6 ms·

Sign up in seconds...and then what?

74 points by pathdependent 14y ago

petercooper 14y ago
While I love the process outlined in the last sketch (and think many people will try it out), 37signals discovered back in 2009 that adding a similar tagline to their headline boosted signups by 30% so the confusion over its popularity surprises me: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1525-writing-decisions-headline-tests-on-the-highrise-signup-page http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1525-writing-decisions-headli...
erable 14y ago
While there's some quality fodder there, I couldn't get beyond this line: "I’ll bet that the time-to-signup isn’t an important anxiety factor." This isn't the only reason that sign-ups have been pared down; the current trend of thought on the matter is that it also reduces barriers to conversion. Engaging your audience without making them jump through numerous hoops is a great practice, even if that means the occasional company adopts the practice a little too quickly before the rest of their process is fleshed out. I'd certainly prefer that to the alternative, where I've invested a great deal of time with a long form, just to have the same end result, 'and then what?'
- rsinger9 14y ago
  I don't claim that addressing anxiety is the only reason to say "Signup in 30 seconds." However, data about what converts better isn't a reason. Conversion data gives you correlations, not reasons for the correlations. I prefer to work from a theory of causality when I'm deciding what to put on the page.
  - erable 14y ago
    That's an entirely valid point and for the most part, I agree. Where we seem to differ is where we feel the balance exists between correlation and causation. I feel the former still gives very strong contextual direction, and this shouldn't be ignored, especially when the proposed solution is the 'and then what' flow. I'd actually love to see some studies of how that works in practice, especially given that screen real estate is so valuable around the signup call-to-action. You may be on to something!
jseims 14y ago
Another kind of evil (but effective) approach is to allow the user to do all those post-signup activities (like set up a dashboard or create some content), and then say "now sign up" at the end. They're already invested, so you get better conversion.
- patio11 14y ago
  Can you explain to me why that is evil? I'm sincerely interested in hearing that thought process.
  - mustafa0x 14y ago
    Deception. More verbosely, you allowed the user to assume something, yet contradicted this assumption. Somewhat similar when a woman strings a man along, then requests payment.
    - excid3 14y ago
      I would consider it deception if I was being told it was free the entire time until the sign up step told me it cost money. Allowing me to try this before registering is more likely to get me to sign up.
      - mustafa0x 14y ago
        Failing to inform can be as deceptive as misinforming.
- Revisor 14y ago
  That's not evil, quite the opposite - you don't bother the user and ask them for the required information until the very moment it's needed. It's called gradual engagement and I consider it good practice. What's structurally similar to this and definitely a dark pattern is letting the user work towards their goal and at the end tell them suddenly they have to pay for the result. That would be evil. Gradual engagement as you describe it is not.
- 14y ago
benihana 14y ago
Wasn't 37 signals one of the first groups to evangelize saying "Sign up, it only takes 30 seconds" ?
dkrich 14y ago
I think Groupon kinda does this for new users (ie, you enter your email, hit next, it scrolls to the left, you pick your city, etc.) One thing I've found is that if the purpose/value proposition of your product isn't already fairly obvious when a user comes to your site, you should spend more time in marketing the product and educating potential customers instead of trying to attract people who are pretty much clueless about what you do. On one of my web apps, having to sign up was the single most voiced complaint about the site, even though signup literally took less than five seconds.
kristianc 14y ago
'When’s the last time you shopped for a software product under intense time pressure, where every second counts?' Analytics could definitely be one of those times. If your site is being Slashdotted, your priority is going to be getting quick access to real-time data about traffic flows, and not messing about with Google Analytics (which until recently, didn't even cover real time). I'm guessing the site in question is GoSquared (the sign up process matches, at least) - and I've worked on a couple of sites where I've installed GoSquared precisely because I knew how quick it was to install.
tobtoh 14y ago
"I’ll bet that the time-to-signup isn’t an important anxiety factor." It is for me. When I'm looking to try out a product, I hate having to jump through hoops just to get to the download link. Fill in 5 pages of information (generally with fake data), making sure I'm not opted in to a mailing list, waiting for that confirmation email etc etc. What a pain in the butt when I'm not even sure I'll use the product for more than a few minutes. I have skipped trying out a product on several occasions because I simply couldn't be bothered going through their signup process.
- vilius 14y ago
  You have gave up your signup process because you were not excited enough. What article suggest is to "clutter" your minimalistic sing-up form with useful information on what happens after you sign-up. Hopefully this will excite the user more. So that filling that extra field or confirming that e-mail will not be such a pain. Basically if you are not exciting the visitor, then even a tiniest time-to-signup won't help.

