Unsubscribe Notification Microcopy

Over at UX Booth, author Katharine Bierce recently wrote about email notification design strategies. One issue she identified in far too many emails is the “unsubscribe” link, and the variety of ways companies utilize it. Often, that unsubscribe link takes users anywhere but an unsubscribe page:

“When I clicked on the “unsubscribe” option at the bottom of an email, it took me to a login page, not an “unsubscribe” page. […] How frustrating. As a result, YipIt provided me a poor, inconsistent, confusing interaction. Unsubscribe buttons should never yield a dead end.”

Katharine’s article gave me pause. What, I wondered, are the unsubscribe experiences of the companies littering my inbox? A handful of “unsubscribe” links and a much cleaner inbox later, here is what I found:

About.me:

B.A. Event

Meetup.com

US Airways

Speakeasy

Much like US Airways, Speakeasy only unsubscribed me from a specific type of email. But unlike US Airways, Speakeasy let me see and control my other email options at the same time.

Chase

Creative Circle

MIT Enterprise Forum

MIT asked me to verify my email address - a clever way to both stall me, and ensure I didn't accidentally unsubscribe. — MIT asked me to verify my email address – a clever way to both stall me, and ensure I didn’t accidentally unsubscribe.

Intrepid

Snapfish

My personal favorite is Snapfish. On the right they apologize, which is such a nice thing to do that I immediately like them more than I did five minutes ago. Then, on the left, they throw in just a tiny bit of guilt – they’ll miss me!

Yeah, I re-subscribed. Snapfish: 1. Unsubscribe: 0.

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