Check my design for dark patterns and manipulative UX
Reviews a flow for deceptive or coercive patterns, explains user and regulatory risk, and suggests honest alternatives that still meet the goal.
The prompt
Review my design for dark patterns and manipulative UX.
Flow to review: [e.g. signup, pricing page, cancellation, cookie consent, checkout]
Description of each screen: [CONTENT, BUTTONS, DEFAULTS, COPY - paste or describe]
Business goal behind it: [e.g. reduce churn, increase opt-ins]
Markets we serve: [e.g. US, EU, UK, India]
Check for common patterns, including: confirmshaming, pre-ticked boxes or opt-out defaults, hidden costs revealed late, forced continuity (free trial that silently converts), roach motel (easy to join, hard to cancel), disguised ads, false urgency or scarcity, nagging, trick wording or double negatives, visual interference (making the honest option hard to see), and privacy zuckering (nudging people to share more data than they intend).
For each issue found, give: the screen and element, the pattern name, why it harms users, the risk level (trust, complaints, regulatory), and an honest alternative that still supports the business goal.
Also note where consumer protection or privacy rules in my markets commonly apply (e.g. consent requirements, easy cancellation rules) as general information only, and tell me to confirm specifics with legal counsel. Return a findings table, the 3 most urgent fixes, and a one-paragraph summary I can share with my PM.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Product & UX Design prompts
What to fill in
- CONTENT, BUTTONS, DEFAULTS, COPY - paste or describe
- e.g. reduce churn, increase opt-ins
- e.g. US, EU, UK, India
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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