Circuit report
Guest checkout — single item
A first-time visitor on mobile attempts to buy one item without creating an account. The journey completed, but three friction points cost more than a minute of hesitation and one of them changes the price after the address form.
- Project
- Northwind Storefront
- Environment
- Production · verified
- AI User
- Maya · First-time buyer · mobile
- Run
- run_4821 · 214s · 1 credit
Circuit Canvas
run_4821 · Guest checkout — single item
- 01
Land on storefront
CompletedProduct and price were visible without scrolling.
Maya · 2.4s
- 02
Choose size
FrictionSold-out sizes look identical to available ones until tapped. Maya tried two unavailable options first.
Maya · 18.6s
- 03
Add to bag
CompletedBag count updated and a toast confirmed the addition.
Maya · 1.9s
- 04
Guest or account
FrictionGuest checkout is a text link below a full-width 'Create account' button. Maya hesitated before finding it.
Maya · 22.4s
- 05
Enter delivery details
FrictionPostcode validation failed twice with the message 'Invalid input' and no indication of expected format.
Maya · 46.2s
- 06
Review total
FrictionA delivery surcharge appeared for the first time on this step.
Maya · 12.8s
- 07
Confirm order
CompletedOrder reference displayed and copied successfully.
Maya · 5.1s
Proof Score
Composed of five measured dimensions. Every point is traceable to evidence in the Run — there is no hidden weighting.
- Completion
- 100/100
- Friction
- 61/100
- Clarity
- 70/100
- Accessibility
- 74/100
- Consistency
- 85/100
Did the AI User reach the intended outcome of the journey?
How much hesitation, backtracking and repeated effort occurred?
Were labels, states and system responses understandable in context?
Keyboard reachability, focus order, naming and contrast along the path.
Did patterns behave the same way across steps and roles?
Findings (3)
Each finding names the step where the behaviour occurred, what the AI User experienced and the smallest change that would remove the friction.
Sold-out sizes are visually identical to available sizes
at step · Choose size
Unavailable variants use the same border, colour and hit area as available ones. The AI User selected two unavailable sizes before succeeding.
Recommendation
Mark unavailable variants with a non-colour indicator, disable the control and expose the state to assistive technology.
Guest checkout is visually subordinate to account creation
at step · Guest or account
The guest path is a small text link under a full-width primary button, adding 22 seconds of hesitation at the highest-intent step.
Recommendation
Give both paths equal visual weight, or lead with guest checkout and offer an account after purchase.
Delivery surcharge disclosed only at the review step
at step · Review total
A delivery surcharge appears for the first time after the address form, changing the expected total.
Recommendation
Disclose delivery cost, or an explicit range, on the product and bag steps.
Evidence
Retained evidence only. Raw artefacts from this Run were deleted 24 hours after synthesis.
Evidence Timeline
Ordered by capture time. Raw artefacts are encrypted and auto-deleted within 24 hours of report generation.
- 00:00Screenshot
Storefront above the fold
Viewport 390×844. Product title, price and primary action captured.
step 01 · raw artefact expires in 24h
- 00:01Timing
First meaningful paint
1.24s on a simulated 4G connection.
step 01
- 00:04Issue
Unavailable variants indistinguishable
Sold-out sizes share the same border, text colour and hit area as available sizes.
step 02
- 00:23Observation
Add-to-bag confirmed
Bag counter incremented and a toast persisted for 4 seconds.
step 03
- 00:26Screenshot
Guest checkout decision point
Guest path rendered as a 13px text link beneath a full-width account button.
step 04 · raw artefact expires in 24h
- 00:51Response
Validation response
RedactedForm returned status 422 with the body summarised as: field 'postcode' rejected.
step 05 · raw artefact expires in 24h
- 00:58Issue
Unhelpful validation message
'Invalid input' shown twice with no expected format and no inline recovery guidance.
step 05
- 01:32Issue
Late fee disclosure
A £4.95 delivery surcharge appeared only at the review step.
step 06
- 01:58Screenshot
Order confirmation
RedactedOrder reference visible, copy control present and labelled.
step 07 · raw artefact expires in 24h
Role Handoff Map
1 role · 0 handoffs in this Circuit
- Land on storefront
- Choose size
- Add to bag
- Guest or account
- Enter delivery details
- Review total
- Confirm order
This Circuit runs with a single role. Role Circuits add reviewer and approver handoffs.
Against the Baseline
This Run is compared with the approved Baseline for the same Circuit.
Before / After Proof
Guest checkout — single item
Baseline
Baseline — Checkout v3
run_4602
71
Proof Score
Candidate
Candidate — build 1184
run_4821
78
Proof Score
| Dimension | Baseline | Candidate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completion | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| Friction | 48 | 61 | +13 |
| Clarity | 58 | 70 | +12 |
| Accessibility | 71 | 74 | +3 |
| Consistency | 80 | 85 | +5 |
| Journey duration | 301s | 214s | -87 |
| Open findings | 6 | 3 | -3 |
Resolved
- Postcode format now shown inline
- Bag confirmation persists on mobile
Regressed
- Delivery surcharge moved one step later in the flow
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Northwind Labs is an invented company and no real website was tested to produce this page.