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Saying it’s a weak example of asshole design does not equate to defending Amazon.

It’s possible for Amazon to be extremely predatory and shitty, as well as this not being a very good example of how shitty they are, at the same time.

…being within the same container does not make them both the same clickable target. Do you know from personal experience that clicking “Cancel anytime” is clickable? Because as I said, over two hours ago,

It’s not possible to know from this screenshot alone if “Cancel Anytime” is a clickable target or if it’s just text, but when taking a quick glance at least to my eyes the options seem pretty clearly delineated. Amazon sucks and they are plenty predatory, I’m just saying this is a pretty mild example of hostile UI if at all.

Oh you just did it! "Cancel anytime" is not underneath the button, it is part of the affirmative button. Part of.

…but it’s not part of the button. The yellow button that says “Continue with Amazon Prime” is fully contained within the yellow button that one would click to proceed.

I’m not sure how much clearer the decline option being on the left, and the proceed option on the right, highlighted in yellow, could be.

And again, the “Cancel anytime” subtext isn’t even clickable, so what deceptive action has Amazon engineered here? For someone to click on a non-clickable target?

There’s no arguing that this is stupid design, but that doesn’t make it asshole design. Hanlon’s razor and all that.

I’ve been pretty clear that Amazon is predatory and well-known to be shitty. I’ve been clear using my own example of how difficult it is to cancel Amazon Prime as a great example of hostile UI design.

It’s possible to have an intelligent conversation about how the specific example used in this post isn’t a very good representation of hostile design, especially compared to the other egregious things Amazon has done and continues to do.

You don’t need to resort to being rude, it’s okay to say you don’t agree.

Still the undisputed throat goat.

The buttons are affirmative or refusal.

Yes, they are: the link on the left clearly states “Continue without Amazon Prime”, the button on the right clearly states “Continue with Amazon Prime”. I don’t share your view that “Cancel anytime” underneath that button is confusing.

The user shares some responsibility in reading what they are clicking on - this is also why “I didn’t read it” isn’t a valid legal defense against a contract or terms you agreed to.

We’re having a conversation, there’s really no need to be hostile. You’re allowed to have your own view, as am I.

And has "cancel ..." like you'd expect on a cancel button. If you stop reading or are skimming (we all do it) you think it's the cancel button. This is very likely a deliberate choice.

But there’s nothing to cancel here, so in this context there’s no basis for assumption that there would be a cancel button - cancel what? A subscription you don’t yet have? It’s not a logical conclusion.

Sure, we all skim sometimes, but this isn’t a 40 page terms of use document. There are less than 100 words in this entire screenshot. It takes less than 30 seconds to read everything on this page and make an informed decision.

I see your point, and of course each user’s interpretation is going to be different.

But I think you made another good point in your second paragraph - the effectiveness of these is dependent on user ignorance.

I’m not saying by any means that it’s the user’s fault if they fall prey to hostile UI, but there is some responsibility on the user to actually read what they’re clicking before they click, in the sense that you can protect yourself from a lot of scenarios like this just by taking a moment and reading.

I understand that’s easier said than done, trying to help my parents with technical support items is infuriating to watch them click “ok” on a dialog box and then ask you afterwards what it said - like, there’s an easy solution: read, then click. Not the other way around.

The examples in the FTC complaint are all well and good, and as I already said, Amazon sucks and their predatory practices are well-known, but this specific example, the one we’re talking about on this post, is pretty pedestrian.

If the OP were to post the 7-step process it takes to cancel a prime membership, that would be firmly and wholly in asshole design territory, I know, I’ve had to go through it myself. But just posting a screenshot of a mild upsell that has a clear set of binary options on opposite sides of the screen and saying “Amazon bad” doesn’t really contribute much - everyone knows Amazon sucks, and there are plenty of examples of them sucking, this just really isn’t a very good one.

It’s not possible to know from this screenshot alone if “Cancel Anytime” is a clickable target or if it’s just text, but when taking a quick glance at least to my eyes the options seem pretty clearly delineated.

Amazon sucks and they are plenty predatory, I’m just saying this is a pretty mild example of hostile UI if at all.

Why would it be two buttons on the right, and what behavior would you expect if “Cancel Anytime” was a button?

The goal of this is to get you to sign up for Prime, so there’s nothing yet to cancel.

This is “annoying” design in the sense that getting an upsell is annoying, but I don’t really see it as malicious/asshole.