80
votes
Accepted
How can I unambiguously ask for a new user's "Display Name"?
This is a great question and it may take a few more attempts to get it right. As a rule, people don't read, so a short description is key. I'd try:
Preferred Full Name
Nicknames are fine, titles are ...
- 817
73
votes
Accepted
Should multiple user accounts be allowed to use the same email address?
No!
You can't send "forgotten password" links to a single account if you have the same e-mail address, unless the user specifies a unique username. But what happens if the user forgets the username ...
- 54.6k
65
votes
Accepted
Are people sick of logins?
Answering your question, which doesn't involve specific motivation behind it. Yes, people don't like to register on sites, people don't like giving information all the time, people don't like ...
- 4,166
51
votes
Does it make sense to authenticate a user when he/she provides existing valid credentials while registering?
So basically you want someone who signs up for a new account and enters already existing credentials, to log in as the owner of these credentials?
I wouldn't recommend this:
The chance that the ...
- 10.3k
44
votes
Should multiple user accounts be allowed to use the same email address?
Yes!
There are no security problems. If two people share an email account, and one of them has an account on your site, either of them can reset the password on the account (since they both have ...
- 663
43
votes
Accepted
Can a form be too easy to complete?
It depends
In the general case, the fewer forms you have the higher the conversion rate. However, if the form lacks important information for the users, like trust signals or other specific info, ...
- 11.4k
42
votes
Does it make sense to authenticate a user when he/she provides existing valid credentials while registering?
Yes, log the user in
There are several ways an existing user might end up on a sign-up page:
User clicks sign up by mistake
User recently signed up for an account and the browser URL autocomplete ...
- 40.3k
38
votes
Accepted
Confirm vs. Verify: Is there a difference?
From English.Stackexchange: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/5789/whats-the-difference-between-to-confirm-and-to-verify
Verification requires external evidence.
Confirmation ...
- 3,663
38
votes
How can I unambiguously ask for a new user's "Display Name"?
Don't give instructions. Give clear, concise, impossible-to-ignore examples.
Display Name
(e.g., Bob Jones, Liz Johnson)
The example names that you choose, like the ones here, need to ...
- 491
35
votes
Does it make sense to authenticate a user when he/she provides existing valid credentials while registering?
NO.
There are chances that user might have no idea about their registration status on the site. And start a fresh registration.
In such a case, best solution would be to OFFER a way to login by ...
- 1,376
34
votes
Are people sick of logins?
Hiding information behind logins is really bad from the usability standpoint. Imagine you are a user who googles for a certain piece of information.
Workflow on website without registration-wall:
...
- 1,120
31
votes
Accepted
Where is the best place to ask the user their ethnicity?
Where is the best place to ask the user their ethnicity?
Honestly -- in the doctors office.
Unless the benefit to the user is clear then don't ask for it. You wanting to keep track for your own ...
- 15.8k
30
votes
Does it make sense to authenticate a user when he/she provides existing valid credentials while registering?
I disagree with the other answers, and say yes, it may make sense (with a couple of caveats).
There is an increasing prevalence of the combined login/sign up form pattern on some sites, where the ...
- 14.9k
28
votes
Reducing Password Complexity?
The most common solution I've seen to this is including Facebook and Google login, considering most users will already be logged in to either of the social sites.
- 10.5k
27
votes
How can I unambiguously ask for a new user's "Display Name"?
Does your system allow users to control their own display name at a later point in time? E.g., once hired, can Robert V. Jones go into some settings panel somewhere and change their own display name ...
- 1,222
26
votes
Accepted
Where should we redirect users to after sign up?
I'm not sure we can we specifically answer the question with the information given, but below are some ideas of what to do and what not to do that may help you determine the best course of action in ...
- 70.6k
19
votes
Are people sick of logins?
I disagree with @Alphabeticaa's answer. From personal experience, I hate it when I need to register simply because I wish to view an article or post a simple question. I have a "dump" e-mail address ...
- 531
18
votes
Can a form be too easy to complete?
A form can absolutely be too easy to complete.
Some decisions need to be slowed down rather than expedited. One example might be a modal that reads, "click here to give your no-account Brother-in-...
- 239
17
votes
Accepted
Why is "register" the default button rather than "log in"?
Because some people just want to watch the world burn
There's an argument that you wish to entice people to register (ie make it prominent), while those wishing to log in are already interested, and ...
- 1,245
17
votes
Can a form be too easy to complete?
Yes
There’s a widely agreed-upon guideline to “Remove fields which collect information that can be (a) derived in some other way, (b) collected more conveniently at a later date, or (c) simply omitted“...
- 3,851
14
votes
Accepted
Should password field be cleared if Captcha is wrongly entered?
If you clear the password field when you have a faulty password, then it should clear the password field on a faulty CAPTCHA too and it should not specifically state that it was the CAPTCHA that was ...
- 846
13
votes
Accepted
Email vs Mobile Number?
I can't help feeling that if you can't answer this question yourself, then you don't know what you are going to use the data for even when you have it.
Maybe if you think about what data you ...
- 70.6k
12
votes
Accepted
Reducing Password Complexity?
Average person has 19 passwords
More than 1 in 3 (35%) of those questioned said they struggle to
remember strong passwords, which is unsurprising given that the
average Briton now has 19 of them to ...
- 3,719
11
votes
Should email verification links expire?
If clicking the verification link automatically logs the user in, then yes, the verification link should expire.
Why? Because if the user's inbox is compromised a hacker can search for the ...
- 428
11
votes
Ideas on what to do with the white space available when hiding sections of a long form
We don't know the entire context here, but typically, when a user is filling out a form, they're not interested in reading about 'product info'. Sounds like a suggestion from the marketing team. :)
I'...
- 41.6k
11
votes
Should multiple user accounts be allowed to use the same email address?
I agree with Turch’s answer that allowing multiple user accounts per email address can be a good idea, but I don’t think that a 'less usable' 'special "Recover username"' feature is needed, and I don’...
- 3,906
11
votes
Accepted
Keep long form, or separate into multiple steps?
Good question without a definitive answer.
In short, both long page and divided page has their advantages and disadvantages. You will not make a big mistake by using either one of them. Recently I ...
- 11.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Username field in registration form
having autogenerated user name is probably not good idea as they may forget it.
Let them choose a username.
- 8,180
10
votes
Are alternate suggestions in “username already taken” errors useful?
The idea here is about simplifying the process for users by making it easier to see what available options are there and allowing them to choose instead of going by a trial by error approach where ...
- 43.6k
10
votes
Should password field be cleared if Captcha is wrongly entered?
No, please don't
First of all, I'd try to study and test if I need a captcha. And I mean, test it thoroughly. While Captcha are an obvious enhance in security, they have severe issues in terms of ...
- 32.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible