[madeofpalk]

> The only time I'd use a 'button' without a background color is something I don't actually want the user to use.

Yes! You've got it! That's exactly what the article says!

And that's what I'm saying - good design is learning these tricks and identifying when and where to use them. It's not form over function, but how the form influences the function.

[Nadya]

As a programmer if I don't want the user to use it I don't expose it to the user at all. If I want the user to be able to use it I'm not going to intentionally make it difficult to do so. That's not good design - that's bad UI and bad UX and is a dark pattern used by manipulative marketers who don't care about providing a good experience to end users. But then we get to argue over what "good design" means. Since manipulative design that is good at being manipulative is obviously good design by definition.

I think good design should benefit the user. Making "opting out" easy is providing a good user experience. If the user is wanting to "opt out" the answer isn't to make it difficult to opt out - it's to fix the reason that is causing your user to want to opt out to begin with.