r/darkpatterns

I keep seeing the same cancellation pattern in different apps now:

1. The obvious button says pause, not cancel.
2. The cancellation option is visually weaker or lower on the page.
3. The flow asks for a reason before confirming cancellation.
4. The final screen offers a discount, another pause, or a reminder instead of ending it cleanly.

The frustrating part is that each step looks defensible by itself. Together, it turns a simple user intent into a maze.

What is the worst version of this you have seen recently?

I use the widget often and with the new update the widget now pauses the VPN connection and resumes it a few minutes later. There is no dedicated widget anymore that stops or starts the connection. Again, in the app, the only button you can click is "pause connection" and under that you can stop it but the design pattern doesn't seem to be aligned with what one would expect a VPN service to want.

Nord's operating costs are (assumingly) dependent on traffic throughput. The more traffic that routes through their servers, the higher their operating costs, right? Why would Nord want constant connection? Would not the ideal service model for them be a userbase that only uses their service as needed? I would expect this model of a company that sells user data but Nord states they do not. Maybe someone could explain what I'm missing but this does seem slightly suspicious.