Customer journey guide · Account Management

Account management and ongoing use journey

Account management determines whether a choice remains meaningful after signup. Review how people find their plan, payments, permissions and communication settings; whether they can reverse an optional choice; and whether prompts, defaults or inconsistent labels steer them away from their intended task. The relevant evidence includes both visible screens and the system state that proves a requested change actually took effect.

Explore 9 related practicesOpen all visual examples

Decision map

Decision points to capture

A reliable review preserves the states surrounding the final action. These are the points where information, defaults, price or friction can materially change what a person sees and does.

  1. The account overview where plan, payment, next event and material settings should be discoverable.
  2. Each settings screen that changes data use, marketing, personalisation, notifications or automatic actions.
  3. The downgrade, pause, refund, return or other control that may reduce revenue or data collection.
  4. Any interruption that asks the user to upgrade, reconsider or grant an unrelated permission.
  5. The completion state and durable record confirming that the requested account change was applied.

Recognition

Signals worth closer review

A signal is not a legal conclusion. It identifies a state or sequence that deserves evidence-led product and legal review in its complete context.

  • Commercially favourable settings are easy to enable but difficult to locate or reverse.
  • Navigation names, button positions or choice meanings change across related account surfaces.
  • A requested downgrade or privacy change is interrupted by repeated offers or additional data collection.
  • The interface reports success while backend state, billing or communications remain unchanged.
  • Important plan or payment information is split across screens in a way that frustrates comparison or control.

Fairer design

Principles for a neutral journey

  • Use stable labels and predictable locations for material account and permission controls.
  • Make reversing an optional choice no harder than enabling it, subject to genuinely necessary safeguards.
  • Separate optional retention or upgrade offers from the action the person is trying to complete.
  • Show the effective date, consequences and current status before and after a material change.
  • Connect interface confirmation to auditable backend state and a support-visible record.

Australian legal context

Keep the legal layers separate

Account design may provide evidence relevant to current ACL rules and, after commencement, the full section 28B test. Section 28B(6) gives non-exhaustive examples of conduct that may qualify; it does not turn every additional step, prompt or inconsistency into a contravention. Subscription account controls may also intersect with section 48F, but only for covered contracts and supplied ending methods. Privacy, financial-services, telecommunications and other sector obligations need their own analysis.

Read the section 28B guideCheck current enforcement

Practice library

Practices affecting the account management journey

The cards below link directly to plain-language definitions, paired fictional interfaces, fairer alternatives, context boundaries and the Australian legal-information layers.

Editorial implementation guidanceObstruction

Account deletion obstruction

Account deletion obstruction is a working label for this design mechanism: Deleting an account is unavailable, disguised as another outcome or burdened by unnecessary barriers. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceForced action

Automatic attention capture

Automatic attention capture is a working label for this design mechanism: Content continues automatically or lacks meaningful stopping cues, reducing deliberate control over time and attention. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management
  • Pricing

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceSneaking

Bait and switch

Bait and switch is a working label for this design mechanism: The user selects a represented action or offer but receives a materially different outcome that favours the business. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management
  • Checkout

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceForced action

Contact harvesting and coerced referrals

Contact harvesting and coerced referrals is a working label for this design mechanism: The service extracts contact information, sends or prepares unwanted invitations, or ties functionality to recruiting other people. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Signup
  • Account Management

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceObstruction

Customer-support obstruction

Customer-support obstruction is a working label for this design mechanism: Access to support needed to resolve a purchase, account, charge or right is hidden or burdened by unnecessary loops and dead ends. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management
  • Pricing

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceObstruction

Dead end

Dead end is a working label for this design mechanism: A consumer-favourable route cannot reach its represented outcome and instead loops, stalls or loses progress. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management
  • Cancellation

2 visual examples

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Editorial implementation guidanceInterface interference

Feedforward ambiguity

Feedforward ambiguity is a working label for this design mechanism: A control does not let the user reasonably predict its material outcome before activation. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Checkout
  • Account Management

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceForced action

Gamified or paid access coercion

Gamified or paid access coercion is a working label for this design mechanism: Desired functionality is practically conditioned on repetitive engagement or an additional payment not sufficiently clear at acquisition. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context
Editorial implementation guidanceObstruction

Privacy maze

Privacy maze is a working label for this design mechanism: Privacy controls are fragmented, inconsistently labelled or layered so that limiting collection or use is unnecessarily difficult. This is editorial implementation guidance for Australian journeys, not a finding of unlawfulness. From 1 July 2027, a similar interface is relevant to ACL section 28B only if the complete consumer-connection, manipulation or unreasonable-distortion and actual-or-likely-detriment test is met. Current ACL rules require a separate assessment.

  • Account Management

2 visual examples

View examples and legal context

Evidence base

Sources

  1. Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026Federal Register of Legislation · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2026A00064
  2. Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including Schedule 2: Australian Consumer LawFederal Register of Legislation · Primary · checked 2026-09-14 · C2004A00109
  3. Dark commercial patternsOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development · Secondary · checked 2026-09-14 · OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 336