Findings / UX-029
Opening an article charges a penny with no notice
OpenHighFailurenewsroom.sgit.ai
What we saw
The chip changes from £5.00 to £4.99 on opening any article, silently. In the synthetic-user study this exact moment made a retired reader ask whether she owed money.
Why it matters
The first thing a new reader learns about the reading meter is that their balance dropped without being told.
The fix
Announce the first charge once, in words, at the moment it happens.
The record
| Status | Open |
| Severity | High |
| Kind | Failure: works against the reader |
| Product | newsroom.sgit.ai, site |
| Where | https://newsroom.sgit.ai/articles/ |
| Problems | Silent change, Unlabelled |
| Visibility | Subtle: felt more than seen: it costs attention or trust, but is not noticed as a bug |
| Recommendation | Say what it is: label it, in the reader's terms, at the moment it matters |
| Area | Money |
| Breaks | Label the money, and never surprise with a charge |
| Observed | 2026-10-11, v0.6.4 |
| Last checked | 2026-10-11, v0.7.1 |
| Source | Review: first visit |