Trade a Flaw for a Perk
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The Outer Worlds introduces flaws: the game tracks your experience to find what you are not particularly good at, then offers an optional trade - a debuff in that situation for an extra character perk straight away.
The offer follows your behaviour
The publisher’s example is being attacked repeatedly by Raptidons, after which taking the Raptiphobia flaw gives a debuff against those creatures in exchange for an immediate extra perk. The offer is generated by what has actually been happening to you, so it is never random.
The perk is paid up front
Because the reward arrives immediately rather than at the end of a quest, a flaw is a way to accelerate a build at the cost of one specific vulnerability. That is a good trade when the vulnerability is something you can avoid.
Saying no is a real option
The store calls this an optional approach to building the character you want. Declining every flaw keeps you flexible; accepting the right ones buys perks that would otherwise take several levels to reach.
Flaws are one dial on a character whose choices reach further: see being the unplanned variable. The people who travel with you are covered in building a crew with agendas.