User Registration on Mobile

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I have recently been involved in both high-level concept generation through to territory specific text changes in the exiting world of User Registration. These are my top 5 tips to help you streamline your process or find some inspiration.

1. Do not turn-off your client

Very early on you begin to realise that you, as a UX designer answering to Business and shakeholders alike, should avoid providing a dry and labour-intensive solution to what is a tedious process. This will inevitable put off, or turn off, potential new customers from the start. So, as they walk through your virtual door, try to present a broken-down and achievable process where they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t forget : Break your offer into bite-sized chunks

Regulations possibly dictate that your customers will need to supply certain information. If so, have them supply that information up-front. That way you, as a caring and customer-centric company can temporally capture that info and call them back should they drop-off. Then you can ask ‘Is everything allright? Can we help you further with your registration?”

2. Give meaningful feedback

Once you’ve produced an awesome piece of work, you’ve built a compelling and persuasive case which is resulted in a new user wanting to register, you do not want to loose them through bad UX. So, should your rational and well-thought out user journeys be ingorned and, for instance, an invalid username is entered, please do not return the error message:

Please try again. Error code #10486

Specifically tailored messages that actually help the user continue with their registration is by far the preferred method. This includes the Congratulation page too.

3. Segment and section off

Keep your layout clutter-free, your goal here is to convert visitors to users, not to cross sell them 3rd party hosting plans. Keep your design focused on getting as many sign-ups as possible. Give the whole form a friendly, less intimidating feel by using soft colours. This is both helpful and unique for a form that collects personal and payment information straight away.

Plus you will need to customise. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Different markets and different services all require different treatments when it comes to signing up. So design for English and design in Greek too. This will mean you precious design could break, so future-proof it and design in an additional 140% space for longer languages.

4. Help text wins over tool tips every time

Adding an additional tap just to explain what your design should be informing is only but providing another barrier for your potential new registrar. A better method is to provide an input heading and then within the field a simple Help Text sentence explaining exactly what you want your new user to do. It’s that simple.

5. Provide a “What Next”

As the UX professional you will be very familiar with where to go once you hit the end of the process. But your new users will not. So, provide a level of hand-holding by guiding them through to their next decision. They may wishing to Continue Shopping, or Make a Bet. They may want to go Home or Charge a card or Make a Deposit. Or they may just be a little confused and need some Help.

Conclusion

Your sign-up forms shouldn’t make the user’s life difficult. Spending time filling out a form is no one’s idea of fun. These innovative techniques will make your forms simple and efficient, so that users can sign up quickly and start enjoying your content. The key to any registration form is keeping it short, simple and aesthetically pleasing.