Account Login page need to avoid design mistakes

Along with their popular line of high-end networking equipment, Cisco Systems offers the else for something cisco.com To Buy:a line of the Cisco-brand leisure wear and accessories, everything from wind breakers to golf balls. The only problem are, to "the line of the" of logo-emboldened products, your need to a registration form.

Yes. You read that correctly. Just to *see* of the available products, you need to create a account by filling out the four-page, 45-question form. (You are have to tell Cisco your job role twice, your job title once, and the language your prefer to speak 3 times-all in E Nglish.) Then, if you can find your way back to the "online marketplace, you can be the selection of Laser-light key chains with th e Cisco logo.

There are many great business advantages to have the users create a and log into the system. You are know who using your system, how often they visit, and what does on the site. Can store information they might need later, such as their order history and their billing info for future. And, can offer them content and services reserved for only your best clientele.

Yet, in usability test after usability test, we are the registration and sign-in processes to be consistently. It's the most common thing that scares users away to shopping on E-commerce. It generates the most calls to the Customer-support call center.

Designing an account registration and sign-in process that doesn ' t frustrate users turns out to be very difficult to Achie Ve. It looks easy in the outset, but a pile of subtleties can sneak up in your experience, making something that should is sim Ple become stressful for the users.

Here are 8 common design mistakes we often, as we watch users try to create accounts and sign into the site:

mistake #1: Having a sign-in in the

It seems the reason Cisco requires you to log in just to the golf balls for sale. The general is public. Some are only for employees (who also get a nice discount). Some are only for certified Cisco engineers. To know what products and prices to display, the site needs to know who you are.

Fortunately, most sites don ' t take this approach. On most sites, your can do many things without identifying.

And, that ' s the way customers like it. They hate has to create a is something simple, such as download a white paper or pay for a product They ' ve Chosen. As one online shopper said recently during a usability test, "I don ' t want to develop a relationship with these guys." I just want to buy something. "

Practically unheard of travel industry, Midwest Airlines doesn ' t require their to register to buy a customers INE ticket. Instead, customers can make a purchase as a guest. Course, they still have to enter their name and billing info, but they ' t aren to create a forced and username If they don ' t want to.

mistake #2: requiring sign-in Too Soon

Part of Cisco ' s issue is requiring the customer to sign in (and new customers to register) before they could the Prod Ucts. Had They required it later, maybe after clicking in a link labeled "Show me my Employee discount" or "Checkout", the Shopp ERS would have been less frustrated.

Amazon set the gold standard by waiting until the last possible moment to require sign-in. sees the entire list of account support options before they identify. In some cases, such as One-click shopping, they never have the user sign-in. The cookie on the machine is good enough.

mistake #3: not stating the benefits to registering

Creating an account puts a burden on the user. They have to answer the questions, many of which. They have to come up with a user name They ' ll remember. They have to pick a password They ' ll easily recall. They worry about getting email or has their information sent to the deepest, darkest regions of the Internet. Watch users for any amount of the and you'll notice a huge resistance to registering.

What do they get in return for this added burden? At Midwest Airlines, they say right on the sign-in page:access to your frequent Flyer account, booking award travel, Chan Ging reservations After they are made, and hold reservations for 24-hours, just to name a few benefits.

mistake #4: Hiding the sign-in Button

Frequent customers of Netflix usually go straight to their personal home page, showing status information and movie Endations. Yet, when the cookie are deleted or they access the service from a different machine, they need to log in.

The default page, in that instance, is designed to sell potential new customers on the site. It had a very visible registration button. Unfortunately, the member login link is much harder to the. This is caused frequent calls to the "Netflix call center" until the team made the sign-in link more visually.

mistake #5: not making ' Create New account ' or ' forgot Your Password ' a button or Link

At Spirit Air ' s Web site, the good news are they provide users with an easy way to create account and retrieve a lost PASSW Ord. The bad news are the links to this functions, which appear in a pull down menu, don ' t really look like links. They look to the users like explanatory text. Several users didn ' t realize they were there and searched on the site, to elsewhere little.

mistake #6: not providing sign-in opportunities at Key locations

We ' ve observed many users would prefer to log in the last possible moment. Maybe its because they don ' t want the distraction of remembering their login information or possibly because ' re they Sed in their tasks. It ' s at the instance, can help them, such as preventing them from re-entering billing, information su Ddenly desire to log in.

The best sites anticipate these moments and have a easy login capability. Orbitz lets their customers get in the purchase process, and then has a simple login option to retrieve flying Erences, like meal selections and aisle or window choices.

mistake #7: Asking for Too more information when registering

A Common trap We are designers fall into are thinking that, once the user starts filling out questions, we want Them everything we could ever want to. (Cisco, during their four-page registration process, asks the users to specify the number of items presented in search res Ults.)

Yet, users typically want to answer as few questions as possible. The best sites just ask for a username and password (or just a password if they, using the email address and are ha ve it). They later ask for any or personalization information, when the need arises.

mistake #8: not telling Users how to use their information

"Why do they need to know my home phone number" The user asked when trying to download a technical white paper for work. Naturally, the user was quite suspicious.

At Virgin America, the designers explain why they need-a phone number, "in box we need to contacts you, provide at least O NE number. " While they prompt for a mobile, home, and business number, they are giving a reason.

Midwest Airlines is even clearer: "Please provide a phone number where you can being reached in the event of a change to your Flight reservation. " Who wouldn ' t want to have the airline call them for?

Finding the mistakes

Creating a perfect registration and sign-in process takes tremendous. The best way to identify the problems are to conduct periodic usability, with tests regular users, registered US ERs, and the users. If Your tests are like the ones we ' ve conducted, you'll be here mistakes probably (and others emerge) almost.

Eight more design mistakes

If you are enjoyed this article, you'll want to read the article, 8 + design mistakes with account sign-in, where Jared Spo OL continues to discuss account sign-in design problems.

Want to learn how to prevent these mistakes?

At the Web App Summit 2008, Jared Spool, along with the innovators and world-class designers behind today ' s most L Web Apps, would present on the today's most pressing topics surrounding great Web application design and implementation.