clarity-action — the point of action
Everything upstream manufactured motivation; this stage audits whether the
site spends it well. Fogg's model: behavior happens when Motivation,
Ability, and a Prompt converge — and at the click moment, ability (ease)
is cheaper to fix than motivation is to raise. Every extra field, every
ambiguous label, every surprise requirement is a tax paid at the moment of
maximum intent. Baymard's checkout research quantifies the stakes: 70% of
carts are abandoned, with surprise costs (48%) and forced account creation
(25%) leading the causes — friction and surprise, not desire.
Consume the inventory's CTA census; walk each conversion path as far as it
goes without creating real accounts or submitting real data.
Rubric
| Check |
Weight |
What to verify |
| Label honesty (Krug) |
×2.5 |
The CTA describes the actual next action in the doer's words ("Start free — no card" not "Get Started", "Empower yourself"). The mindless-click test: can the visitor predict exactly what happens after the click? |
| Singular primary |
×2 |
One visually primary action per screenful; competitors demoted. (Hick's law: decision time grows with alternatives; the CTA moment is the worst place for a menu.) |
| The click's true cost |
×2.5 |
What actually follows the click: how many fields, how many steps, card required?, email verification walls, forced account creation before value. Count interaction cost (NN/g) end-to-end — and walk past the form to first experienced value: minutes and steps from click until the product visibly does its thing (~10 minutes is the modern patience budget). Value unreachable in the first session (sales call, day-long setup) is major even when the form itself is short. |
| Surprise audit |
×2 |
Nothing material appears post-click that wasn't disclosed pre-click (price, card, install size, permissions). Surprise at commitment is the Baymard #1 killer, generalized. |
| Momentum design |
×1 |
Goal-gradient (Kivetz): visible progress accelerates completion — multi-step flows show steps; started states beat blank states. Defaults do the work where honest (Johnson & Goldstein: defaults dominate outcomes) — but pre-checked consent/marketing boxes are dark-pattern findings, not momentum. |
| Objection at the button |
×1 |
The residual fear at each CTA ("can I undo this?", "will I be spammed?") answered at the button in a microcopy line, not in a FAQ. |
| Recovery paths |
×0.5 |
Errors and dead ends: does a failed step preserve input and offer one next step? |
Anchored bands
- 9–10 — Every primary CTA predicts its outcome exactly; the first click
delivers value/progress; zero post-click surprises; objections answered at
the button.
- 7–8 — Labels honest; one extra step or one undisclosed minor
requirement post-click.
- 5–6 — Generic labels ("Get Started") on primaries, or account-before-
value, or two primaries competing on a screenful.
- 3–4 — The path demands commitment before demonstrating value AND
hides a material requirement; or the primary is ambiguous about what it
does.
- 0–2 — Primary CTA broken, circular, or misleading.
Gate: a dead, ambiguous, or duplicated primary caps the journey at 6.5.
Findings
Directions: label-outcome, primary-singular, value-before-account,
disclose-preclick, fields-cut, objection-at-button, progress-visible.
Evidence = the CTA label + what the click actually did when you walked it.
Dark patterns (pre-checked boxes, disguised declines, guilt-copy opt-outs)
are always major+ regardless of conversion impact — this stage audits for
the visitor, and detected manipulation is negative trust (see clarity-trust).
Doctrine suppression: one-primary-per-screen doctrines, no-signup-wall
doctrines etc. are enforced for the site, not argued against.
References: references/action-experts.md.
1---2name: clarity-action3description: Stage 6 of the stranger test — friction at the point of action. Audit every conversion moment with the Fogg behavior model (motivation x ability x prompt), interaction cost, form friction, and commitment honesty. Scored 0-10; a broken primary CTA is a journey gate.4---56# clarity-action — the point of action78Everything upstream manufactured motivation; this stage audits whether the9site *spends* it well. Fogg's model: behavior happens when Motivation,10Ability, and a Prompt converge — and at the click moment, **ability (ease)11is cheaper to fix than motivation is to raise**. Every extra field, every12ambiguous label, every surprise requirement is a tax paid at the moment of13maximum intent. Baymard's checkout research quantifies the stakes: ~70% of14carts are abandoned, with surprise costs (48%) and forced account creation15(~25%) leading the causes — friction and surprise, not desire.1617Consume the inventory's CTA census; walk each conversion path as far as it18goes without creating real accounts or submitting real data.1920## Rubric2122| Check | Weight | What to verify |23|---|---|---|24| **Label honesty** (Krug) | ×2.5 | The CTA describes the actual next action in the doer's words ("Start free — no card" not "Get Started", "Empower yourself"). The mindless-click test: can the visitor predict exactly what happens after the click? |25| **Singular primary** | ×2 | One visually primary action per screenful; competitors demoted. (Hick's law: decision time grows with alternatives; the CTA moment is the worst place for a menu.) |26| **The click's true cost** | ×2.5 | What actually follows the click: how many fields, how many steps, card required?, email verification walls, forced account creation *before* value. Count interaction cost (NN/g) end-to-end — and walk past the form to *first experienced value*: minutes and steps from click until the product visibly does its thing (~10 minutes is the modern patience budget). Value unreachable in the first session (sales call, day-long setup) is `major` even when the form itself is short. |27| **Surprise audit** | ×2 | Nothing material appears post-click that wasn't disclosed pre-click (price, card, install size, permissions). Surprise at commitment is the Baymard #1 killer, generalized. |28| **Momentum design** | ×1 | Goal-gradient (Kivetz): visible progress accelerates completion — multi-step flows show steps; started states beat blank states. Defaults do the work where honest (Johnson & Goldstein: defaults dominate outcomes) — but pre-checked consent/marketing boxes are dark-pattern findings, not momentum. |29| **Objection at the button** | ×1 | The residual fear at each CTA ("can I undo this?", "will I be spammed?") answered *at the button* in a microcopy line, not in a FAQ. |30| **Recovery paths** | ×0.5 | Errors and dead ends: does a failed step preserve input and offer one next step? |3132## Anchored bands3334- **9–10** — Every primary CTA predicts its outcome exactly; the first click35 delivers value/progress; zero post-click surprises; objections answered at36 the button.37- **7–8** — Labels honest; one extra step or one undisclosed minor38 requirement post-click.39- **5–6** — Generic labels ("Get Started") on primaries, or account-before-40 value, or two primaries competing on a screenful.41- **3–4** — The path demands commitment before demonstrating value AND42 hides a material requirement; or the primary is ambiguous about what it43 does.44- **0–2** — Primary CTA broken, circular, or misleading.4546**Gate**: a dead, ambiguous, or duplicated primary caps the journey at 6.5.4748## Findings4950Directions: `label-outcome`, `primary-singular`, `value-before-account`,51`disclose-preclick`, `fields-cut`, `objection-at-button`, `progress-visible`.52Evidence = the CTA label + what the click actually did when you walked it.53Dark patterns (pre-checked boxes, disguised declines, guilt-copy opt-outs)54are always `major`+ regardless of conversion impact — this stage audits for55the visitor, and detected manipulation is negative trust (see clarity-trust).5657Doctrine suppression: one-primary-per-screen doctrines, no-signup-wall58doctrines etc. are enforced *for* the site, not argued against.5960References: `references/action-experts.md`.
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