Designing for
Sign-up
It’s all about motivation
Web 2.0
Expo
Joshua Porter

Sign-up is hard
% of rst-time visitors who sign-up
App 1 8.0
App 2 6.76
App 3 4.7
App 4 16.0
App 5 0.003
http://www.thinkvitamin.com/features/webapps/how-to-measure-the-success-of-your-web-app

The hurdle of sign up
FRICTION
Interested Signed Up

Improving ease of use of forms
Reduce # of elds No support for lost username
Pre-submit username check Inline help/examples
Password security Re- lling in forms when error occurs
Following conventions Smooth password forget functionality
(e.g. sign-in on top-right of screen)
Providing non-web help
Clear privacy policy
Difficult challenge questions
Copy username in con rmation email

This is not
sign up.

Sign up is here.
The problem is not to get people lling out a sign-up form.
The problem is to change people’s minds about your software.
(You need to convince them that it’s worth their time.)

“
The biggest hurdle to getting
people to sign up for your
software isn’t lling out a form,
it’s apathy.

Instead of asking: Can people ll out our
sign-up form?
Ask: Are people motivated
enough to care?

“If ease of use were the only requirement,
we would all be riding tricycles”
Douglas Engelbart, inventor of the mouse
http:// ickr.com/photos/s/611720154/

The Sign-up Problem (the 9x effect)
People tend to overvalue Software makers tend to
the software they overvalue the software
currently use by about a 3x 3x they offer by about a
factor of 3. factor of 3.
9x
Harvard Business Review, June 2006
further reading Eager Sellers, Stony Buyers
by John T. Gourville

Consider what we’re asking
change in behavior
give up accepted practices
jump into the unknown
trade a known quantity for an unknown
a shift from potential to kinetic energy

Usage Lifecycle

The hurdle of sign up
MOTIVATION
FRICTION
Interested Signed Up

The hurdle of sign up
product research
considering an alternative
moment of sign up
(where the form goes, if there is one)
learning about the product
comparison with existing products
convincing others
etc...
Interested Signed Up

Design for 3 visitor types
1. I know I want to sign up.
(get out of their way)
2. I want to make sure this is for me.
(reiterate your basic value proposition)
3. I’m skeptical.
(provide levels of description)

1. Immediate engagement

Show, don’t tell.
(this is my obligatory iPhone slide,
no design presentation can be without one)

2.Describe the bene ts and
features in increasing depth

Sign up/Learn more is the new OK/Cancel

3.Leverage Social In uence

Summary
Sign-up is not about lling in forms.
It’s about motivation.
1. Immediate engagement - get people started as soon as possible
2. Provide levels of description - different people need different levels of
description depending on how much motivation they already have
3. Leverage social in uence - use the in uence of others to help convince
people that this is right for them

Further Reading
http://bokardo.com
http://del.icio.us/bokardo
Designing for the Social Web, New Riders, 2008
Contact
http://twitter.com/bokardo
porter@bokardo.com
508-954-1896