When a company decides to sunset a feature—permanently retire a component of a product or service—it can trigger a wide range of reactions. From user confusion to public outrage, feature deprecation can be one of the most sensitive aspects of product management. Yet, sunsetting features is sometimes essential for product simplification, security improvements, or resource reallocation. The key is to do it thoughtfully, with transparency and empathy.
This article outlines a structured and professional approach to sunsetting features without inciting backlash from users, customers, or stakeholders.
Why Features Are Sunset in the First Place
Before diving into best practices, it’s important to understand why companies sunset features. Common reasons include:
- Low usage or adoption: Resources are better spent on capabilities that drive more value.
- Technical debt: Maintaining older components can become costly and risky.
- Better alternatives exist: Newer features may render older ones obsolete or redundant.
- Strategic direction shift: Aligning with long-term company goals often requires tough decisions.
Understanding the Risks of Poorly Managed Sunsetting
Improperly retiring a feature can damage customer trust, prompt negative media attention, shatter internal morale, and even trigger customer churn. To minimize the downsides, companies need a deliberate and human-centric approach.
The secret lies in communication, planning, and transition support. Let’s explore how to sunset features the responsible way.
1. Conduct a Thorough Impact Assessment
Before announcing anything, assess how sunsetting the feature will impact users. This requires cross-functional coordination between product, customer support, engineering, marketing, and legal teams.
- Usage data: How many users are actively engaging with the feature?
- Dependency mapping: Does the feature integrate with APIs, third-party tools, or business workflows?
- User profiling: Who will be most affected—enterprise clients, power users, or casual consumers?
- Legal implications: Are there existing contracts or service-level agreements tied to it?
The more clarity you gain here, the better you’ll be able to design a responsible deprecation strategy.
2. Create a Clear Deprecation Plan
After understanding the potential impact, build a detailed deprecation framework. This plan should outline:
- Timeline: Set dates for announcement, warning periods, and the final retirement date.
- Messaging: Create customer-facing communication tailored to different user segments.
- Migration path: Offer alternatives or product enhancements to replace functionality.
Be sure to prepare internal teams before public disclosure. Customer-facing departments like account management and support should be fully briefed and aligned.
3. Communicate Transparently and Early
The biggest source of backlash is feeling blindsided. Avoid this by being proactive and forthright.
Announce the deprecation decision early, and provide adequate time for users to adapt.
We recommend using multiple communication channels:
- Email notifications (targeted and segmented for affected users)
- Product updates or tooltips in-app
- Help center documentation
- Blog posts or videos explaining the rationale
Your message should address three key elements:
- Why: Explain the strategic or technical reasons for the retirement.
- When: Give milestones, not just end dates.
- What now: Detail options for users and suggest better alternatives.
This helps users comprehend—not just react to—the change.
4. Offer Support Throughout the Transition
Support is often the deciding factor in whether users feel respected or abandoned during product change. Provide resources that ease the transition:
- Migration guides: Clear, step-by-step help for moving to new tools or workflows.
- Training resources: Webinars, tutorials, or one-on-one sessions for power users.
- Customer support access: Prioritize tickets related to feature changes and assign trained personnel.
For enterprise clients or partners, assign account reps to walk them through the changes. Treat it as a customer success moment, not just a technical update.
5. Listen, Iterate, and Be Flexible
Just because you’ve announced a plan doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Show humility and openness to feedback, both positive and critical.
Set up open forums, surveys, and feedback channels to collect user thoughts. Track help requests and flag recurring concerns. Respond publicly if there are misconceptions or legitimate frustrations. In some cases, it may be wise to delay deprecation or offer temporary workarounds.
When users feel heard, even unpopular changes become more tolerable.
6. Celebrate What Came Before
Don’t just remove the feature and pretend it didn’t exist. Give a respectful nod to the legacy you’re retiring. Celebrate user stories or historical impact through blog posts or social content.
This softens the emotional blow and reinforces your company’s values of accountability and evolution. It’s a simple but powerful gesture of respect to long-time customers and dedicated users.
7. Learn and Institutionalize the Process
After a feature has been sunset, take time to debrief. Document lessons learned and formalize internal protocols for future deprecations.
Questions to ask include:
- Did we give users enough notice and context?
- Were support resources sufficient and easy to access?
- How did different user personas respond to the change?
- Were our impact assessments accurate?
Refining this process sets the foundation for more successful transitions in the future and boosts internal confidence when the next sunset decision arises.
Conclusion: Change is Inevitable, But Chaos is Not
Sunsetting features is not inherently negative—it often signals progress, focus, and innovation. Still, how the transition is managed determines whether it strengthens user trust or erodes it.
By grounding the process in data, empathy, and transparency, organizations can execute deprecations smoothly and respectfully. Mature product teams understand that how you sunset a feature speaks volumes about your long-term vision and your regard for customers.
Handled well, a sunset is not a failure—it’s an intentional step forward.