Irreversibility & Lock-in

Lock-in occurs when systems make decisions permanent without offering equivalent paths to reversal. Switching becomes technically, socially, or emotionally costly—through data dependency, learning effort, or loss of status.

Irreversibility amplifies power asymmetries. People stay not because they choose to, but because leaving has become too expensive. The system reads loyalty where dependency exists.

Good UX treats consent as reversible. Systems that obstruct exit may succeed functionally, but they are structurally risky.