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Forced action 1:02
A 62-second explainer of Forced action, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Forced action demo
What this video covers
Forced action is a deceptive pattern that makes you do something unrelated before you can do the thing you actually came for. Forcing account creation to read an article, demanding data or permissions you don't need, or making you watch an ad or complete a survey to continue - the wanted task is held hostage to an unwanted one.
You just wanted the download, but first you had to make an account you didn't want - the real task held hostage to the company's. That's forced action, and the tell is that the demanded step has nothing to do with what you came for. The honest version asks only what the task needs and lets the rest be optional, so you get what you came for without paying an unrelated toll.
