When I receive an email message notification about an organization’s legal agreement or privacy policy changes, I’m one of those people who reads the message.
I know.
Often it’s an exercise in futility.
Because the organization’s message doesn’t describe what changes have been made.
Instead, the message says something like
We’ve updated our legal agreements. Please visit our policy page.
Which takes me to a page with a wall of text.
A page that takes more than 10 scrolls of a screen to read.
With no indication of changes in the policy.
So frustrating.
Who’s going to read through a long policy to try and figure out what the changes are?
Which is why, when an organization educates their customers about specific policy changes, I pay attention.
Read on to learn why I’m giving a UX win to PayPal for their legal agreements policy update notification.
PayPal Legal Agreement Change Notification
If you’ve ever received an email message notifying you of legal agreement changes, you know they’re often filled with legal phrasing.
Or the email message directs you to the legal agreement page, written with legal phrasing.
Reading through legal jargon is not easy for anyone who’s not an attorney.
Thankfully, that’s not what PayPal did with their legal notification email message.
Their email message provided useful information, including:
- No action needed by users
- Link to Policy Updates page for users to find details about the changes and when changes would go into effect
- How to contact PayPal if you have questions about the changes
Formatted for quick scanning and readability, the email message was concise, easy to read, and provided a summary about the changes.
What I Liked
Like Uptime Robot’s privacy policy message, PayPal didn’t direct users to policy pages to muddle through dozens of paragraphs to puzzle out what changed.
They provided a single point of reference, one Policy Update page, where PayPal:
- Published specific changes
- Explained which legal agreements were affected by the changes
- Provided details on when the change would take place
- Explained whether the customer needed to take any actions
- For several policies, explained why the change was happening (to conform to government policies)
And included something I feel strongly about: PayPal added the publication date to the page with the legal agreement changes.
PayPal respected users’ time and provided succinct, clear explanations of the changes.
Summary
PayPal provided a quick way to learn what changes were made in their legal agreements, in concise, readable language, without the legal jargon.
From one single point of reference, PayPal users can learn the change details, when the changes take place, what action needs to be taken, and where to ask questions.
I wish more organizations were as transparent about changes in their agreements and policies.
Well done, PayPal on your UX win.
