Automatic attention capture
Infinite catalogue without progress cues
A fictional marketplace continuously inserts new products and removes pagination, position and viewed-item markers while promotional prompts follow the shopper.
Individual HTML example · Forced action
Autoplay overrides a session limit
A fictional video service starts another clip when a user’s chosen twenty-minute limit is reached and hides the leave action behind a full-screen recommendation.
This is an original fictional comparison. It depicts no real company and is not a legal finding or safe harbour.
Autoplay overrides a session limit
A fictional video service starts another clip when a user’s chosen twenty-minute limit is reached and hides the leave action behind a full-screen recommendation.
One more video. The next clip starts automatically while the exit sits behind the recommendation.. Keep watching. Leave now
Your 20-minute limit is reached. Playback pauses and stopping is the first available action.. Leave now. Keep watching. What happens next, expanded: Activating “Leave now” produces the outcome stated on the control.
Why the first version can mislead: The additional dependency controls access to the account management goal. The panel states: “The next clip starts automatically while the exit sits behind the recommendation.” Reviewers need to establish whether “Keep watching” is necessary for the selected task or pressures the user into a separable action. The interface weakens a prior decision to stop and can extend use beyond the user’s intention.
What a fairer design does: Pause at the selected limit and show stable choices to leave, extend once or change the setting.
Show annotated differences (2)
Potentially problematic version
- Leave nowIn “Autoplay overrides a session limit”, this element shows how automatic attention capture can shape the decision.
Neutral alternative
- What happens next, expanded: Activating “Leave now” produces the outcome stated on the control.In “Autoplay overrides a session limit”, this element keeps the clearer alternative visible at the same decision point.
Review questions (3)
- What functional need makes “Keep watching” necessary for the short-video feed goal, and can that need be met with less disclosure or commitment?
- Can the dialog be dismissed, what action does each control trigger, and what later state confirms or contradicts “New content starts or loads without an affirmative request”?
- Could the stated purpose make this dependency genuinely necessary under the boundary “User-initiated playlist or explicitly enabled autoplay with a persistent control”, and what product evidence would demonstrate that necessity?
Complete pattern context
How this example relates to Automatic attention capture
Content continues automatically or lacks meaningful stopping cues, reducing deliberate control over time and attention. The label describes a recurring design mechanism; whether a particular implementation is harmful or unlawful depends on the complete journey, audience, evidence and rules within scope.
The full guide explains inclusion and exclusion criteria, harms, fair design principles, evidence questions and the relevant EU legal information layers. The example page isolates one scenario so it can be shared and discussed without reproducing the complete library on one page.
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Sources and provenance for this example
Evidence base
Sources
- Dark commercial patternsOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development · Secondary · checked 2026-09-14 · OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 336
- Unfair Commercial Practices DirectiveEuropean Parliament and Council of the European Union · Primary · checked 2026-08-09 · Directive 2005/29/EC; CELEX 02005L0029-20220528