The checkout said €171.
The final payable total was €218.
That €47 gap wasn’t a calculation error. It was interface design.
Honest Mode is a concept for a browser-side decision layer that helps people see how an interface is shaping their choices before they complete a purchase.
In this fictional airline checkout, the user wants one economy flight with cabin baggage only, no insurance, and no paid seat. Yet the original experience preselects €42 in optional extras, delays €47 in mandatory charges until the final step, introduces unverified urgency, and gives accepting extras far more visual weight than declining them.
Honest Mode first lets the user experience the problem.
Then it scans the interface, identifies five manipulative patterns, connects each finding to visible evidence, separates measurable financial cost from possible behavioral influence, and explains what changed.
But detection is only half of the product.
Honest Mode rebuilds the same booking around the user’s stated intent. Mandatory charges are shown immediately, optional extras are presented transparently, accept and decline receive equal visual weight, cancellation terms are clarified, and every explicit decision is recorded in an Honesty Receipt.
Original payable default: €218
Honest total: €176
Optional defaults removed: €42
Mandatory charges revealed late: €47
The result is not simply a cheaper checkout. It is a decision the user can understand, verify, and confidently own.
Honest Mode is a six-screen high-fidelity prototype built in Flowstep, covering:
01 — Intent capture
02 — Manipulative checkout
03 — Diagnostic scan
04 — Evidence-based X-Ray
05 — Transparent rebuild
06 — Honesty Receipt
The prototype includes connected navigation, selectable findings, dynamic pricing states, explicit consent, and an end-to-end interactive walkthrough.
Public Flowstep file:
https://app.flowstep.ai/file?activeFileId=21d203bd-9dc9-41b0-b3b7-f04a1a603fb3
Built with Flowstep, Flowstep MCP, ChatGPT, and Codex.
Honest Mode is built around one belief:
Interface design should not only optimize conversion.
It should protect the quality of the decision.
Social post:
https://x.com/hmcrafted/status/2083442151824740505