3. Choose your economic model
Page reading time: 10 min
→ Notions linked to respect for users are very much connected to the choice of the economic model.
Example
In an advertising funding model, the service will tend to make its users stay as long as possible (to expose them to advertisements). It is therefore difficult to respect all the good practices that follow.
Please note: the economic models mentioned do not prevent the use of dark patterns.
Here is the list of economic models we will be discussing:
Sale of products and services
Selling involves offering goods or services in exchange for financial compensation. These goods may be material (clothing, books, etc.) and/or services (design services, training, etc.).
Key points
This model is interesting because it allows the user to see what is being accepted in return for the service (often monetary). However, care must be taken to:
- not encourage users to buy and/or to buy more than they need;
- be clear about the conditions of purchase right from the start of the buying process.
Examples
| to prefer | to avoid |
|---|---|
| The clothing brand Loom is careful not to push users to consume. | H&M, on the other hand, encourages users to consume. The company highlights items that can be worn with the chosen garment and garments bought by other users. |
Subscription
A subscription is a contract between a supplier (of products or services) and a customer. The customer agrees to pay a sum of money on a regular basis in exchange for a product or service.
Key points
This model enables visitors to understand (make visible) the compensation expected in exchange for the service. However, care must be taken to:
- make it easy to unsubscribe;
- do not ask for non-essential information before you need it (bank card, etc.);
- do not try to retain the user's interest by resorting to deceptive practices.
Exemples
| to prefer | to avoid |
|---|---|
The information site Les Jours clearly indicates the details of the subscription. It specifies: the formula, the next due date and the subscription start date. Subscribers can cancel their subscription at any time. |
Meetic makes cancelling a subscription particularly complicated. Subscriptions are renewed automatically, and users must cancel no later than 48 hours before the scheduled end of the subscription. |
Commission on the transaction
The company provides services and/or products that it does not produce itself. It therefore takes a commission on each transaction carried out on its platform.
Key points
You must take care to:
- be as transparent as possible about commissions. Commission on transaction is often used in conjunction with other models, making it difficult for users to understand.
- do not favour products/resellers over others.
Examples
| to prefer | to avoid |
|---|---|
| Capsule Supply is a marketplace for illustrated goodies. It strives for transparent and fair remuneration and clear contracts, with a minimum of assigned rights. | Malt is a freelance aggregator. It highlights freelancers over others and practises commissions that are not very transparent. |
Subvention
This is financial assistance that may be paid to a private individual, natural or legal entity, by the State or a public person. The aim is to promote an activity (often of general interest).
Key points
Suggested best practices:
- Do not influence users in order to satisfy the opinions of those who are providing the subsidy;
- Do not give more prominence than expected to the subsiders and be transparent about the method of subsidy (private sector, public sector, etc.).
Examples
| to prefer |
|---|
| Questions d’assos (the podcast for and by associations) lives 100% off sponsorship. It doesn’t put the spotlight on its sponsors any more than it should, and displays them on its site. |
Donation
A company (or organisation) accepts unrequited donations from individual (or institutional) donors. Donors may be customers, users or supporters. Donations are often used to fund causes or projects with a social or environmental objective.
Key points
The advantage of donating is that the service has the freedom to promote its opinions. What’s more, the user is not the product. However, care must be taken:
- to be transparent about how donations are used;
- not to push/persuade visitors to donate (by using persuasive or misleading design).
Examples
| to prefer | to avoid |
|---|---|
| Framasoft (popular education network devoted mainly to free software) tries to be transparent about the use of donations and not push for donations. | Wikipedia has sometimes asked for donations in a rather intrusive and guilt-inducing manner on its website. |
Advertising
Advertising is often used to offer free content. The organisation receives remuneration by placing advertisements in different places and/or at different times of the interface. There is also the targeted advertising model. This involves profiling users in order to deliver personalised advertisements.
Key points
The advertising model should be avoided, because it adds a layer of information to the user. This interferes with their attention and distracts them from the basic content. You need to be careful:
- not to have a negative impact on the user's attention in order to maximise profits;
- to limit the number of advertisements needed to function, so as not to overload the site or service;
- to limit the number of times the same ad is displayed (low capping: low number of times the same ad is views);
- not to disguise advertising, visually separate it from the rest of the content;
- to avoid intrusive formats;
- not to block the user journey;
- to give priority to contextual advertising over targeted advertising (ad content corresponding to the theme of the service or site).
Examples
| to prefer | to avoid |
|---|---|
| The Le Monde website limits the number of advertisements, so as not to disrupt the user journey too much. | On the other hand, Facebook maximises the number of advertisements and does little to differentiate them from the content. This makes it difficult for users to distinguish between advertising and content. |
Sale of associated data
This involves selling information that has been collected (or inferred) from customer data. This data may come from:
- browsing history;
- interaction on social networks;
- online purchases;
- application usage behaviour;
- location data;
- ...
The data is used to create detailed user profiles.
Key points
These data sales are generally highly opaque. They raise questions about privacy and security. This model may encourage the company to encourage the user to stay as long as possible on the service. The aim is to maximise data collection.
Example
| Example of use |
|---|
| AlloCiné has chosen to use this model in the case that the user does not subscribe to their service. |
Services offered by external companies
Third-party companies provide commercial offers to a company's customers when they interact with it.
Key points
Information (not requested by the user) is added throughout the journey, making it longer. In addition, this model encourages consumption and raises questions about data sharing and the protection of privacy. Care must be taken to:
- choose services that users will need frequently;
- choose external companies carefully.
Examples
| to avoid |
|---|
| Fnac sometimes offers insurance. The site encourages people to take out this insurance by offering a discount. |
The plural use of these economic models
All of these models are often deployed in a variety of ways. It is important to maximise transparency when using several economic models. Transparency makes it easier for users to understand the service's intentions.
Examples (to avoid)
Spotify combines two models:
- Advertising (corresponding to less than 15% of its revenues);
- Subscription (more than 85% of its revenue).
The advertising model is used here to push users towards subscription by creating a high level of friction.
2. Define the need