Effort: Low
What to notice
Let users retain, export or delete trial work and judge the value of continuing.
Where it fits
- Fits
- Trials that accumulate settings or user work
- Use it when
- Users can take their work away.
- Avoid it when
- Some data, such as third-party information, cannot be exported.
How to build it
- Explain the end date and retention conditions before the trial.
- Make export and deletion available during the trial.
- Offer continuation and export from the same place at trial end.
Measure
- Main metric
- Continuation with informed satisfaction
- Guardrail
- Export failures and unintended continued billing
- How to measure
- Track continuation, successful exports and later satisfaction together.
When it backfires
Do not hold user work hostage. Explain retention limits in advance.
Alternatives
Theory behind it
Endowment effect
The value placed on giving something up can differ from willingness to pay to acquire it.
Contested
IKEA effect
Things people build themselves feel more valuable than the same things made by others.
Limited evidence
Psychological reactance
Freedom-threatening messages can prompt anger and counterargument.
Well supported
Evidence limits: An editorial bridge from ownership research; subscription effects in a web trial are unvalidated.