Forced registration
Account wall at guest checkout
A fictional retailer removes guest checkout after an item is added and requires a full account, date of birth and saved password before payment can continue.
Individual HTML example · Forced action
Profile required before price estimate
A fictional repair service asks visitors to create a profile and verify a phone number before it reveals even an indicative service price.
This is an original fictional comparison. It depicts no real business and is not a regulator finding, statutory category or legal safe harbour.
Profile required before price estimate
A fictional repair service asks visitors to create a profile and verify a phone number before it reveals even an indicative service price.
Unlock your estimate. Name, phone, birth date and password are required before any price appears.. Full name: Enter full name. Mobile number: Enter mobile number. Date of birth: Enter date of birth. Password: Enter password. Create profile
Estimated service price. The indicative range and assumptions appear before optional saving or booking.. Service postcode: Enter service postcode. View estimate without an account. Purpose and refusal effect, expanded: The form explains why “View estimate without an account” is requested and what happens if it is not used.
Why the first version can mislead: The additional dependency controls access to the pricing goal. The panel states: “Name, phone, birth date and password are required before any price appears.” Reviewers need to establish whether “Create profile” is necessary for the selected task or pressures the user into a separable action. People cannot compare the offer without creating an identity record and may receive communications they did not seek.
What a fairer design does: Show the estimate and its assumptions first, then offer account creation only when it is needed to book or save the quote.
Show annotated differences (4)
Potentially problematic version
- Name, phone, birth date and password are required before any price appears.Why this state matters: The additional dependency controls access to the pricing goal. The panel states: “Name, phone, birth date and password are required before any price appears.” Reviewers need to establish whether “Create profile” is necessary for the selected task or pressures the user into a separable action. People cannot compare the offer without creating an identity record and may receive communications they did not seek.
- Create profileReview prompt: What functional need makes “Create profile” necessary for the home-services quote goal, and can that need be met with less disclosure or commitment?
Neutral alternative
- The indicative range and assumptions appear before optional saving or booking.Fairer design: Show the estimate and its assumptions first, then offer account creation only when it is needed to book or save the quote.
- Purpose and refusal effect, expanded: The form explains why “View estimate without an account” is requested and what happens if it is not used.Review prompt: Which fields or permissions are required, what happens on refusal, and does the resulting state support this criterion: “No equivalent guest or bypass route is available or discoverable”?
Review questions (3)
- What functional need makes “Create profile” necessary for the home-services quote goal, and can that need be met with less disclosure or commitment?
- Which fields or permissions are required, what happens on refusal, and does the resulting state support this criterion: “No equivalent guest or bypass route is available or discoverable”?
- Could the stated purpose make this dependency genuinely necessary under the boundary “legally or operationally necessary identity verification with clear explanation”, and what product evidence would demonstrate that necessity?
Complete practice context
How this example relates to Forced registration
The user must create an account, or is led to believe one is required, to complete a goal that could plausibly be provided without it. This is a design and research taxonomy for learning and evidence review, not a statutory offence label or an automatic finding that an interface is unlawful.
The full guide explains inclusion and exclusion criteria, potential harms, fairer design, evidence questions and separate Australian 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
- Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026Federal Register of Legislation · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2026A00064
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer LawFederal Register of Legislation · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2004A00109
- Manipulative conduct in the digital economy, pricing claims and competition in essential services among ACCC priorities for year aheadAustralian Competition and Consumer Commission · Primary · checked 2026-08-09