The Everyday Designer #14 — The tale of the unsubscribe button

A few years ago I was working in a place that had low UX maturity. UX was in its infancy and many misunderstood its nature and potential. It was the kind of place and time where I needed to build, establish, and grow a UX presence and team.

At this company, to both encourage ROI and customer loyalty, we created subscribe and save feature for a product that users would naturally purchase on a monthly basis. Over time, we uncovered that these subscribe and save users had a very high lifetime value. In response, we, as a company, made many efforts to encourage users to sign up for subscribe & save.

Initially, we redesigned the product page. We A/B tested many versions and tried all different UI knobs and controls to see which one, was the most enticing to the user. Remember we are talking like 2015 here :)

One technique that was suggested in a meeting was to increase friction in a user unsubscribing. This suggestion in particular was, that if a user wanted to unsubscribe from the program, they wouldn’t simply do it in my account, but they would have to call customer service. Now, I knew as a user-centric designer, this may decrease unsubscribes in the short-term, but in the long-term, this kind of friction would create a negative experience for the user and thus negative emotions towards the brand. This could have long-lasting damage to both the brand’s reputation and even, long-term ROI.

Initially, when I raised this point in the meeting, I was met with resistance. Customer service was a successful department and didn’t mind the extra phone calls. Marketing felt strongly that in our current set up, we lose subscribe & save customers too easily. I argued if the usability to sign up was so simple, the usability to unsubscribe should be on equal footing.

I felt conflicted. I didn’t want to ‘cause too much trouble’, yet I wanted to ensure we were creating the right user experience for our customers. I also felt strongly against the use of dark patterns. Nevertheless, my manager persisted and now, I was faced, along with my team, with the task of building this experience.

When I presented this to the team, I was met with resistance, they too, didn't want to create this dark pattern for our users. I explained how I tried speaking pushing back but how my efforts fell, mindlessly, on deaf ears. We brainstormed a little, then decided as a team that we would all go to the head of marketing to discuss how we weren’t going to design, nor develop this dark pattern.

In the end, we experience that, indeed there is power in numbers! We were able to convince our manager that this tactic would perhaps slightly offset revenue loss, but overarchingly would create a negative association with our brand and lead to further revenue loss down the road. We allowed users to unsubscribe, easily and simply, from within their account, and all was right in the world of UX! Well, at least for that day :)

I would say, the main lesson learned, was to trust my gut, if something doesn’t feel right speak to your coworkers they may feel similarly. There is both power and safety in numbers, no one is expected to do it all alone, so there’s no reason you have to also :)

Another matter that I learned, and this took me a few years, is that it’s very easy to view those who encourage dark patterns as ‘evil’ or ‘bad’. It’s helpful to take a step back and see things from their perspective. Perhaps, they feel pressured or are stressed to meet certain goals or KPIs that month. Once you hold them accountable, they may pleasantly surprise you 🙂

👋 Alex here

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🌊 Currents

I love sharing what I’ve been up to lately and this is one way for me to let you in on what’s been happening in my life.

📚 Currently reading: Pocket Full of Do - Chris Do - While looking through my bookshelf the other day I realized that I had this book, it’s always a great one to come back to and reread and get inspired again.

🌿 Currently inspired: Healthy Together - one of the coolest websites I’ve ever come across built by a friend of mine Ben Fryc, and a few others but super refreshing even the concept of this company. Worth giving that URL a little scrolly scroll. ❤️

😄 Currently excited about: Mirror Coffee Roasters Coffee Box - I’ve been watching these guys grow since they released their first podcast episode and its been so awesome to see them grow into an amazing coffee roastery, this subscription box is perfect for getting a taste of all their offerings.

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