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Julien Fleuridas
FR — Passer en français
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Product · Development

One euro

A one-page site that gives before it asks: five true things to learn, then a button.

PrototypeAugust 2026 — ongoingPersonal project

In short

Problem
Asking a stranger for one euro does not work: they have no reason to give, and a page that asks straight away gets closed immediately.
Solution
Flip the order. The site first teaches the visitor five true, surprising things, one at a time, and only shows the button at the end.
What it brings
The visitor gets something before being asked for anything.
Where it stands
Prototype. The site is complete and works, but payment does not exist and nothing is online.
My role
I came up with the idea, chose the anecdotes and the art direction, and steered the build with coding assistants.

The idea

Asking a stranger for one euro does not work. They have no reason to give, and a page that asks from the start gets closed within a second.

So the real question was not "how to ask", but "why would anyone give".

My answer: give first

The site asks for nothing during almost the whole journey. It teaches the visitor five true, surprising things, one at a time, with a gauge that fills up. The button only comes at the end.

You give one euro because you have just received something without being asked for anything.

Choosing the anecdotes

I redid it seven times before I was happy.

The right criterion is not "is it surprising?" but "will someone tell a colleague about it tomorrow?". And each anecdote must be checkable in a minute: the engraver's initials on a coin in your pocket, the arrow on the fuel gauge in your own car.

An anecdote you have to take on trust is forgotten. One you can check is remembered, and retold.

Where it stands

The site is complete, but it takes no money: payment was never set up, and the button is disabled rather than pretending. Nothing is online, so nobody has tried it yet. This project shows a way of designing a page, not a result.

Numbers

3

steps before the ask

the promise, the five things learnt, and only then the ask

Source · flow implemented in the site

5

anecdotes kept after seven attempts

chosen because you can check them yourself in a minute

Source · the project's editorial selection history

What I did

  • Needs definition

    I reframed the real problem: not "how to ask", but "why would anyone give".

  • Product design

    I designed the three-step journey, with a progress gauge and the button revealed at the end.

  • Research

    I chose the five anecdotes on a single criterion: they can be checked in a minute.

  • Assisted development

    The site, the drawing of the coin and the offline mode were built with coding assistants.

Evidence

  • The full site works

    verified

    Three steps, a gauge, five anecdotes and a final button. Everything stays readable without JavaScript, and the site works offline once loaded.

    Source
    the project's single page, with its service worker
    Verify with
    Opening the file in a browser, including with JavaScript disabled.

  • A coin true to the real one

    verified

    The coin on screen reproduces the common side of the euro, down to the engraver's initials. The text invites you to check them on a real coin, so they had to be there.

    Source
    the coin rendering code
    Verify with
    Comparing the rendering against a real coin.

Limitations

  • Payment does not exist: the button is disabled, the site cannot take any money.
  • Nothing is online: no domain name, no hosting.
  • No visitors, so no proof the idea really works.
  • The euro would go to the site's author: it is not a charity collection, and the page says so.

What I take away

  • I reworked the choice of anecdotes seven times. The right question is not "is it surprising?" but "will someone tell a colleague about it tomorrow?". And you must be able to check it in a minute.
  • Giving before asking is not a trick: it is the only real answer to the visitor's question.
  • A small usability detail, keeping the button from moving between anecdotes, improved reading comfort more than any design choice.

What it could bring to a company

  • Any page asking for a commitment (sign-up, donation, free trial) can first offer something real before asking.
  • The anecdote criterion also works for a newsletter or social media: favour what people retell over what merely informs.

Technologies

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • Canvas
  • Service Worker