Comments on: The unsubscribe roach motel: an email subscription anti-pattern https://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/ User Experience Design, Research & Good Old Fashioned Usability Wed, 01 May 2019 06:20:29 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bryan https://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-263239 Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:24:13 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-263239 I agree with the author: unsubscribing should be EASIER than subscribing. That turns the risk to near-zero. Remember AOL (AO-hell)? Trying to cancel their service was like looking for water in the desert.

Put the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email. DON’T make me enter my email address, password, name or shoe size to unsubscribe. If your system is not capable of embedding my account info in the link, then get a better system.

]]> By: User Interfaces Designed to Trick People | Serving Niches Blog https://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-142787 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 12:03:28 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-142787 s widely ignored) [...]]]> […] Email sending systems that require you to log-in (using a long forgotten password) in order to unsub… (This is actually forbidden by the revised CAN-SPAM 2008 rules, but it’s widely ignored) […]

]]> By: Mrlongsworth https://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-135715 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:31:56 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-135715 I recently had the pleasure of doing this same horrible routine a couple of months ago I really didn’t know about this until it happen to me. I didn’t know my password so I waited on my old email to receive the email, was a very horrible time consuming experience. I think majority of people dont do this I think most would just click the spam button should be one button process and one page after saying thanks for blah blah and then a small button saying “do you really want to leave?” Thanks for this, a good read.

]]> By: harrybr https://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-78933 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:19:00 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-78933 You're right, I do present a worst-case scenario, yet one that I constantly find myself in. Some niches tend to engage in this practice more than others. Job boards tend to be offenders, as do estate agent (real estate) sites.

]]> By: Ben https://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-78918 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:37:03 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2008/11/26/the-unsubscribe-roach-motel-an-email-subscription-anti-pattern/#comment-78918 I guess I'm a corporate altruist because whenever I see something that I subscribed to (or even something legitimate that may have gotten my email from another site I belong to), I'll mark it as 'not spam' and remove myself the old fashioned way. I just worry about the reliability of the spam system if things like Sierra Club mailings become marked as spam.

Most of the time I'd say it's not as complicated as you presented, only a few sites require a password.

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