Missing the second most certain user case.
The most universal truth for any business is that their customer is alive. This is the most certain user case—so obvious it's never discussed. But what about the second most certain event that every customer, regardless of product or price, will experience? Death.
While companies pour resources into optimising sign-up flows and retention strategies, they systematically fail to plan for the ultimate ending of their customers. This oversight is not just an emotional miss; it creates a massive administrative burden for grieving families and represents a colossal operational failure for businesses.
The Scale of the Aftermath (UK Data)
Analysis here uses demographic and market penetration data from the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) and regulator Ofcom to quantify this overlooked problem.
680,000 annual UK deaths
Service penetration according to Ofcom.
Ages 16-64 have around 97% service penetration
Ages 65-74 have around 91% service penetration
75+ have around 71% service penetration
Avergage.
95% penetration rate for key services (mobile, broadband, streaming),
Estimated People Dying Annually with an Open Contract
For a high-impact figure, a conservative estimate for the average number of service contracts per person at death who holds any contract is around 3.0 to 4.0 (e.g., mobile phone, broadband, and 1-2 streaming/service subscriptions).
680,000 (uk deaths) x 0.95 (average service penetration) = 646,000
Using a conservative multiplier of 3.5 contracts per person:
646,000 x 3.5 =2,261,000 2.26 million.
Estimated Total Open Contracts Requiring Management: Over 2.26 million
Every year, a volume of contracts greater than the population of a major city is left in limbo, forcing bereaved relatives to spend precious time navigating complex, often unforgiving, cancellation protocols.
Why the Certainty is Missed
Most product design focuses on events of high probability (downloading the app, making a purchase). Death, however, is an event of absolute certainty. Companies miss this for three core reasons:
Cultural Taboo: Planning for a customer's death is uncomfortable, leading product teams to ignore the 'afterlife cycle.'
Lack of Ownership: Managing a customer's death often falls between Legal, Billing, and Customer Service, forcing the bereaved to repeatedly tell their traumatic story to different departments.
Short-Term ROI: Simplifying the bereavement process is rarely seen as a direct revenue driver, despite the massive long-term impact on brand trust.
The Business Case for Empathy
The administrative stress caused by over 2.2 million annual open contracts is a recurring failure point that carries significant legal and reputational risk. Regulators like Ofcom are already pushing for compassionate practices, demanding that providers waive penalty fees for the deceased and streamline the cancellation process.
The challenge for all businesses is clear: The 2.2 million contracts are not administrative footnotes; they are emotionally charged interactions that determine a company’s final legacy with a family.
Companies must shift their focus from asking “Is the customer alive?” to “What is our plan for when the customer is no longer alive?” The answer must be a streamlined, empathetic, and human-centred process that transforms the final, unavoidable user case into a demonstration of genuine customer care - Designing the end.
