How honest is your product, really?

Nineteen questions about signup, checkout, consent, cancellation and retention. Scored against the Brignull taxonomy and the EU's recognised deceptive patterns,

Deceptive design self-audit

Most deceptive patterns were never planned. Targets were missed and someone suggested pre-ticking a box. Or decisons were made in a whole array of decisions that all landed at once. It has always been this way. Untested. This tool walks you through five journeys in your own product and scores you against Harry Brignull's taxonomy at deceptive.design as well as patterns UK and EU regulators can now fine you for.

19 questions across signup, checkout, consent, cancellation and retention.
This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or sent anywhere.
The score at the end will tell you what you need to change and why.

out of 100

What we found

What a respectful product looks like

The short version, for pinning to the wall.

The first price is the real price. Every mandatory fee is disclosed in the headline number and not drip-fed.
The customer chooses what they buy. Nothing should be added to the basket that the customer did not intentionally add.
Opt-in means a box someone ticked. Any pre-selection is the company deciding on a user's behalf.
No is a complete answer. One click to refuse with no repeat asks and especially no guilt-trip copy.
Leaving must be as easy as joining. Cancel online in a few clicks, confirmed in writing with data deleted on schedule. A high friction experience can't be your retention strategy.
Urgency only when true. Lying about stock or availability is an enormous trust killer.
Copy that says what it means. No confusing double-negatives or tricky wording. No boxes that flip direction between forms.

This tool draws on Harry Brignull's taxonomy at deceptive.design, the EU's deceptive design work under the Digital Services Act and consumer law, the UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the FTC's click to cancel rulemaking on negative option subscriptions, and UK GDPR and PECR for consent. It is a self-audit aid but it does not constitute legal advice. If you need a formal opinion you should talk to a solicitor. If you want help dismantling what you found and replacing it with something better you should talk to us.

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