FOWD - Designing for Web Apps

Ryan Singer of 37signals in Chicago, has helped create such celebrated products such as Basecamp, Backpack and Campfire. Not only is he a good designer, he is also a great speaker and I enjoyed his Future of Web Design presentation.

Ten tips for better signup forms

Making stuff up is hard

Ask easy questions first, this helps build momentum. Asking for a name is easy, asking for them to create a username is not.

Username is taken, try this…

Use AJAX to do live checking on usernames. e.g. Rockstar1966 is taken…

Keep it simple

Design the form with the minimum amount of information possible. Disregard passwords at this stage.

Words are your friends

Keep it friendly and conversational. i.e. "Which room would you like to reserve?"

Form Validation

(262) 914 - 5802 and 262 914 5802; are the same number. Make it easy to enter information in any format.

Muse Me

Show examples beneath form fields. i.e. beneath a "Company" form field, you could have "Apple, HP, BMW" .

Tell me what I'm gonna get

Remind people of why they sign up.

Kind Error Handling

Do not use BIG RED CAPITAL LETTERS, instead try this:
Please check the following:
Your NI Number.

A Warm Welcome

The whole experience should be comfortable, the first time a user signs in, they should get a special welcoming page. i.e. "Thank you for signing up".

Just give me the keys

Generate a brief sign up email, then move the getting started guide to the app.

Conclusions

Momentum, think about users, signup doesn't stop at submit, users don't worry about the tool, they just want to do their "thing" — let them get on with it.