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Interesting question. To answer it I think we have to understand what's frustrating to users and then provide some alternate ways of doing things.
Also remember, if you don't need the user to create an account then don't make them!
Lengthy Forms
Users may find it frustrating to fill out a bunch of information in many different input fields. Especially ...
51
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 person signing up is not the owner of the existing account may be small, it is still possible.
The difference between signing up and logging in should be clear.
A ...
45
Update: i have extended the answer and added some examples, i might further enhance the quality of the answer if i get feedback
Thought you'd never ask, here are some things to look at:
1. Does the user even need to create an account? Why?
Many product managers/designers fail to ask themselves this important question, it has become one of the largest ...
42
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 takes user back to that URL (most recent)
User forgot they signed up previously and is attempting to sign up again (and, like many users, ill-advisedly uses the ...
41
All of them except "e-mail" and "Password".
This is the minimum information you need to uniquely identify a user and allow them secure access to your site. The only other piece of vital information would be their address if you were shipping them something - but you can ask for that when they actually order something and not before.
All of the other ones ...
40
The products these days are intelligent enough to predict their visitor intent of coming on the website based on past their past behavior. For example, If I have logged out of a website, then the next time I open it - it will know that I am a returning user (through various technical means, e.g. browser cookies) and can present a message, "Returning user? ...
39
If you are providing a valuable service/product there will always be people trying to "cheat" the system and get in. Providing a free trial period is an industry norm and over time users may sign up for more than one trial but that will get old fast.
I would worry less about ensuring authentic users and focus more on providing that great content. If you're ...
35
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 inline validation. Before the user reaches the password field, the validation should suggest ways to login as the email is present in database. But, since its not ...
32
I'm sorry for the presumption since I know nothing about your use case, but I'll be the one to say it: don't force them to make an account. Just don't. Users can understand when making an account is necessary. If they expect to use your site without an account, then either you've confused them about what the site does or it's probably possible.
That strong ...
30
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 whole sign up form is simply email address and password, and all more substantive profile questions become an optional step after registration. This pattern ...
28
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.
26
Single Sign-On
Heavily utilize SSO services.
Add as much support for as many platforms as possible. Even though this is time consuming and compatibility issues increase as you increase the number you support, look at it like you are supporting more platforms (Android, iOS, Windows, Linux) because odds are the user will have one type of single sign on ...
24
Let's say the user just cannot receive email on their mobile device - for example those that deliberately do not want to be contacted by email - those on a limited data plan - or those without the inclination or technical know-how to setup email.
For whatever reason, there are going to be people who fit that category. So ask yourself if you want to ...
23
Email might be longer to type but it has other benefits:
It is much easier for me to remember when I go to log back into the site
I am very unlikely to run into the problem that the username I want is already taken (it is frustrating to have to do several tries at signing up to a service because of this).
21
There isn't any major security reason behind them expiring. The main reason that this is done is to be able to clean up the database of old unused verification information.
From a UX side, some people argue that having a shorter verification time encourages people to verify sooner rather than later, but I haven't seen any evidence supporting that. It does ...
15
This is a tough issue that I'm not sure anyone has really solved yet, but here are my thoughts for your 3 solutions.
Phone number
Yes this might be a bit personal or creepy but I feel like it's becoming less so since people are actually using their phones less and less. You'll want to be clear that you're not selling their phone number to a marketing agency ...
14
The negative aspect is that you've inadvertently complicated the process.
If I signed up and used my preferred secure password then I'm in and done.
However with the auto gen password approach I have to get the email, click the link, go back to the email, copy the password "G34-zaopwf792hj" (cause I'm not going to attempt to re-type it) paste it in, then ...
13
Consider using federated user authentication from some social network like Facebook or Twitter. You can suggest to your user that your use of social credentials is a service to them, saving them the hassle of remembering and maintaining a different username/password set for your site. Should they change their password on the social network, your site would ...
13
The fact that some sites feature a Register button more prominent than the Login button might be attributed to the fact that these sites try to encourage visitors to register and use their services. From a normal UX point of view, an user log ins many times on a site but registers only once, so it makes sense to have the Login button more prominent.
13
Some users won't want to give a second app access to their Facebook or Google information.
Some apps only require Facebook login (for example) to ensure the identity of the user. This is because it is important for the service the app offers. In those cases having verified users gives a better user experience for the rest of users, so it is beneficial in ...
12
It is legal to do that, but you will gain no legal protection if the default state is to agree.
Unless a user explicitly agrees (which means actively doing something rather than not doing something), any legal agreement that you have will be unenforceable in court. This has been tried and tested legally, so it is one of the few areas that are crystal clear....
12
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 remember.
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/10/17/average-person-has-19-passwords-but-1-in-3-dont-make-them-strong-enough/, 2014
Imagine how many passwords ...
12
As you mention online purchases, the best is to let people checkout without needing to creating an account. They still have to fill out tons of details for their delivery, just ask them at the end if they want to create an account so they can check on their order easier.
Doing this, you ask it at the right time, when there is a benefit for the user.
11
Because there is nothing telling you that you will get to see the link if you fail to log in.
It breaks down to these cases:
You know you have an account --> normal procedure.
You think you have an account but you don't --> Failed login.
You know you do not have an account --> you will look for a way to get one. If it is not there, why would you try to log ...
10
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 verification email and then click the verification link to gain access to the user's profile on the website.
The question then is, when should the link expire. Maybe not ...
10
The potential issue that comes immediately to mind is delay.
Yes, as Evil Closet Monkey says in the comment here, and many others have said across many questions, forgetting a password is very common, and thus people are familiar with password reset functionality.
But if I have to do that every time I login, I have to wait for the email to arrive before I ...
10
The very famous xkcd comics about password strengh come to mind.
What you really want is not a mix of lowercase, uppercase, number, and special character. You want a password with a lot of entropy and the user to not be bothered unneccessarily. So I think that what you should do is getting rid of the arbitrary set of rules and focus on the password's ...
10
Three things:
Look at every piece of information you're asking for. What will you do with it? For example, why are you asking for phone number? Will you ever actually call a user? If not, then don't ask for it. What are you doing with number of employees? (These are rhetorical questions. No need to answer them for us. Just think about it.)
Ask for ...
9
I agree with Igor-G that one conversion type (getting a new signup) is more valuable than the other (an existing user logging back in), but I think the primary reason is slightly more complex, and would still make sense even if the two we're of equal value to the company.
It's a function of how much each user-type's conversion likelihood can be influenced ...
9
Honestly, a valuable product. You are not the first one to offer trials.
You would scare more potential customers off than you would save through fraud-detection processes. If your customers like what you do, they will pay for it. If they use your software on a regular basis and still create a new account each time, they can't or don't want to afford it.
...
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