Tell me more ×
User Experience Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for user experience researchers and experts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 34 down vote favorite
22

Is there any research in this area, it seems "Sign in" is more common and hence more recommended.

share|improve this question
4  
I rather use Log in/out and register instead of Sign in/out and Sign up. The Sign xx notation seems confusing to me. – BrunoLM Aug 30 '10 at 11:35

6 Answers

up vote 37 down vote

In "Homepage Usability", Jakob Nielsen (together with Marie Tahir, 2002, p. 53) recommends the use of "sign in" / "sign out" over "log in" / "log out". This is empirically based on a survey of several large-scale websites and thus supports OP's "more common" argument.

Furthermore, I second @Dan Barak in that you should use "Register" or "Join [your-service-here]" as opposed to "sign up" in order to avoid unnecessary confusion. (I cannot recall whether Nielsen and Tahir had any recommendations regarding this issue, though.)

share|improve this answer
I agree there is confusion with the Sign in and Sign up, I rather use register instead. – BrunoLM Aug 30 '10 at 11:39
up vote 1 down vote

As long as you use "sign in" or "log in" as opposed to "login", I don't think it really matters that much. Users understand both terms equally well from the results I've seen. I've never seen a person confused with where to log in when it says either term.

Definitely be consistent with log in/out or sign in/out either way. I'd also use register instead of sign up unless you have a good reason to use the latter; sign up and sign in are very similar at a glance.

Before anyone says anything about it in comments on this, login (and logon, logoff & logout) is bad because it is an adjective, not a verb. You don't login, you log in on the login page.

share|improve this answer
1  
@Rahul already made this comment to @Dan Barak's answer :) – jensgram Aug 30 '10 at 16:05
up vote 5 down vote

Just on a gut feeling - I would rather prefer using "Sign in", "Sign out" and "Register/Join/Create account" variation over "Log in".

Mostly because "Logging" something does not really convey the meaning of "entering" quite the same way as "sign in" does.

I can log any daily event, but that is just a mention of a fact while when I sign in at the door of an office building, I am giving my signature that I have entered the building and when I "sign out", I am also recording the fact that I am leaving the building...

share|improve this answer
1  
+1 - I would also go as far as to say that it 'sounds' a little bit more secure to "sign" into something; people are quite used to signing things safely in the real life. – BorhanMooz May 25 '11 at 23:24
up vote 9 down vote

Here's a good overview on how a few popular sites are using Sign in, Log in etc. Login/Logout vs Sign In/Sign Out vs Log in/Sign out – A short roundup

share|improve this answer
4  
Interesting that most of their URLs go to /login even though the words of the link say "Sign In". I suppose /sign_in is a little unwieldy as a url. – Brian Armstrong Oct 2 '11 at 7:17
1  
Or perhaps the developers think in terms of "log in" but the interface designers think in terms of "sign in." – arlomedia Nov 12 '12 at 23:44
up vote 4 down vote

I agree consistency is key.

This means not just consistant within your own site but with the general web (if its a web based app)

I believe you can't be too far from the 'norm' following the example of google, yahoo, etc.

Google: Sign Out, Sign In, "Create an account"

Yahoo: Sign In, Sign Up "Create new account"

share|improve this answer
up vote 14 down vote

While I don't have a very strong opinion here, I would bear in mind:

  • Sign In and Sign Up are quite close.
    Users might click one instead of the other sometimes.
    Either you make the difference more evident by location or graphics, or you could also use "Register or "Join" instead.
  • Make sure you stay consistent with the log out vs. sign out.
share|improve this answer
6  
Dan's answer is pretty complete, but I'd add one more detail: "Log in" is a valid verb where "Login" is a valid noun. "Signin", however, isn't a valid noun. On the other hand, "Signup" and "Sign up" have the same relationship, and if you use "Log in", you'll probably use "Register" as opposed to "Sign up". Then there's also "Log on" and "Logon", and of course "Log off" or "Log out". Errrr. – Rahul♦ Aug 30 '10 at 8:12

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.