Design a fast registration process for mobile applications

According to the 2013 record, about 80,000,000,000 mobile apps have been downloaded and the number is expected to double in the next four years.

Although the number of app downloads is increasing, the number of users is decreasing. Such a large number of apps are competing for the user's energy, which is bound to lead to a decrease in user time for each app. This is a big problem for mobile apps that require new users to register. There is an increasingly common phenomenon: registering fatigue--a growing number of users who delete apps when they are not finished registering because of the bad user experience in the registration process. Mobile end users want to have a lightning fast registration process, they are unwilling to compromise on this. So the question is, how do you design a fast and usable registration process?

Design process

First, let's take a moment to discuss a necessary question-what are the most common patterns of mobile-end registrations today?

Independent account

This is the most traditional registration mode. Users use e-mail addresses to create a unique user nickname, password, the next time you can log in with this account. This login method may require several screens of content to collect user information.

Social Platform Account Login

It's normal for users to log on to their social platforms on a mobile device. In general, the use of social platform account login only need to press a few "OK" button can be done. From the data provided by Gigya, Facebook (52%), Google (24%), Yahoo (17%) and Twitter (4%) are some of the most preferred social platforms for their users.

Mixed type

Both the social platform account login and the Independent account Registration option are also popular registration methods. The thrust of the hybrid is to allow users to choose the way they like to log in, whether by using a mailbox, user name registration or social platform login.

Hybrid landing is the most flexible for users, but will it make your app registration process too complicated? Is social platform account login (speed) better than account registration? Is there any other way for users to register quickly?

How does app handle the registration process?

To answer these questions, I decided to look at how the most popular apps handle the registration process today. I randomly selected 6 of the most popular apps from 30 free apps (including games) in the Apple Store for research. I'm working on each of these two points in each app: What registration options do they provide? How long does it take for each user to complete the registration process?

For the first question--the choice of registration, 5 of the 6 apps all chose a hybrid type.

Skype is the only app that doesn't provide a social platform account login. In terms of the social platforms available, most users choose Facebook. According to Gigya's recent data, the app platform offers a popular link to Facebook.

Now let's look at the second key point-speed! In order to understand how long the user completes the registration process, I am entitled to record the user's necessary interaction behavior (the user interaction here refers to a small number of button clicks in the registration process and the input boxes to be filled in), with a clear scoring rule, each app, The user actions in each registration method are recorded. The following table clearly shows the record result, the red bar indicates the button clicks, and the blue bar represents the input box.

Tips: How to design a fast registration process

• Use social platforms to log in! On average, social platform logons are 50% less interactive than stand-alone account logins. Registering a separate account usually allows the user to fill out several screen contents.

• If the independent account is necessary, you can provide a hybrid registration method. In the research evaluation, the popular app is doing this. When using a hybrid enrollment approach, focus on social platforms (first by listing social platforms or by making social platform icons visible). This user experience strategy will allow users to tend to a more efficient way of registering for social platforms and not to be unfamiliar with registered independent accounts.

• If you only want to provide a social platform, Facebook will be your best choice. Facebook is the most popular social platform for users to study and evaluate.

• In the survey, Airbnb is the only one by one to allow users to use the identity of visitors. It's a very easy way for your users to register after you have fully explored your app. You can provide some simple and friendly hints when users explore the need to register to use features. If users discover the value of your app, they'll be happy to sign up.

In reality, making the registration process as streamlined as possible is the decisive factor in getting the user. Simple means that new users can also be quickly entered into use, download the user's conversion rate is also higher. The social platform account registration process addresses "registration fatigue" and provides fast access to users ' favorite apps. However, providing the option to create independent accounts remains a common phenomenon. Decide to provide independent account registration, consider the limited screen content to let users fill out what the necessary data, and the registration process into several small pieces to complete. Finally, when using a hybrid registration process, focus on the location of the social platform account, especially if there are some practical benefits such as linking friends or simply sharing.