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Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

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Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#131

Post by dpcan »

supershazwi wrote: post #43

I feel that asking a user for the right username after they sign up wastes even more time when they can settle it all at once at the sign up page... The tips mostly reduce hassle and why cause them more trouble by alerting them that their username is already taken when they felt they're already set to use the site.

But asking for the username after sign-up gets you the user's email address. If they don't create a username, you can now provide direct support and ask if they need help with the next step in the sign-up process, etc.

Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#132

Post by pbhjpbhj »

masklinn wrote: post #91
bxr wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having the newsletter unchecked by default is effectively the same as not having a newsletter. Personally, I think "don't have a newsletter" is a great idea (it reduces UI cutter too), but people want to send newsletters and the only way to make sending a newsletter worth the time spent to prepare it is by making it opt-out not opt-in. edit: I'm not saying I support this, just that a newsletter is never done in the u…

Opt-out newsletters are illegal in the EU, as per EU Directive 2002/58/EC.

Article 13.5 means that only article 13.2 applies to non-natural persons (ie businesses, very weird) and hence "provided that customers clearly and distinctly are given the opportunity to object, free of charge" to receipt of messages then it appears a company can spam you if you first gave them contact info in some way.

Indeed the Article only says they have to allow you to object, nothing about the company not sending you repeated emails when you do object.

Looks badly drafted and without teeth IMO.

--- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_Privacy_and_Electr... http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:... - full current text

Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#133

Post by bane »

pamelafox wrote: post #117
bane wrote: post #83

Not sure if it was accidental or not, but we ended up with the single simplest sign-up/login I've ever seen. We've even received a few emails from users alarmed at how simple it is. We're considering adding a few artificial steps (like filling out a profile) so that users feel more like they are creating an account. 1. Click login 2. Choose account provider 3. Grant us authorization access 4. Done - we pull your name…

We did that for an app, and let people pick from Google, Twitter, or Yahoo. They'd sometimes forget which one they'd chosen (like after being away from a bit or clearing the cache), and then login with a different one and get confused as to why their data was missing. Do you encounter that at all with your users?

That's definitely something giving us some heartburn thinking about. We're going to try and avoid it unless we get lots of customer contacts (and our development schedule is empty), since we're probably going to have to come up with a solution that links accounts at some point.

But, at the moment since we support only two providers, and those providers tend to be pretty divisive with little overlap, we haven't noticed any real problems yet.

Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#136

Post by pdenya »

periferral wrote: post #74
pdenya wrote: post #36

I hate being forced to login with my email address. My username is the same or similar for most sites I use but I use a site specific email (with gmails + feature) for almost every sign up.

i presume you use that to filter spam. you could always have your userid as your email where the email is always username+site@emailprovider.com however, i have noticed some sites dont like the + which sucks because the spam model breaks down

right, I have that problem, remembering whether or not the site accepts the + as well as an issue with sites with long or weird to spell domain names.

Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#137

Post by Luyt »

portman wrote: post #107
ZoFreX wrote: post #101

> use a hidden and required text field generated with client-side Javascript So now only users with Javascript enabled can use your website. I'm sure that will increase conversion. > Spambots can’t fill in the field because they can’t interact with objects in client-side JavaScript; only users can. Not true anymore. > you can create a honeypot form field that should be left blank and then use CSS to hide it from huma…

>> "So now only users with Javascript enabled can use your website. " It's easy to measure what percentage of your users have JavaScript disabled. For a consumer website, it's probably measured in the hundredths of a percent . If you can make a change that increases the conversion for 99.97% of your users, even at the cost of ZEROING the conversion for 0.03% of your users, then you will still come out ahead.

I checked this last week for a site I maintain, 10% of the visitors were still using IE6, and 15% of the visitors had Javascript turned off. I guess that's because that site is aimed at a certain business audience.

Another site I maintain shows numbers like 3% IE6 and 1% non-JS. What a difference!

Of course, for the first site I mentioned, we made it sure the site graciously degrades for non-JS and/or IE6 users. We don't want to lose 15% of our customers.

Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#139

Post by bostonvaulter2 »

skx wrote: post #87
Hovertruck wrote: post #4

"Use a Question Mark Icon for the Password Recovery Link" Am I the only one who thinks that is really unintuitive? I don't even think clicking on that icon would cross my mind as a user, and I would spend my time trying to find the "Forgot Password" link.

The way that I've always handled this is to only show the "Forgot Password" link after a login attempt fails. Maybe that's unfair; expecting a user to attempt to login even if they're not sure of their details, but it always seemed reasonable enough to me.

I like sites that make the "Forgot Password" link much more visible after a failed login.

Re: Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins

#140

Post by bostonvaulter2 »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7

1000x times yes about the newsletter checkbox. Nothing turns me off to a service more than being tricked into receiving a newsletter. I consider those to be spam and mark them as such.

What I really want to see in newsletter sign up forms is how often and what type of messages I will receive.
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