Watch
Trick wording 0:31
A 31-second explainer of Trick wording, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Trick wording demo
What this video covers
Trick wording is a deceptive pattern that phrases choices confusingly, so people end up doing the opposite of what they intend. Double negatives, mismatched checkboxes, and deliberately ambiguous labels mislead users - like 'uncheck this box if you do not want to not receive emails' - so that not reading carefully lands them where the company wants, not where they meant to go.
Read quickly, the tricky version flips you into the opposite of what you wanted - that double negative did its job. The plain version says exactly what it does, so skimming and understanding land in the same place. That's the test of honest wording: a person reading fast should end up where they intended, not where the wording trapped them.
