Overview
Adobe Stock is a subscription service offering royalty-free photos, videos, music, and more. However, users frequently report frustration with its cancellation process, including:
No renewal or billing reminders leading to unexpected charges.
A complicated, multi-step cancellation flow makes it difficult to cancel.
In this project, I aim to improve Adobe Stock’s cancellation UX by identifying dark patterns and proposing ethical alternatives to retain users without sacrificing trust or compliance.
Conceptual
Role:
UX Designer
Platform:
Web
Timeline:
July 2025
Problem
Adobe Stock's users struggle to cancel their subscriptions without friction. These short-term retention tactics used cause user frustration, distrust and even financial harm.
Furthermore, this can lead to various negative consequences, including: increased support tickets, disputes, legal risks, refunds and reputational damage, whilst impeding customer lifetime value (CLV) and sustainable growth.
Goals
User goals:
Cancel easily and transparently.
Avoid accidental renewals or hidden fees.
Business goals:
Retain subscribers and grow revenue.
Minimise operational costs and reduce legal risk.
Research insights
What users are saying
The general consensus is that users ar eoutrages by the deceptive patterns that Adobe uses when users try to cancel their subscription.
On Trustpilot, Adobe Stock scores a 1.2 out of 5 stars from 246 reviews.
Below are various user quotes, venting their frustration on online forums and reviews:
Additional secondary research
Below is a summary of my findings whilst doing secondary research and looking at various articles available online:
Dark patterns and deceptive subscription practices violates user trust, leads to legal consequences and brand damage.
Win-back mailers prove to be an ethical alternative in reducing churn and drive more returns than forced retention. For example, 50% of cancelled Netflix users return within 6 months.
Users mostly cancel due to pricing sensitivity; inflation pushes cancellation rates higher than usual.
Users want flexibility, transparency, and immediate value.
Hypothesis
By simplifying Adobe Stock’s cancellation flow with ethical design and supplementing cancellations with strategic win-back mailers, I predict:
User benefits
Increased satisfaction & trust
Business benefits
Lower operational/support costs
Increased Customer Lifetime Value
Reduced legal/compliance risks
Reduced churn
Strategic advantage
Competitive differentiation
Actionable insights from exit surveys leading to product improvements
Ideation
Streamline the cancellation flow
Reduce to 3 steps max (vs. current 4+).
Or add a progress bar for transparency.
Can combine steps into one scrollable view (e.g. offers and details of cancellation)
Offer value before exit, sooner
Alternatives prominently shown:
Pause subscriptions (1-3 months)
Downgrade to a cheaper plan
Discount for annual billing
Prevent accidental drop-offs
Browser-close warning: "Cancellation not complete. Leave anyway?"
Post-cancellation win-back emails
30-day reactivation offer - discount or feature highlight.
Inactive-user nurture by sending them unused asset reminders.
Highlight new exclusive assets or trending downloads.
Personalisation based on content previously downloaded, and suggest similar or new content.
User flow
The current user flow shows the unnecessary steps involved in the cancellation process that users have to endure. Adobe states that the cancellation is a 4-step process, but there are 6 different screens the user has to navigate before finally successfully cancelling their subscription. Even a 4-step process is arguably too long for a simple action such as cancellation and causes the user unnecessary friction.
The suggested user flow makes the process easier for the user and improves the overall user experience and satisfaction.
Current flow:
Suggested flow:
Screenshots:
Solution
To improve the user flow, I combined Step 2, 3 and 4 of the existing flow (offers and cancellation details), and removed other redundant pages. Thereby drastically reducing the amount of steps involved for the user. Resulting in a 2-step cancellation process.
I have also given the alternative offers a more prominent focus.
Below is new step which combines step 2, 3 and 4 into one page:
Expected outcomes
Higher ethical retention
Higher percentage of users will choose alternatives (pause/downgrade) instead of cancelling.
Decreased reductions in full cancellations from streamlined flow.
Improved user trust & returns
Increased cancellation satisfaction score.
Increased re-engagement rate within 6 months.
Opportunity to improve product
Increased data behind the reason for cancellation based on user feedback.
Business efficiency
Fewer support tickets.
Money saved in refunds/charge-backs annually.
Metrics & KPIs
Category
Metric
Retention
Alternative offer acceptance rate
Revenue
Revenue retained from alternatives
User Satisfaction
Post-cancellation Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Operational Savings
Reduction in support tickets
Long-Term Growth
Re-engagement rate (6 months)
*Note: Due to the conceptual nature of this case study and not having access to Adobe’s data, there is no cost-benefit analysis or projection available for the suggested metrics.
Reflections and next steps
Ethical design as a competitive advantage
While revenue goals drive decisions, this project proves user trust and compliance are assets, not obstacles. Adobe can lead the stock industry by rejecting dark patterns, mirroring Netflix’s success with transparent cancellations and strategic win-back mailers.
Immediate next steps
A/B test new flow with 10% of users (1 month).
Test group: Simplified cancellation + pause options.
Control group: Current flow.
Measure primary KPIs (offer acceptance rate, support tickets, NPS)
Iterate and refine based on feedback