
A new approach to the sign up form - madmotive
http://huffduffer.com/signup/
======
dmix
Usability and web standards are practiced for good reasons. This form ignores
all of them.

~~~
ConradHex
I don't think it ignores usability at all; it seems very focused on it.

~~~
ivankirigin
Breaking expected flows makes things harder to understand. I needed to think
to use that form.

Some changes over time can improve clarity, but the initial friction is
costly.

~~~
noelchurchill
That fact that you had to think makes it memorable. If a website does the same
thing like everyone else, then it will be forgotten like everyone else.

~~~
ivankirigin
Forgetting the signup form is just fine. Remembering the content or the
activity on a site is more important.

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brm
The natural language approach to the form is fantastic, I just wish he took
other usability considerations into account like font color and line width

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dzohrob
while i appreciate this from an aesthetic perspective, this fails multiple
usability tests:

1) "across the room" -- stand 10 feet away from your machine and see if you
can tell what you're supposed to do

2) "don't make me think" -- i'm sure anyone who has ever used a website has to
think about this one.

if you actually want people to sign up, make it easier, not harder. save your
creativity for your content.

~~~
tjpick
I've never heard of the "across the room" usability test before. I'm
intrigued: can you point to sources?

~~~
dzohrob
My only source is my business partner, but it's a pretty good test. At 10-15
feet, you can only see features as geometric shapes, but on very well-designed
sites you can probably tell what you're "supposed" to do. This is most
effective for signup and purchase flows, where simplicity matters most, but I
think it can lead to insights on pretty much anything.

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jcromartie
It's steampunk web usability design!

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profgubler
I like the idea. It seems to take up a lot of space though to get a lot of
simple information.I think a little color contrast for the form fields will
help. I would be interested to see how this for would compare to other forms.
You should test it with Google optimizer to see which people are more likely
to convert. Always test, the data won't lie. You got to go with what gets you
more users.

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jyothi
I do believe that design patterns in design and usability are really helpful
and are penned after a lot of consideration, usage, observation and tuning.

When the ipod launched with the click wheel feature all the usability experts
were busy looking for the good and bad.

If you stuck to rules it is hard to come up with new stuff. I appreciate the
thought of bring old-school wisdom here, who knows this can possibly lead to
some better sign-up forms.

On the iPod incident Steve Jobs responded by redefining Design with a very
simple meaning - "Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it
looks like,...That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks
like and feels like. _Design is how it works_."

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gibsonf1
I am _very_ uncomfortable typing in a passwsord without any security on the
page. Why not secure the sign up page? So many sites makes this same mistake
of not taking people's password security seriously. I like the approach of the
form though.

~~~
danielh
Unless the whole page uses HTTPS, securing just the login might still leave
you vulnerable to session hijacking and just gives you a false sense of
security.

Don't use your gmail (ebay, paypal,...) password for test-driving a site you
saw on HN.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Don't use your gmail (ebay, paypal, ...) password for ANYTHING else.

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wensing
If nothing else this does provide a nice alternative for form design. The
sign-up form might not be the best use-case, however.

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SingAlong
Nice idea but as everybody says, it breaks away from commonly expected
usability standards.

But when compared to the linear form design. The linear form design seems much
more suable since I can quickly recognise what I'm supposed to type in.

"Email address:" is quicker than "My email address is". The same applies to
all the fields.

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Kilimanjaro
Aesthetically pleasing, functionally terrible.

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mhartl
A lot of the comments here assume you can see truth at a glance, but intuition
is fallible. I'd be rather curious to know if Huffduffer did A/B testing of
this form vs. a more traditional signup page. Doing that test, and gathering
real data, is the surest way to know if this alternate design is any good.

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bkbleikamp
I hate this form. I know a lot of people like it, but I hate it. It goes
against all the standard for design techniques that users are used to - even
as a designer and full time employee at an internet company I was confused for
a half second when looking at it. That is bad.

~~~
cennydd
Oh for goodness sake. This is a spare-time side project website. It's not been
A/B tested. It's not been paid for. It's playful, it's different and it's fun.
You know, like spare-time side projects are meant to be.

And I hate to be 'that guy', but some of these attempts at usability and UX
analysis are straw man conjecture, the hallmark of the amateur. If anyone can
show me some user testing or expert opinions based in grounded UX theory I'll
be more interested.

Sheesh.

~~~
bkbleikamp
Well, I am not sure straw man is the correct term, but I am not meaning to
personally attack the designer. I was merely refuting the point that some are
making that this is a brilliant design.

And I am not sure claiming the UX analysis and usability questions are
hallmarks of amateurs is a very compelling argument from you. It seems to me
they should be the questions everyone is asking about this form.

And there are clear design patterns in form design, even if they aren't the
most effective, they exist and users are used to them.

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danw
This form reminds me of [http://www.wolfslittlestore.be/fear-of-looking-like-
a-copyca...](http://www.wolfslittlestore.be/fear-of-looking-like-a-copycat)

This signup form is playful, but awkward to use as a result. Conventions exist
for a reason.

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babyshake
I like the idea, but some simple CSS changes would certainly improve it. I'd
consider an offwhite background color, and a subtle border for your form
fields.

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paul9290
IT is different, but im lazy and thats more to fill out then username and
password, which is too much as well.

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thomasmallen
I'll save the madlibs for the kids' menu...this is non-linear and tough on
users.

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lhorie
Hmm... so what happens if I accidentally type my password wrong?

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Dilpil
WHAT? No confirm email address??????

~~~
madmotive
Nope:

[http://getsatisfaction.com/huffduffer/topics/have_you_consid...](http://getsatisfaction.com/huffduffer/topics/have_you_considered_asking_for_password_confirmation_on_signup)

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perezd
interesting, but I don't see this catching on, nor do I see my grandparents
getting this at all.

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icey
I'll keep using Wufoo.

