Site Creation: Free domain option not obvious

[blackjackkent]

Several times, a while before I started at Automattic, I tried to create sites on WPCOM and bailed out of the process multiple times because I wanted to start with a free x.wordpress.com site and not buy a domain, and it was not obvious to me that I could do so at all.

(I eventually figured it out, but it took me three or four tries of bailing out of the process in frustration - not a great experience.)

This is the screen seen by new users signing up (as opposed to existing accounts creating a new site, who get Gutenboarding) - the x.wordpress.com free option is not distinguished at all from other domain options and is clearly meant to be subtle in favor of an upsell which is either frustrating or misleading depending on the user's level of familiarity with WPCOM's offerings.

Of all the issues I've encountered on the site, this is probably the most distinct one that I can recall actively interfering with what I was trying to get done.