WHEN THE DARK PATTERN IS A GLARING GREEN CHECKMARK

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

After missing the online check-in window, the author couldn't find their boarding pass because the airline app misleadingly showed a green checkmark next to “check-in,” suggesting success even though the action had actually failed. Low-contrast text hid the real status, resulting in a €48 fee, and highlighting how poor visual hierarchy, misleading symbols, and lack of proactive communication turned a preventable system limitation into a user-blamed error.