11 A better approach to the more traditional

This method is all well and good for those who have the flexibility to develop such systems, but what can those of us with existing sites that require a sign-up do to become more user-friendly?

My advice to those people is to first, strip all unnecessary required fields from their forms (do you really need to know their location straight off the bat?). Second, have a good clear message about what your service does (tour pages are good, but I prefer the style of Blogger’s simple, clear explanation approach). Third, make the form so easy to fill out you’ll have signed up before you even realise it (see Tumblr’s famous 10-second sign up ). Finally, use screenshots and informative graphics to show the user what they’re going to be getting. Transparency is the key, here.

posted at 01:01 pm on March 25, 2008 by Pete Nicholls

12 Lazy registration

You might want to check out this UI design pattern: Lazy Registration .

posted at 01:02 pm on March 25, 2008 by Anders Toxboe

13 Compromise

I think what needs to be done is a mix of a sign up form in the front and gradual engagement.

I always feel kind of cheated when I go through a long process on a web service and then they point me to a username/password/e-mail form. I simply don’t like signing up for things, and there’s a very small chance that gradual engagement has changed my mind.

I do think that providing people with a “demo” of what their web-service does is important, but users should be given the option of signing up up front. If I’m notified that I’ll need to sign up for something, I’m in a much better mood when the form comes up. However, if there is no hint that I might have to sign up for this service, I’m very angry when after ten minutes of browsing around I come across a sign-up form.

posted at 01:13 pm on March 25, 2008 by Justin Mills

14 It's not so easy in the real world

Well, I also prefer not to have to fill out a huge form before I get to any benefit. But, this is not a matter of design at all.

In many countries (including Germany, where I live), companies are required by law to acquire this information before they offer any service. Also, they open themselves up for all kinds of vitriol from “clever” lawyers who make money by sueing for terms and agreements and such.

Stupid law, I know, but I guess companies are not free anymore to decide what information they need to get from their users / clients. It’s a matter of law.

Usually, I would have expected an article of ALA to consider this. What’s up guys ;-)

posted at 01:43 pm on March 25, 2008 by Sven Bode

15 author's experience in killing signup

Really want to learn more about the experience in “killing” existing signup forms, like those for Yahoo! Inc.? Is there any in the book?

Btw, jottit.com is THE example of signup-only-when-necessary.

posted at 01:55 pm on March 25, 2008 by ben ng

16 OpenID

OpenID seems like almost obligatory topic to mention in such article.

posted at 02:23 pm on March 25, 2008 by bugmenot bugmenot

17 When to sign up

After reading this article I wanted to comment, I had to fill in a sign up forum; I found it very ironic.

Ah – but you were able to read the article and comments first, without having to sign up – that’s a key step.

There are some great examples of websites that don’t require you to register (but obviously, if you are a regular customer it saves a lot of time if you do), but there are also some really dumb ones that force you to register for no reason, and require vast quantities of irrelevant information when you do register.

Hopefully as people vote with their feet, those sites that welcome visitors with a sign-up form will start to realise why they are getting fewer and fewer registrations.

posted at 02:26 pm on March 25, 2008 by Stephen Down

18 Perfect!

I completely agree with your view on signup forms.

We have been working on a series of new Registrationless web services, that lets you get at what you need to do without having to create username and passwords.

http://yourli.st/

there is too much data being collected by websites today and for what reason? People haven’t yet realised the true horror of putting in their personal details.

The web should be and needs to be easier.

posted at 02:30 pm on March 25, 2008 by Alan Williamson

19 Comments require log in

I do not agree with Jeffrey that obligatory registration for comments improves quality.
Having enough will/patience for completing registration isn’t virtue of worthy discussion participants.
People who have something intelligent to say may not have much time to say it (or rather may not find registration worth their time), and OTOH it’s not hard to find trolls that can spend all day trying to vandalize a forum.
For spam there are anti-spam filters (like Akismet).

posted at 02:33 pm on March 25, 2008 by bugmenot bugmenot

20 Huzzah

These practices would save me the task of replacing all of my account info with the real thing after realizing that I really want a particular service.

posted at 02:43 pm on March 25, 2008 by Ian Corey

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