
Progressive Signup: A Better User Signup Process - jamesjyu
http://www.quietwrite.com/writing/7011
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harrybr
The standard name for this design pattern is _Lazy Registration_. I admit
_Progressive Signup_ is probably a better label as it is more descriptive, but
_lazy registration_ is what people have been calling it for some years now...

<http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lazy+registration+demo>

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geekfactor
Is there a catalog of Web/conversion optimization patterns like this? That
would be pretty interesting.

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aeden
Naturally the question I was left with at the end of the post was "Does this
impact user conversion and retention in a positive way?" thus leading to "Does
this impact revenue and thus profit in a positive way?"

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WorldMover
Just to let you know, the first link in the blog to quietwrite actually points
to quitewrite.com

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necolas
For those interested in this. Luke Wroblewski wrote on a similar theme
"Gradual Engagement Boosts Twitter Sign-Ups by 29%" -
<http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1128>

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geoffw8
Yeah - this would annoy me, but I would class myself as a "power user". I just
want to get in, give you my email, password, confirm password and be done.
However, as @aeden mentions, what I think doesn't matter if it converts
better!

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fookyong
Also known as lazy registration.

Also known as a neat trick you can try out on hobby/free apps but are most
likely horribly inappropriate for the average startup. As soon as you get even
remotely serious, for example spending money on marketing, you're going to
wish you captured email addresses up front. When you're spending money on
customer acquisition, "cool, 10,000 people tried our app" doesn't mean nearly
as much as "cool, we have 2000 email addresses".

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dansingerman
Is an email address really the mark of an 'acquired customer'?

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MichaelApproved
As an example of something better than a larger group of anonymous users, I'd
say yes.

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do
Anything that reduces friction for a user to get started with your product has
the potential to be a good thing.

But if your goal is to make money, and not just generate usage, I can see some
possible problems with this approach. Not having a way to circle back with a
user is bad.

Also, if someone truly needs a solution to the problem you are solving a
signup form will usually not stand in their way.

It would be interesting to A/B test the entire user lifecycle to see if this
approach has impact on the metrics that actually matter.

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EGreg
To me, its not just about lazy registration. It's about the mindset of the
user when you ask them to do something.

For example, when they have created some content and want to save it, that is
the time to ask for email/password. It works better because of the
implication: you are saving their work.

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joshuacc
Suggested feature: Implement an RSS feed of each user's published writings.
(Or post these articles on a blog.) I'd like to receive future updates without
having to watch HN. I'm guessing there are at least a couple of others here
who would like to do the same.

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mcmc
I prefer Costco to Best buy any day. What matters far more is reputation and
the quality of the product than the barrier to entry to join/utilize the
product.

Facebook could add a ten page signup form and I doubt it'd substantially
impact their legitimate signup rate.

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ambirex
I suspect that Lazy Registration/Progressive Signup is far more important for
lesser known sites. Facebook has the weight of some 500+ million users behind
it and there is sufficient motivation for new users.

When working on wedding proofing sites I found that users would be willing to
put up with more steps because they were motivated to begin with.

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amih
What about openID integration? give the users an option to sign up using their
google-id or their facebook-id or any of the other id's the user already has.
I would prefer to do that over giving my password to another site.

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greyman
What I appreciate is to be able to try the product without signing up, and
then do not bother me anymore when I sign up later on.

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raarky
i like it.

and i like the idea too :)

feature request: a few more monospaced fonts for us coder types

