Sludge refers to subtle manipulation that encourages or prompts people to act in a way that is not in their best interest. It is a type of choice architecture that prevents people from making rational decisions for themselves and nudges them towards a decision that can in actual fact be harmful to their welfare.
An example of ‘sludge’ at play could be when it is incredibly easy to sign up to a subscription to something but ends up being extremely difficult to cancel that subscription with added friction and barriers to the task.
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