Trick wording
1
Purpose
The goal of trick wording is to get users to interpret information incorrectly.
2
Psychological principles
This pattern uses the psychological principles of the curse of knowledge and information asymmetry.
3
Prevention
Users can protect themselves by reading carefully and avoiding assumptions.
Behind the pattern
Trick wording exploits the cognitive biases of the curse of knowledge and information asymmetry.
Curse of knowledge. People familiar with a product or company may make assumptions about the product. This makes it easy to gloss over double negatives or manipulative language.
Information asymmetry. In any transaction, the party that has more information holds a clear advantage. Because of this imbalance of knowledge, the user may make logical but incorrect assumptions.
How to protect yourself
Take your time. Look for double negatives and read each sentence until you fully understand it.
Don’t make assumptions. Avoid making assumptions based on previous experience. Try to take each sentence at face value.