More Problems...
ProductProblems documents the extractive design patterns built into the software you use every day. Not bugs. Not accidents. Structural decisions that convert your attention, your data, and your inaction into revenue.
Each pattern is cataloged by mechanism — what it does, how it works, what it costs users, and what it's costing the companies that ship it.
Attention Extraction
Patterns that capture and extend your time without asking for a decision.
PP-002 · Infinite Feed Loop
A dominant short-form video platform has no pages, no end point, and no moment where it asks if you'd like to continue. You swipe, the next video loads instantly, and stopping is entirely your problem.
PP-004 · Preview Autoplay
A major streaming platform starts playing trailers the moment you pause on a title. You didn't press play. You were still deciding. The app decided for you.
PP-005 · Autoplay Relay
A major streaming platform starts the next episode automatically unless you stop it within a few seconds. The credits are your only exit window. Watching one more episode is the default. Stopping is the action.
Retention Mechanics
Patterns that make leaving harder than staying.
PP-001 · Cancellation Theater
A leading online marketplace membership takes 2 clicks to join and 6 screens to leave. Signing up is a purchase. Cancelling is an obstacle course.
PP-003 · Streak Hostage
A leading language learning app counts your consecutive days of use and resets it to zero if you miss one. Then it sells you a way to prevent the reset. The streak isn't tracking your progress. It's manufacturing something to lose.
PP-014 · Social Graph Lock-In
A dominant encrypted messaging platform stores every conversation, group, and shared photo inside its own walls with no way to take them with you. You don't stay because the app is good. You stay because everyone you know is already there.
Monetization Pressure
Patterns that convert psychological pressure into payment.
PP-006 · Pay-or-Consent Tollgate
A dominant social networking platform gives you two choices: pay a monthly fee or agree to be tracked. There is no third button. Your privacy has a price tag and the platform set it.
PP-008 · Misclick Purchase Trap
A leading gaming platform places purchase buttons next to gameplay controls with no confirmation step. One tap and your card is charged. The interface doesn't distinguish between playing and paying.
PP-009 · Auto-Renew Trial Capture
A major subscription streaming service collects your credit card for a free trial and starts charging automatically when it ends. No reminder. No confirmation. Forgetting to cancel is the revenue model.
PP-010 · Virtual Currency Obfuscation
A major gaming platform prices everything in invented currency sold in bundles that never match what anything costs. You always have too little or too much. The leftover balance is the business model.
PP-013 · Upgrade Denial
A major creative software platform lets you design everything for free. The paywall appears when you try to export it. You've already done the work. Now you can pay or walk away from it.
PP-015 · Wellness Consumerism
A leading meditation subscription app asks how you're feeling, then gates the relief behind a paywall. The upgrade prompt arrives at your most vulnerable moment. Distress is the conversion event.
Identity Capture
Patterns that trade your exposure for access.
Autonomy Erosion
Patterns that shape your choices by controlling the defaults.
PP-011 · Cookie Refusal Friction
A major web platform makes accepting cookies one click and refusing them five. The 'Accept All' button is big, bright, and immediate. Saying no is a scavenger hunt.
PP-012 · Default Acceptance
A major mobile operating system turns on data sharing during setup and buries the off switch in settings you'll never open. You didn't opt in. You just didn't opt out.