ interviewed me, alongside Deborah Löschner, for an article on #DarkPatterns. The article is in German but very informative! www.spektrum.de/news/dark-pa...

spektrum.de

Dark Patterns: Manipulation im Netz

Wie sich Menschen im Internet von »Dark Patterns« manipulieren lassen und wie sie sich davor schützen können

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 06/11/2024

Today might be remembered for many reasons, but I hope to carry these happy memories with me the longest! Thank you all very much!

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 06/11/2024

Special thanks go to Benjamin Cowan, Minha Lee, and Robert Porzel, who gave engaging talks in the crosssection of this transdisciplinary workshop. Further thanks to all attendees, who made these past few days so exciting with many open avenues for future work and collaborations! 💻

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 06/11/2024

During our workshop on Responsible and Ethical AI in CUI Technologies, with Nima Zargham, Rainer Malaka, and our Digital Media Lab, we had the great pleasure of welcoming a fantastic group of researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology, University College Dublin, and Stockholm University. 🎉

Robert Porzel presenting at the REACT workshop in Bremen.

Benjamin Cowan presenting at the REACT workshop in Bremen.

Minha Lee presenting at the REACT workshop in Bremen.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 04/11/2024

A couple more days 🎙️🎙️ Join us for a full-day in-person workshop to advance the discourse on Enhancing Human-Agent Interaction Through Thoughtful Persona Design at #MUM2024 in Stockholm. thomasmildner.github.io/DAIP/

thomasmildner.github.io

MUM 2024 Workshop on Designing AI Personalities

MUM 2024 Designing AI Personalities

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/09/2024

I guess it’s becomming a theme for me to post whenever I am in a train commuting 🚅. It’s such a gift within the EU to benefit from open boarders, something that we shouldn’t take for granted and seek to keep.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 28/09/2024

Yesterday, I was fortunate to present my work on #darkpatterns and #responsibledesign at #TU/e. Thank you so much, Minha Lee, for having me. As always, it’s been a joy catching up and thinking about how to give people more agency when engaging with design. Hope to meet you soon again!

Person standing in front of a large display presenting.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 19/09/2024

Didnt even realise: Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #986,810!

A virtual certificate with text "Celebrating 10M users on Bluesky, #986,810, Thomas Mildner ‪@thomasmildner.bsky.social‬, joined on Sep 13, 2023"

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 24/06/2024

🎓Although a few days have already passed, I still cannot quite grasp it. Last Friday, I defended my dissertation at the University of Bremen. I'm deeply touched that I got to share this incredible moment with many friends, colleagues, and my family. Thank you all very much for being part of this! 💛

PhD candidate after a defense sitting with a custom crafted PhD hat.

A PhD committee of six people and the PhD candidate standing in front of a white wall. One committee member joined online and is cast on the wall via a projector.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 16/05/2024

Now, I am off to relax a bit before my public defence on June 21st 🛌 Fun fact: I counted the words, and it is just over the length of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" 🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️ Perhaps not as magical, but hopefully still interesting.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 16/05/2024

As a cumulative dissertation, it includes my work on #darkpatterns in #SNS, #CUI, and technologically ambiguous contexts. Based on these works, it draws conclusions for ethical design, distributing responsibility to mitigate harmful and deceptive strategies.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 16/05/2024

After what was an amazing 3 years, I submitted my dissertation at the University of Bremen, Digital Media Lab Bremen, titled: "Mitigating Dark Patterns Through Responsible Design - Ethical Design Considerations for Responsible Design" 🎉

Me holding a copy of my dissertation at the campus of the University of Bremen.

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Reposted by Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner)

Markus Reuter @markus.reuter.netzpolitik.org · 12/02/2024

Die Bayerische Datenschutzaufsicht hat die Cookie-Banner von etwa 1000 Webseiten überprüft und dabei zahlreiche Verstöße gefunden. Die Betreiber haben nun Post bekommen – und müssen ihre Seiten ändern. netzpolitik.org/2024/bayern-...

netzpolitik.org

Bayern überprüft: Cookie-Banner vieler Seiten weiterhin rechtswidrig – netzpolitik.org

Die Bayerische Datenschutzaufsicht hat die Cookie-Banner von etwa 1000 Webseiten überprüft und dabei zahlreiche Verstöße gefunden. Die Betreiber haben nun Post bekommen - und müssen ihre Seiten ändern...

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 09/02/2024

Für das #Bundesgesundheitsblatt haben wir über die möglichen Gefahren und Probleme durch #darkpatterns in digitalen #Gesundheitsanwendungen geschrieben. Großer Dank gilt meinen Co-Autoren Gian-Luca Savino, Johannes Schöning und Rainer Malaka! 🙌 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Beispiel eines Nagging Dark Patterns, was Nutzer:innen dazu manipulieren soll, teure Abonnements mit einer Gesundheitsapplikation abzuschließen.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 09/02/2024

When will I stop getting paranoid before submitting my final manuscripts to conferences? I have been double-checking any possible issues dozens of times and reuploaded the same files just to make sure that I have, indeed, submitted the latest and correct versions. #DIS2024

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Reposted by Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner)

Jaap-Henk Hoepman 🟥 ⬜️ 🟩 ⬛️ @xotoxot.eurosky.social · 07/02/2024

Do fair design patterns exist? blog.xot.nl/2024/02/07/d...

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

Either bridge of the model includes a delimiter, both intrinsic and extrinsic in nature, impairing the bridges' purposes: Deception delimits the Evaluation Bridge and Distrust the Execution Bridge. Happy to discuss this work with y'all! #chi2024 #darkpattern #cui #ethics #design 🙌

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

Based on these ethical caveats, we propose the #CUI Expectation Cycle to address the gap between #user and #CUI expectations. The model adopts Norman's gulf of execution and evaluation to bridge the Expectation Gap.

This figure presents the CUI Expectation Cycle. In the centre is the expectation gap, separating user and CUI systems through mismatched expectations. The expectation gap is connected to the "setting expectations" theme. Two arrows bridge this expectation gap. The first connects the user with the CUI and is called the execution bridge. It describes users' ability to realise their goals. The "inclusivity and diversity" theme is connected to this bridge. The second is the evaluation bridge, which returns from the CUI toward the user. It entails how well the CUI communicates its capabilities. Here, the "guiding through interactions" theme is further linked. The ideal state of this cycle is interrupted by two delimiting factors: Deception and distrust. Either can occur extrinsically and intrinsically, and both feature the "building trust and guarding privacy" and "human-like harmony" themes.

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

5. "Setting Expectations" Does the #CUI system/interaction handle user prompts truthfully, clarifying the scope of its capabilities to provide realistic expectations?

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

4. "#Inclusivity and #Diversity" Does the #CUI system/interaction cater towards users with diverse needs, potentially through alternative interactions where otherwise inaccessible?

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

3. "Human-like Harmony" Does the #CUI system/interaction clarify the presence of anthropomorphic features to avoid misconceptions and unrealistic expectations?

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

2. "Guiding Through Interactions" Does the #CUI system/interaction adequately inform users about its technical capabilities to enable full utilisation of its features?

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Thomas Eßmeyer (né Mildner) @thomasmildner.me · 29/01/2024

1. "Building #Trust and Guarding #Privacy" Does the #CUI system/interaction provide accessible and transparent information about personal data with easy control thereof?

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