What page should be shown to the user after s/he sign out?

Question

Currently my project will redirect the user to the login page after s/he clicks sign out, I see many websites redirect the user to the homepage after sign out. Which is the best page to be shown to the user, homepage, log in page or last page s/he has visited?

Answer 1

Logging out should take the user to a dedicated log out page

Logging out is a particular task users will do, and should be treated like any other. It needs its own page, which should accomplish the following:

1. Let the user know they have successfully logged out. (If the user is taking the time to log out, privacy is important to them. You want to assure them logout is complete.)
2. Leave a good final impression, for instance by thanking your user.
3. Provide the user with the options they may want, for example, to log back in (but don’t make this obnoxiously prevalent)

Logging out is a “Happy Ending” User Story

A user logging out means they had logged in before — that means you are dealing with your most engaged users. Don’t be “clingy” when they say bye.

Consider user stories for someone logging out. (And check your website analytics to fact-check your notions.)

Examples:

1. They may be finished with what they came to do.

2. They may want to log into a different account.

3. Maybe they just want to see what your site looks like when they are not logged into their own account (for example, they might want to see what their online profile/resume looks like to the public).

Let the Marketing Department worry about what they want the user to see (or consider that when you are wearing your “marketing hat.”) As a UX professional, focus on what your users want to do.

Answer 2

I agree with the 3 points @TimGrant shares. But the con about giving the user a final good bye page is that you are basically letting him go, not showing him something in case he changes his mind or he just wanted to log out but continue on the site. You could maintain those 3 points in a message box but inside a page you are interested the user in seeing.

My suggestion is to include the message that the logout was successful in a page you are interested that the user sees. This would depend on the case, it could be the home page, a page were you let the user share his thoughts, a category you know he will be interested in, etc.