In Sablio's settings there's a Delete all my data button. When you click, something unusual happens: nothing, for 60 seconds.
That's on purpose.
The problem we wanted to solve
I once deleted a Figma project while trying to delete a layer. Happens to everyone once. Deletion interfaces are sometimes too fast.
In Sablio, the Delete everything button is properly final: local database wiped, local backups wiped, encryption keys rotated. No trash. Once gone, gone.
We wanted a confirmation that counted. Not a checkbox. Not a yes/no modal you click through in three seconds on autopilot.
What we tried first
We tried a classic modal: Are you sure? Yes / No. Too easy — you click Yes by reflex.
We tried type your account name to confirm. Better. But annoying when you have a long email, and not really a barrier against stupidity — you type the email and click.
We tried double confirmation (two modals). That slows things down, but you're still in the same mental state. Click Yes, Yes. Same problem.
What we ended up doing
One minute. 60 seconds. When you click Delete everything, Sablio opens a full screen that says:
Your data will be permanently erased in 0:59.
Stay on this page to confirm. Close it or click Cancel to go back.
You can't do anything else in the app during the minute. There's a prominent Cancel button.
Something strange happens in those 60 seconds. People think. They go did I really want this? In our internal tests, about a third of people cancelled during the countdown.
The underlying principle
A destructive gesture should cost a little time, on purpose. Not to punish you. To give you the mental space to change your mind.
Same idea behind the 14 days of the journal: erasure is powerful, so we slow it down just enough to keep it conscious.
Friction isn't always a design flaw. Sometimes it is the design.
— Patrick