1 OpenID

I was surprised this article didn’t mention centralized authentication providers such as OpenID. While gradual engagement and OpenID can certainly coexist on the same system, since they address different issues, it seems strange to me that an article about abolishing signup forms omits a technology can do precisely that.

posted at 07:26 am on March 25, 2008 by Edward Yang

2 Untitled

Best article, I have come across in long time. I absolutely agree that sign up should be left for later engagement.

posted at 09:08 am on March 25, 2008 by abhi G

3 Example site without signup forms

When you register for subversion hosting at www.8svn.com there are no signup forms. You just choose a username and they send you straight to paypal. I have no idea how my account was created and setup when I didn’t even give them my email address but it worked beautifully. I can’t wait until other companies catch on!

posted at 09:39 am on March 25, 2008 by Stan Sheltner

4 Depends on the purpose of the application.

Geny is a good example since the user must fill in the form with his future access information: the email address. The password will be sent to their email address later and that way they can confirm that the user almost actually exists in the real world.

Besides that field, they also knows their names and if they are a “he” or a “she”.

A shopping cart is similar: the potential customer buy & buy & buy and after they decide if they pay, a form will be shown asking them to fill in their account and credit card information.

What I mean is that in both cases the signup form is shown.

I’ve been thinking on the same idea for a while and I always end up on the same thougts: the signup forms can’t die, but they can be shorter.

Email > [Password or Auto-Password] > Submit > Done!

After that step they can fill in all the information they want if they want.

posted at 10:14 am on March 25, 2008 by Juan Francisco Giordana

5 Yet another example of a signup-free service

This might be worth mentioning: http://www.picamatic.com – a site with a great concern on usability, it does not require from you to sign up to be able to use its full features.

posted at 11:17 am on March 25, 2008 by Vasily Pupkin

6 The Irony...

After reading this article I wanted to comment, I had to fill in a sign up forum; I found it very ironic. Anyhow, the registration was quick and took under 30 seconds, so no fuss.

I actually think that’s the best way; the main annoyance I find with registration is the requirement for email confirmation. a company should offer a few simple fields to register, then ask for small one/two field information to access other features.

That myPlan website is really cool, it was much better than filling in the usual forum, and gave you information about it quickly and interactively. Loved it.

posted at 12:02 pm on March 25, 2008 by Owen Gage

8 Untitled

I feel rather mislead when I have been able to use a webservice when I have to create an account afterwards when I want to publish my video, or save my settings, or whatever.

I like the way they do it at Symbaloo (you can use the full service (customizable desktops), everything is stored in a cookie, but if you want to be able to stay logged in forever (or use it on other computers) you have to create a free account.) though I think this feature could be communicated in a better way.

posted at 01:44 pm on March 25, 2008 by David van Gemeren

9 A List Apart Signup Form

I do understand the reasons for ALA to use that signup / registration form before being able to comment. As ALA other websites will also have their specific reasons to require a signup before you can use the functionality. But this article combined with the ALA signup made me think of the difference of theorie and practice…

posted at 02:01 pm on March 25, 2008 by Andreas Berg

10 The company perspective

I notice that you are giving opinions from the user perspective only and thought I could give a company perspective on this.
A web application I created a couple of years ago (www.ausrackid.com) went through this thought process. Ausrack ID allows IT pros to configure 19” racking systems in a visual way, save print out the results, and get quotes from the company I work for. I chose having no sign up until the user decides they want to save, at which point you are asked for username and email address, if they want a quote for items they get asked for more details. This is quite a way through the process.
I was advised to put in a signup process at the front end to allow us to collect information on the users which we could potential use for emailing info. I resisted this at the time, and still do today.
However, for the first year, the site was getting significant traffic, and significant usage, but very few people were saving their design, or asking for a quote. As the site needs to fund itself, it was very difficult to justify it’s existence at this stage, and the whole project was almost pulled.
I think the moral of the story is that your user details have a value, and giving those to a website you use may be the only way they can stay afloat. Think of youtube, they can justify their existence by the data provided by the number of users. That is why Google bought them. At the smaller scale my advice would be if they ask for it, and you want to use the service, give them your details, it might just help them survive in a competitive world.

posted at 02:40 pm on March 25, 2008 by Simon Griffiths