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This is a two part question.

Licence Expiration: When a platform license expires, users are logged out and everyone sees the paywall. How should users be notified that this forced log out is about to happen? Only the Admin sees a countdown on their top nav bar, regular users don't know when this forced log out will happen. I thought of a few options:

  1. Upon Log in you immediately see the paywall, don't have time to access the platform. ( seems most used)
  2. Once inside the platform a Modal saying:" Your org. license expires Today at [time].please contact.." Second modal:" Your org. has expired. You will be logged out in 40 seconds. Contact your..."
  3. A banner could be an option too, like for maintenance.

License renewal: When a platform license expires, people are logged out and everyone sees the paywall. When the Account admin renews the license, how should users be notified that they have access again?

  1. If the users returns to the browser tab or enters the platform URL, they will land on the Log in Page with a banner that says: " Subscription has been renewed.." ( I am told by the dev this option cannot be done, they don't have user's info to display this info on the login page)

  2. Everyone receives an email " Your license has been renewed.." with a Log in Link.

  3. Nothing. These things tend to be communicated in person in the office.

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License expiration is a case where you need to strongly warn the user that they need to take action by a certain date. Having said that, being booted out of a system for non-payment is highly upsetting, especially when the user is in the middle of an important task.

Figma gracefully shows a message in bright yellow and tells the user to contact the billing admins, yet still allows the user to function in a limited capacity in the system. (It's often not the user's own fault that a license is expiring, so the user shouldn't be punished.)

Banner that reads: Payment not received, please reach out to your organization admin Redacted 1 or Redacted 2 to resolve this billing issue. Thank you!

The billing contact on file should receive an email ahead of expiration. They should receive another email when the billing issue is resolved.

Does the app user need to know when a licensing issue has been resolved? Probably not. They'll log in and everything will be "back to normal" and they can get on with their tasks. Some systems have "Thank you for your payment" messages in notification centers as extra confirmation. It doesn't need to call a lot of attention to itself.

At the very least, please try not to shut off a license in the middle of a user's workday. Have it expire at 11:59 PM.

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  • Thanks @Izquierdo, totally agree.
    – Giulio
    Commented Sep 23, 2021 at 7:34
  • The thing is I think devs rushing to deploy a solution. I asked in fact if we could extend the session to 11:59 PM on expiration date but I was told that is hard to implement, so the users needs to be booted out at the exact minute.. Usually I am told " Let's start with booting the user out, then in V2 we will improve on that". Then months go by, users complain and we need to rush to implement a better solution.Any suggestion for this team dynamics?
    – Giulio
    Commented Sep 23, 2021 at 7:42
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    I'd say to try to develop a solution with them and meet them where they are. Ask them, what's the most feasible way to suspend a license without interrupting a flow... could they do it after when the user is logged out and warn the user that their license will expire accordingly? Perhaps you could make not interrupting a flow a requirement and then see what solutions they propose.
    – Izquierdo
    Commented Sep 23, 2021 at 14:33
  • Right on. It's easy to fall into trenches and insist on an idea. Good the "work with them" approach, I'll suggest to consider this requirement and see if they find a work-around. Thanks
    – Giulio
    Commented Sep 23, 2021 at 15:21

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