Forced Action
Forcing users to complete an unwanted action to
proceed or access desired content
11%
of the applications studied (6 of 53), used some form of Forced
Action in their designs
Ed-tech
had the most instances of Forced Action, accounting for 33%
of the instances
Onboarding
is where Forced Action was commonly observed
Definition
A pattern that businesses employ to force users
into performing an action by making it impossible
to proceed or access desired content in order to
increase engagement or collect user data
How does it affect users?
It limits user choices, causing frustration, and can also lead to unexpected costs in certain cases.
Ways in which design can address
Forced Action
Polite Pathways
Give users the freedom to control the data they want to share, by explaining the benefits and limitations of each choice.
Granular Choices
Provide users with clear and separate checkboxes for essential features and non-essential data collection.
Easy Opt-out
Allows users to opt out of data collection when creating a new account, providing a transparent signup process.
Need more Inspiration?
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Privacy Deception and other Deceptive Patterns