design ethics
Preselection
What is preselection as a deceptive pattern?
Preselection is choosing for the user in your own favour, hoping they don’t notice - a pre-ticked opt-in, an extra already in the basket, or the pricier plan selected by default. It exploits the same inertia that makes good defaults helpful, but directs it to benefit the business instead of the user.
Also known as: preselection, pre-ticked, pre-checked opt-in, sneak into basket
Prefer to watch?
Watch the recap 0:42
The demo
A quick checkout. Before you place the order, look closely at what's already ticked - then see how much rode on you not noticing.
1× Wireless earbuds£59.00
Total£0.00
What this demo shows (text version)
A checkout summary lists the item you wanted (wireless earbuds) plus three extras that are already ticked: travel insurance, a newsletter subscription, and a charity round-up. The total updates as you tick and untick them. If you don't notice and untick the ones you didn't ask for, "place order" charges you for them - and the demo then reveals how much was added without your asking.
That's preselection: choosing in the business's favour and relying on you not to look. It uses the same inertia that makes a good default helpful, but aims it against you. The honest rule is to leave anything with a cost or a privacy implication unticked, so people opt in deliberately rather than discover later what was chosen for them.
Preselection is the dark twin of a good default: it uses the fact that most people don’t change pre-set options - but it sets them to benefit you, not them, so things get bought or agreed to that nobody actively chose. The honest test is the one defaults already pass: would the user knowingly pick this? If not, it shouldn't be ticked for them.
Unless you spotted and unticked them, you just bought insurance you didn't ask for and signed up to two things you never chose - all pre-ticked, all riding on you not looking closely. That's preselection: the same default-inertia that helps when it's on your side, turned against you the moment it isn't.
It works on inattention plus inertia. People scan, assume the form reflects what they asked for, and don't audit every checkbox - so a pre-ticked extra slips through. The more steps and the busier the page, the more reliably the preselected option survives to checkout unexamined.
The line between this and a legitimate default is whose interest it serves. A default set to what the user would knowingly choose - their language, a sensible plan, marketing off - is help. A default set to what makes you money, that they'd decline if asked plainly - insurance opted in, the dear plan pre-picked, consent pre-granted - is a deceptive pattern, however tidy it looks.
It's increasingly illegal as well as wrong: consent that's pre-ticked isn't consent under GDPR, and "sneak into basket" tactics fall foul of consumer law. The fix is simple and honest - leave anything with a cost or a privacy implication unticked, and let people opt in on purpose.
Preselection is when a default choice is set to benefit the business, not the user - like a pre-ticked opt-in or a default basket item. Try the demo to see how easy it is to overlook. It’s the dark twin of a good default: the same inertia that helps users, when misused, can lead to decisions they didn’t knowingly make. Test it yourself - the demo shows it in action.
Preselection is when a system picks an option for you - like a pre-ticked checkbox or a default pricier plan - hoping you won’t notice or change it. Try the demo on this page to see it in action. It’s the dark twin of a good default: while defaults help users by reducing friction, preselection uses that same inertia to benefit the business, not the user. See how it works in the interactive demo.
Try the preselection demo on site:uxbyexample.co.uk to see how defaults can mislead - and how to fix them. This page’s live example lets you test the bias in preselected options - a core design ethics issue.