Searching opinions: better register flow?

Question

Scenario: There is 300 users that buy our product on a Kickstarter campaign two months ago. We need to create these users account on our database and notify them.

We have thought two ways to accomplish this:

a) Send a email to each user with a link for creating a new password. It means that users will have an additional step to perform a login on our service.

Or

b) Send a email with a auto generated random password to login and, if they want, change it on a future. Less steps but we see a problem here: auto generated password is not a friendly password (ie: lmd932ca) but our service remember the password forever so the users don't need to remember it.

Which is better? a) or b)? What do you think?

Thanks!!

Edit: the core application, meaning where users sign-in/up is a mobile application

Answer 1

A is better because of following reasons :

1.As a user i can create my own password which i can remember(most of the users keep common passwords for various apps,portals etc one password easy to remember) and can readily insert as many times as i want while using that app.

B is not a good solution because :

1.Custom generated passwords are not easy to remember each and every time i have to copy them from somewhere to insert.

2. At some point of time i am going to change my password from custom generated to personal.Then why not do it at first step only.

Answer 2

The option a) is better since by any means the random generated password will be changed by the user.

Answer 3

a) is the easier one. Providing a link to a page where I can set up a password is 1. learned behavior, 2. easy accessible, since the user can pick her own password easily and 3. users can immediately be redirected to the page you want them to be.

b) is out of question for me, since the friction you will generate with a random character password is way bigger than "Just choosing my own one".

Answer 4

Don't make them think. From what I gathered, this is not a "toothbrush" application that requires users log in or check it up twice a day, so Option b.

As a generic user, I'd rather use a prepared for me randomly generated password and get into the system of no vital importance in two clicks than bother with creating an account (too many actions and decisions for such a minor need).

This being said, if you are targeting developers, use Option a, as they tend to prefer to hold personal control even over minute things.

Answer 5

Security here should be decisive rather than usability.

Option a) is to be preferred, because option b) will result in many users not bothering to change their password and thus having their password stored in plain text in their email.

Requiring users to enter a password is a relatively minor step and is perfectly normal and acceptable.