Watch
Obstruction 1:02
A 62-second explainer of Obstruction, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Obstruction demo
What this video covers
Obstruction is a deceptive pattern that deliberately makes a task harder than it needs to be, to discourage people from completing it. The classic is the easy-to-start, painful-to-cancel subscription: signing up takes one click, but leaving means phone calls, hunting for hidden links, retention mazes and confirmation after confirmation - friction added on purpose.
One tap got you in; getting out meant step after step, each one hoping you'd give up. That asymmetry is the whole tell - the difficulty was added on purpose. Honest design makes leaving as easy as joining: same place, same effort, no maze. If cancelling is dramatically harder than subscribing, the friction isn't protecting anyone but the bottom line.
