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Customer Experience

Terms and Conditions Apply

6 min read Translated from the Arabic original

Introduction

As customers, reviewing the terms and conditions is one of the touchpoints (interactions) within the customer journey, particularly in the service sector. The first impression most readers get from this article’s title is negative. Most of us, as customers, have grown accustomed to agreeing to terms and conditions without ever reading them, and for many reasons: chief among them that they are extremely long, and also that they are written in technical language and complex legal jargon that feels heavy and impenetrable to the average person. We feel the same negative sentiment when we read the phrase “Terms and Conditions Apply” in the fine print of a promotional ad: we sense that there is trickery and games hidden behind the phrase, and we may even instantly lose trust in the advertised product or service simply because that phrase is there.

A Story

One day, Audible — an Amazon company — charged me a subscription fee after the trial period of their service (audiobooks). I reached out to them to say I hadn’t been aware of the automatic charge. They apologized, refunded the subscription, and earned me as a customer for life — a customer who now promotes them and their services without being asked, even though their terms and conditions did mention automatic renewal after the trial period. By contrast, several other companies lost me forever and earned me as an enemy by refusing to refund the subscription fee. As customers, we’ve started resorting to workarounds to prevent online platforms from charging us without our knowledge — and parasitic services have emerged to help customers sidestep the problem, such as single-use virtual bank cards. Yet no one thought to address the root cause: revisiting how terms and conditions are written, and treating them as a touchpoint (interaction) in the customer’s journey with any product or service.

How can we improve the customer experience with terms and conditions?

1

Change begins with changing convictions. We must first abandon the belief that terms and conditions should be drafted by the company’s lawyers. I would suggest they be drafted by UX writing specialists, who are far better equipped to phrase content in a way the user can easily understand — and then reviewed and approved by the legal team.

2

Keep them as short as possible. There is consensus among UX research specialists that people don’t read, or read very little. Don’t deliberately produce a multi-page terms-and-conditions document and then expect people to read it, then blame them when they’re unsatisfied with some aspect of the service, telling them “you agreed to the terms and conditions” or “you are legally bound because you signed willingly.” That mindset is fatal to a customer-centric culture.

3

Use formatting options to your advantage — bold the important parts or use a distinct color so the user notices them while scanning. Remember, users don’t read; they sweep the screen quickly with their eyes.

4

Users process information better when it’s broken into small chunks. You can present only the terms relevant to the service the user is currently trying to use or apply for, and then progressively reveal more terms as they interact with other services. This practice in UX design is called Progressive Disclosure.

This doesn’t preclude having a comprehensive reference version of the terms and conditions available. Some organizations have also started placing parts of their terms-and-conditions content within their FAQ sections in Q&A format, to increase the likelihood that people actually engage with them.

5

When conducting user research before launching a service, take the opportunity to test the terms-and-conditions draft as well — to identify what’s unclear or unfair from the target customer’s perspective, and make the necessary edits before launch.

6

After launch, if customers complain about a specific point in the terms and conditions, remember: a customer only complains about something that is illogical or unfair from their point of view — even if it seems fair and logical from the company’s standpoint. You should concede, thank the customer for their input, and immediately make the necessary edit. Or follow tip #4 and surface those particular terms (the ones customers might later complain about) at the moment they apply for the service. Even better: drop the term entirely to guarantee your customer’s satisfaction.

7

Organize and index the terms and conditions within a table of contents to make them easier to read, or to direct the user to the sections they want to review. I’ve included a good example of this in the additional resources (fourth source).

8

Some applications show short quizzes to users to raise their awareness of the terms and conditions — an indirect way to ensure the user understands and is aware of the most important conditions tied to the service.

What role do regulators play?

Regulators bear a general responsibility to protect customers. If companies overseen by regulators acted of their own accord, there would be no need for the regulations these bodies impose to protect customers. This includes enforcing laws, regulations, and fines on entities that deliberately twist wording or make it vague to confuse customers on purpose. Through their authority, regulators can also require the entities they supervise to modify or add specific clauses within their terms and conditions in response to complaints that have been escalated — thereby closing the door on the same complaints recurring, reducing the operational cost of handling them, and most importantly increasing customer trust and affection for the regulators themselves.

There is also notable movement from the operators of both Apple’s and Android’s (Google’s) app stores in imposing regulations on app owners to improve the user experience with this touchpoint. I expect this pressure to intensify over time in the user’s/customer’s favor.

In closing

To the esteemed readers practicing in CX or UX: don’t be stingy with more tips or practices that could help improve the customer experience with terms and conditions. Their current state is fit only for burying spells and incantations between the lines — because the reality is, no one reads them. And as customers, please intensify your efforts and raise your voice loudly to service providers — complain and express your displeasure at any unfair practices we face in this area, and use every platform to broadcast your views so service providers will move and take the matter more seriously.

Additional Resources

Related framework notes: Customer Journey Mapping, Moments That Matter, Voice of Customer (VoC)

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