Dark patterns we will never ship

A dark pattern is any design that quietly works against you so a company benefits. A countdown timer resetting the moment you refresh it. A cancel button buried under three settings menus, and a subscription that keeps renewing long after you've stopped using the thing. They're everywhere because they work, which is exactly why we won't use them.

Our rule is simple. If a feature only makes sense because it exploits your attention or your wallet instead of serving you, it doesn't ship. No manufactured urgency, no guilt mechanics, no roach-motel checkout you can't back out of. A lot of software treats you like a number to chase, not a person to help. We'd rather make something you actually want to keep open.

The same goes for ads. If we ever run them, they'll sit quietly at the edge of the screen and stay there, without an autoplay video trying to grab you or a close button deliberately hard to find. Earning your attention with something worth using beats tricking you into handing it over. We know that's a low bar, and we're clearing it anyway.

This costs us some easy growth, and honestly, we're fine with that. 人間 (human first) isn't a slogan on a page. It's the thing we check every feature against before it goes out the door.