21–30 of 191 posts
2nd thought is that every dark pattern that makes it harder to cancel or easier to sign up is a bullet point on a resume of a growth hacker somewhere.
These companies do a lot of dark patterns, but you stressing things such as this and others really discredits your otherwise valid argument.
"Deceptive patterns" is now the preferred term for what used to be called "dark patterns" It's both more descriptive and avoids equating "dark" to "bad". I've also heard "hostile patterns" as an umbrella term that covers deceptive patterns as well as careless UX problems like a design that isn't accessible.
Mostly this is great with the big streaming services. Want Disney+ or Paramount+ for a month to watch a show? Sign up. Immediately cancel within Apple's App Store app. Simple. And if I have a complaint, Apple has generally favored me. For example, I recently signed up for a streaming service and their app simply wouldn't work. No idea why. Pinged Apple for a refund. Got it immediately. No hassle.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are any of those dark patterns? They all seem very transparent. Set a reminder to cancel the subscription.
If the company is forcing you to put reminders instead of just letting you cancel right away, that's a dark pattern. I do not know about Linkedin, but I've seen plenty doing this, like Amazon.
If the subscription is free, and they do not let you keep the benefits if you cancel, then I would still not describe that as a dark pattern.
But it looks like it's now a few button clicks, and a few "are you sure?"s, all online. And it's advertised that you can do it online. "Wanna cancel by certified letter? Perhaps a phone call? No? How about online?" (I'm obviously paraphrasing).
Now, I cannot confirm that the completion of the process works, as I decided to keep the subscription if I can cancel online. But I'll give the NYT the benefit of the doubt and assume the last button to click doesn't say "Call customer retention at 800-555-1212 to complete the process".
EDIT: no, I do not live in CA, nor has the NYT ever had reason to suspect that I do.
No shit! As an anecdote just yesterday I fell for the premium meme on LinkedIn... I could just not stand the idea of not knowing who visited my profile! (how weak of me), they literally charged me 20 bucks (half price) for a month of premium, I bet I will completely forget to cancel the sub next month and I will end up paying 40 dollars for a few more months until I finally decide its been enough... Also, fell for Sp…
I typically add calendar reminders the moment I find myself signing up for something. Current reminders: Cancel Peacock by n-Date; Don't renew Tidal by foo; Downgrade YouTube premium on n;
I have an idea. Lets make a service what would remind you about the need to cancel subscriptions. A cloud based, AI-driven service would scan your email[*] and messages[*][**] to automatically add reminders based on the purchase receipts. And of course you can always add your own reminders![**]
[*] not available on the free tier, for more options check the current plans at https://dontforgettocancel.com/plans
[**] installation of a companion app is mandatory, refusal would be met with account termination[****]
[***] free tier forever!
[****] https://dontforgettocancel.com retain the rights to your money under any circumstances. It's our money, anyways.
Privacy Policy: to perform the advanced matching your emails, messages, photos sitting on the toilet could be sent to 3rd-party to enhance and enrich your experience.
We need more regs about this, it's ridiculous. It's so bad that I'm completely afraid to get out my credit card for whatever reason. Thanks for putting this together but interfering with scrolling, although maybe less impactful, is probably more annoying.