74 points by pathdependent 14y ago

While I love the process outlined in the last sketch (and think many people will try it out), 37signals discovered back in 2009 that adding a similar tagline to their headline boosted signups by 30% so the confusion over its popularity surprises me: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1525-writing-decisions-headline-tests-on-the-highrise-signup-page http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1525-writing-decisions-headli...

erable 14y ago

While there's some quality fodder there, I couldn't get beyond this line: "I’ll bet that the time-to-signup isn’t an important anxiety factor." This isn't the only reason that sign-ups have been pared down; the current trend of thought on the matter is that it also reduces barriers to conversion. Engaging your audience without making them jump through numerous hoops is a great practice, even if that means the occasional company adopts the practice a little too quickly before the rest of their process is fleshed out. I'd certainly prefer that to the alternative, where I've invested a great deal of time with a long form, just to have the same end result, 'and then what?'

rsinger9 14y ago
I don't claim that addressing anxiety is the only reason to say "Signup in 30 seconds." However, data about what converts better isn't a reason. Conversion data gives you correlations, not reasons for the correlations. I prefer to work from a theory of causality when I'm deciding what to put on the page.
- erable 14y ago
  That's an entirely valid point and for the most part, I agree. Where we seem to differ is where we feel the balance exists between correlation and causation. I feel the former still gives very strong contextual direction, and this shouldn't be ignored, especially when the proposed solution is the 'and then what' flow. I'd actually love to see some studies of how that works in practice, especially given that screen real estate is so valuable around the signup call-to-action. You may be on to something!

jseims 14y ago

Another kind of evil (but effective) approach is to allow the user to do all those post-signup activities (like set up a dashboard or create some content), and then say "now sign up" at the end. They're already invested, so you get better conversion.

patio11 14y ago
Can you explain to me why that is evil? I'm sincerely interested in hearing that thought process.
- mustafa0x 14y ago
  Deception. More verbosely, you allowed the user to assume something, yet contradicted this assumption. Somewhat similar when a woman strings a man along, then requests payment.
  - excid3 14y ago
    I would consider it deception if I was being told it was free the entire time until the sign up step told me it cost money. Allowing me to try this before registering is more likely to get me to sign up.
    - mustafa0x 14y ago
      Failing to inform can be as deceptive as misinforming.
Revisor 14y ago
That's not evil, quite the opposite - you don't bother the user and ask them for the required information until the very moment it's needed. It's called gradual engagement and I consider it good practice. What's structurally similar to this and definitely a dark pattern is letting the user work towards their goal and at the end tell them suddenly they have to pay for the result. That would be evil. Gradual engagement as you describe it is not.
14y ago

benihana 14y ago

Wasn't 37 signals one of the first groups to evangelize saying "Sign up, it only takes 30 seconds" ?

dkrich 14y ago

I think Groupon kinda does this for new users (ie, you enter your email, hit next, it scrolls to the left, you pick your city, etc.) One thing I've found is that if the purpose/value proposition of your product isn't already fairly obvious when a user comes to your site, you should spend more time in marketing the product and educating potential customers instead of trying to attract people who are pretty much clueless about what you do. On one of my web apps, having to sign up was the single most voiced complaint about the site, even though signup literally took less than five seconds.

kristianc 14y ago

'When’s the last time you shopped for a software product under intense time pressure, where every second counts?' Analytics could definitely be one of those times. If your site is being Slashdotted, your priority is going to be getting quick access to real-time data about traffic flows, and not messing about with Google Analytics (which until recently, didn't even cover real time). I'm guessing the site in question is GoSquared (the sign up process matches, at least) - and I've worked on a couple of sites where I've installed GoSquared precisely because I knew how quick it was to install.

tobtoh 14y ago

"I’ll bet that the time-to-signup isn’t an important anxiety factor." It is for me. When I'm looking to try out a product, I hate having to jump through hoops just to get to the download link. Fill in 5 pages of information (generally with fake data), making sure I'm not opted in to a mailing list, waiting for that confirmation email etc etc. What a pain in the butt when I'm not even sure I'll use the product for more than a few minutes. I have skipped trying out a product on several occasions because I simply couldn't be bothered going through their signup process.

vilius 14y ago
You have gave up your signup process because you were not excited enough. What article suggest is to "clutter" your minimalistic sing-up form with useful information on what happens after you sign-up. Hopefully this will excite the user more. So that filling that extra field or confirming that e-mail will not be such a pain. Basically if you are not exciting the visitor, then even a tiniest time-to-signup won't help.