Microsoft Teams users are outraged at a new 'Unlock Premium' banner, raising questions about Microsoft's UX designs: "This seems really unprofessional"

Salesforce and Slack just filed a lawsuit against Microsoft over anticompetitive business practices, specifically bundling Teams with Office. However, Microsoft dismissed the antitrust claims, citing that Slack's "lackluster growth" is centered on a lack of video-conferencing support, further indicating that it has nothing to do with Microsoft.

And now, Microsoft appears to be using a clever new way to get Teams users to subscribe to the long-established Teams Premium plan. It's an add-on license that allows organizations with Microsoft 365 subscriptions to enhance their user experience on the platform with extra features, including more personalized and intelligent meetings, enhanced protection, and more.

Now, Microsoft has integrated a prompt to buy Teams Premium in the app's title bar. For context, the Teams title bar, which features the three-dot menu where you'd ordinarily access settings like pinning, feedback, and even zoom level, now includes a new option to unlock Teams Premium (via Neowin).

The title bar usually goes unnoticed, but Microsoft’s new “Unlock Premium” banner beside the three‑dot menu has made it far more conspicuous, sparking controversy and backlash over the company’s design choices. According to Neowin, clicking on the option triggers a pop‑up showcasing its benefits. Users are also offered a 60‑day trial that doesn’t require a credit card.

Users have strongly expressed their thoughts about the recent change, saying "STOP ALL POP UPS AND DISTRACTIONS." Others have implied that, "This is just bad UX that leads to mistrust. Most importantly, this advertisement makes settings very hard to discover - who would think to click "unlock premium" if they want to change notification settings?"

Many have expressed their reservations about the change because it's often not within their purview within a business environment to make the change and unlock Teams Premium. Instead, it requires management or IT privileges to enable the add-on license. According to one frustrated user:

"As everyone else has said, the majority of us are not in a position within our organization to authorize a premium subscription, so please remove it from the interface/allow it to be dismissed. It makes it difficult to find teams settings, because the "..." menu is attached to the unlock premium button. Delete delete delete."

Microsoft was already accused by Mozilla of using "dark patterns" and deceptive tactics to force services like Copilot on Windows 11 users. It'll be interesting to see how the company handles more user enterprise-level complaints about this largely unwanted change in Teams.

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