How to improve an off-boarding experience
Have you gone through the process of canceling a contract with a mobile network or a gym subscription? Was it smooth? The way we judge an experience depends on how we felt at two specific moments. At the peak or most intense point of the experience and at its end.
The peak-end rule is a psychological heuristic that describes a biased process of forming memories. Situations ending on a high note will be remembered in a more positive light.
Let’s focus on the off-boarding experience that will help to remember the brand more fondly.
6 tips about ending on a high note
Here are the ways to design an effortless off-boarding experience and turn it into your asset.
1. Off-boarding options are easy to find
Instead of preventing cancellation, design the experience that leaves a lasting positive impression. Users who want to quit will always find a way out, adding friction is counterproductive. The links should be easy to locate. Users have expectations for where they can accomplish the task of opting out (eg. inside the Settings) and how the links will look like.
2. A primary action button is for downgrade
Some platforms try to trick you into clicking the wrong button to stop you from opting out. This is ethically borderline and practices like this are on the list of UX dark patterns. This dubious choice can help to hit retention numbers, but at this point, they are only vanity metrics.
How many users will like the fact that the option to continue with the downgrade, cancellation, or un-subscription is de-emphasized? The button with the highest emphasis should match the main users’ goal. Primary buttons should only appear once per page. Alternative actions, like for example Pause Subscription, should not stand out on the page. All the links should be labeled properly eg. Unsubscribe.
3. Users have to feel in control
Sometimes to switch to a lower plan or to downgrade from a paid to a free plan, first we need to meet the free plan limitations. For example, there could be a limit of users per project or a limit of storage. These requirements need to be met without disrupting the content user created.
Users have to have full control of these choices. The step when they take this decision becomes an integral part of the downgrade process. Build an experience where downgrade offers the same inclusiveness as upgrading. Let users pick a plan that suits them best, in this case free, or offer a possibility to pause a subscription. Give them full control of their content.
Users have to have full control of these choices. The step when they take this decision becomes an integral part of the downgrade process. Build an experience where downgrade offers the same inclusiveness as upgrade. Let users pick a plan that suits them best, in this case free, or offer a possibility to pause a subscription. Give them full control of their content.
4. Copy is tactful, not pushy
Messages like “You’ll miss us when you’re gone.” or “You’re going to miss some great deals!” not only sounds desperate but makes users feel guilty. These practices are known as negative opt-out, manipulinks and confirmshaming.
On the other hand, a well-thought copy could be an opportunity to win back hesitating customers. Or at least transform them into brand advocates. Let’s take a look at the list of songs that Spotify prepared for customers who opt-out of the Premium account. When we read the song titles they form the message that says: If you leave us now, you’ll take away the biggest part of us. Creating something extra for leaving customers is a sign of an exceptional customer experience.
5. Feedback is optional
Users don’t owe any feedback to get out. Leaving feedback after completing the off-boarding process has to be optional.
If you ask users about the reason behind their off-boarding, segment them into two groups. The first group is a non-regrettable churn (leaving for reasons unrelated to your product). Second, the regrettable churn, users leaving because of reasons caused by your product or service.
Include questions that will let us know whether they can no longer afford the product or the perceived value doesn’t align with the money they pay. Ask users if they’re not satisfied with the product, or if it is not used enough. The reason might be various. Maybe some functionality is missing or an existing feature should be more discoverable or users have changed their daily routine which affected their usage patterns.
6. Alternative solutions are based on feedback
The retention practices can get really smart if they are based on insights. After users told you why they decided to downgrade, show them alternative options based on what you’ve learned. Churn management is an iterative process, so test what works and check if you are offering them a solution more suitable to their needs. It could be a pause in the subscription, a discount if they decide to renew. Maybe a plan with an extra potential or the opposite, a less feature-rich plan.
Sometimes despite the well-designed off-boarding, it can be difficult to understand users’ motivations. If we need to know where to act to prevent bigger churn, there is still a myriad of ways to get those insights anyway. We can reach out to the support department and study the most common complaints. We can read reviews where our product is mentioned. Or we can seek patterns among clients who are constantly seeking help.
A good practice is to accept that users’ needs can change
Users decide to leave or pause the service. Therefore the best products are designed with users’ needs in mind and a goal of understanding their motivation. Sometimes it could be beneficial for a long-term product strategy to face a little bit of churn. Not always churn is bad. It helps us learn about our customers. It allows us to install a feedback loop with a scope of understanding users to prevent a bigger churn.
I’d love to see some type of legislation that mandates a standard 3-step account deletion or unsubscription process. Until then UX designers can make off-boarding consistent for users and instill accountability.
Additional resources
A great explanation of why our memories differ from our experiences and what is peak-end rule
Every user interaction is like a conversation with a brand About bad copy, confirmshaming and manipulinks
This article explains why churn isn’t always bad
Hick’s law — why it’s better to reduce the number of choices when collecting users’ feedback.
