No Spam
Here are a few screenshots I took at the end of 2011. I was cleaning house and just trying to cut down on the amount of noise I have in my inbox. It lead to more than a few examples I want to praise. And a few more examples that made me red in the face. If you get anything from this post, please comment on it or share it. I have a feeling it will be helpful to a lot of talented product developers out there. Enjoy!
WORST PRACTICES
Yeah, I’m naming names.
Best Buy
This is a footer. It’s the Sasquatch of footers. Where’s the unsubscribe link? Talk about the missing link!
Wait, am I unsubscribing or subscribing? Checking a radio button to opt-out, is confusing. UI 101: Checked means yes. Unchecked means no.
Online Marketing Connect
For OMC there’s really no such thing as unsubscribe. Oh, wait. Yes there is. Waaaaay down there at the bottom below all of the other crap above it.
RealSimple
Really? Simple?
If I click on an unsubscribe link, I don’t want to have to click again. If I clicked on it accidentally, maybe I’d want a way to click to undo. But don’t make me tell your twice, please.
Gartner
I saved the best for last.
“Managing” subscriptions does not equal unsubscribing. Even if I have an account, I want a way to effortlessly unsubscribe. What follows is a mess.
Log in. No! I shouldn’t have to.
When I do log in, couldn’t you at least redirect me to the “manage subscriptions” page I clicked a link on for originally? Instead I have to look for where that might be. Perhaps under “My Profile?”
OK, there it is. Wait. My options are “RSS” “Turn Off” “Update” and “Delete.” And they’re over in a sidebar. Shouldn’t the size and position of Alerts management be switched here? Gah! OK, so I’ll click “Delete” and see what happens.
Page alert dialog! Go away!
I know they can do better. In-page modals are better for this kind of thing. Or better yet, Ajax it. You guys are creeping me out with your faded gray backgrounds, orange boxes and misaligned submit buttons.
Forrester
Three links? Really? One of them isn’t even an unsubscribe. What if I click unsubscribe when I really just wanted to see a list of upcoming teleconferences? Oops!
Oh great, another login.
Now where’s that delete button?
MomsRising.org
Moms, I love you. But seriously. I’ve looked too long to find that damn unsubscribe link. If it’s here, I give up. What next? Reply? Tried that. No dice.
eMarketer
Captcha is overkill. Don’t do that to me. I had a hard enough time signing up for your damn site with captcha.
ZipRealty
This cracks me up. I clicked unsubscribe. I’m pretty sure I got unsubscribed in one click. Great! Only, no user feedback. If I didn’t “get it” I’d think I had to check these boxes or do something else. Or no? Nevermind what I said before. I’m confused anyway.
Qwiki
Clicked on the unsubscribe link in an email to find this. OK, fair enough. Systems change. I’ll forgive you this once.
OK, weird that I have a login form here. But whatevs. I’ll wait for that email and see what it says.
Roger that. Proceed. So far so good.
OK. So now what? Change my password and unsubscribe at the same time? What’s the point? It’s like washing your death row dishes. I’m never going to use this password again!
BEST PRACTICES
Where to put your un-subscribe link
Just keep it simple. Every email should have a simple footer. Make it the very last thing on the page. That way I know where to find it.
Amazon.com
I don’t want to opt out of everything Amazon. I’m still a customer. So I’ll indulge the fat footer. But at least it’s visible and called out.
Boxes are checked. Who cares. On a list of one item, this isn’t really necessary. But I will forgive. I can click “Unsubscribe” from individual announcements, or “Unsubscribe from all” which I did. Let’s see what happens.
Email confirmation! Counter-intuitive? Perhaps. But I like getting a receipt. It’s honest in a way. I have an itemized list of all the stuff you said you wouldn’t send me again. Great. I’ll archive it and hold you to it. Goodbye!
Best Practices
This is the best. I clicked unsubscribe from the email and that’s it. One click. No hassle.
Simple- One-step Unsubscribe (With an Optional Step-2)
Same as the previous example. Click on the unsubscribe link and you’re unsubscribed.
But if I’m feeling like an extra couple of clicks, I can tell you why. Not necessary, but why not?
And an email confirmation. Thanks. I like this one because if I made a mistake (or someone unsubscribed me without my permission) then I get a chance to re-subscribe quickly.
YouTube
How easy was this to find? Really, really, really easy.
Goes right to my account settings > email options page. Word. The rest is clearly explained for me. I get it, subscriptions and notifications are complicated on sites like Facebook and YouTube. There’s a lot of messaging going on automatically with UGC. Google makes it easy, friendly and trustworthy here. Good on ya.