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While working on the registration/login page for my mobile app, I came up with the idea of combining the two into one. On clicking register, users will be taken to a new page to fill rest of the details.

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I wish to keep user onboarding as simple as possible. For example using the conventional approach, users see a login page first. Those who wish to register have to click a Sign up instead button which opens up a new page.

By using my approach users will be saved from an extra click and a page load. But what are the pros and cons here?

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and welcome to the site!

"as simple as possible" is not always counted in clicks. Most of the sites use two separate (but linked) pages for signup and registering because these are different use cases.

  • Different data: Usually, on the signup page there's a second password field, to make sure the user did not mistype the first password. If you want to know more about your users (e.g., email, name, etc.), the registration page needs even more data.

  • Convention: Users are used to two pages, and might be confused if you combine both use cases on one page.

  • Unclarity: It might be better to separate two different phases in your user's relation to your service on two different pages. This will make it clear to the users where in this lifecycle they are. For example, do all potential users (older people?) exactly know the difference between "Register" and "Login"?

If you want to be thorough, do user testing with your potential target group: Present both alternatives, and observe how the alternatives fare. Ask testers to think aloud, to get a chance to understand how they behave. (This is called a "Usability Test" in the UX world.)

Only if the test indicates that your new solution is superior to the conventional approach, go for it. "Superior" can mean different things here: Higher conversion, quicker task completion, less errors (for both tasks), but also perceived qualities like satisfaction, innovation, etc. Which criteria are important depends a lot on how you want to attract users.

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  • So the plan was to accept additional registration details on a separate page once users click the button. Agree with point 2 and 3 though. Separate login and registration pages seem to be an established convention. Apr 5, 2020 at 13:59
  • A second password field is usually an UX flaw.
    – Uwe Keim
    Apr 7, 2020 at 13:53
  • Well, you never make everything crystal clear: I referred to the signup page when mentioning the second password field. Much of UX is convention... and maybe I don't want to make the characters visible (in an Internet cafe). Edited to clarify. Apr 10, 2020 at 18:05

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