I would love to hear someone justify how multi-stage forms are ever good for the user. It seems to me like an honest site tells you all the information you're g

I would love to hear someone justify how multi-stage forms are ever good for the user. It seems to me like an honest site tells you all the information you're going to need to enter up-front, in one form so you can decide whether or not to fill out the form with complete knowledge of what you're going to be filling out, that is, informed consent. Multistep forms trick the user whether it's intended or not: you're either collecting a little bit of information knowing the user might not complete the process, or you're pressuring the user into completing a process they wouldn't otherwise complete because they've already sunk so much time into it, when they wouldn't have ever embarked if they had known from the beginning all you were going to ask for. There's a segment of HN that argues that market incentives will always lead to good results for consumers, but here's a clear example where people clearly only care about maximizing conversion and collecting the most data, with no concern for the consumer.