Comparison prevention
Plans use incompatible pricing units
A fictional provider shows one plan per week, another per four weeks and a third per gigabyte, without a consistent total or usage assumption.
Individual HTML example · Obstruction
Plan details cannot be retained side by side
A fictional quote tool reveals one plan at a time, clears the previous plan whenever another is opened and provides no stable summary of limits, excess or exclusions.
This is an original fictional comparison. It depicts no real company and is not a legal finding or safe harbour.
Plan details cannot be retained side by side
A fictional quote tool reveals one plan at a time, clears the previous plan whenever another is opened and provides no stable summary of limits, excess or exclusions.
Review one plan. Opening another quote removes the earlier plan and changes the order of attributes.. Open next quote. Open comparison table
Compare three quotes. Selected plans remain visible in one consistent table.. Open comparison table. Open next quote. Price, period and commitment, expanded: The price and material terms associated with “Open comparison table” remain beside this choice.
Why the first version can mislead: The route adds avoidable effort between the user’s stated intention and completion. In this insurance quote comparison example, the obstacle is: “Opening another quote removes the earlier plan and changes the order of attributes.” Evidence should show whether the alternative remains usable and whether “Open comparison table” reaches the represented state. A shopper may be unable to compare material dimensions and may default to the plan the interface opens last.
What a fairer design does: Provide a durable side-by-side table with consistent price, limit, excess and exclusion fields, while keeping source detail available.
Show annotated differences (2)
Potentially problematic version
- Open comparison tableIn “Plan details cannot be retained side by side”, this element shows how comparison prevention can shape the decision.
Neutral alternative
- Price, period and commitment, expanded: The price and material terms associated with “Open comparison table” remain beside this choice.In “Plan details cannot be retained side by side”, this element keeps the clearer alternative visible at the same decision point.
Review questions (3)
- How many steps, waits and channel changes separate “Open next quote” from the completed insurance quote comparison outcome?
- Place the compared prices, billing periods and material terms on one evidence sheet; where does it support “At least one material attribute cannot be compared without avoidable transformation or navigation”?
- Measure the same task through the clearest available route: does the effort difference persist once “optional advanced detail with a complete comparable summary” is accounted for?
Complete pattern context
How this example relates to Comparison prevention
Information needed to compare products, plans or consequences is presented in inconsistent, fragmented or unusable form. 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