Sign Up in a Mobile Context
Mobile Application Signup Flow
Tolerance is short when it comes to mobile users overcoming difficulties. Especially when we compare to traditional desktop applications. For this reason, any kind of mobile feature should be made with the aim to be as simple and easy to use as possible. The general rule of thumb is basically to simplify and minimize the requirements to achieve some desired purpose. This can be accomplished by reducing the number of taps on the screen that the user needs to make in order to achieve his / her objective.
User registration is a common and effective mechanism that offers the ability to collect customer data and translates into the best way to store an identity for each user. In the age of ‘Mobile Me’, where information is key, it becomes a must-have mechanism in our mobile applications (independently of its genre). Given its importance, the mobile registration flow is one of the most important phases in an applications’ development life cycle. Failing to create a simple and easy signup procedure will ultimately lead to failure, as users (whose tolerance is low) will scrape off your app before completing the registration flow, probably followed by giving it a bad rating and leaving you with little to no room to salvage that relationship. To make things worse, you probably lost that user’s information to a competitor that has now a key advantage against you, commercially wise.
In light of the above aspects, we can infer that:
- Mobile Registration Flow is a crucial phase in any app life cycle.
- A simple and easy to use signup procedure is essential to reach success.
- The very usage of the Registration / Authentication mechanism contributes to provide a commercial competitive edge within this Information Age we live in.
We are now aware of the importance of our registration flow phase. This simple fact now compels us to dwell on the requisites that make a simple and easy signup procedure. In accordance to an old saying which states “less is more”, the most intuitive solution is slimming the signup process as much as possible (i.e. reducing the necessary user input to a minimum). This seems to be a very valid choice but on what aspects can we cut and slim down?
To be continued in Part II.
Paulo Ribeiro
Hardworking and passionate individual keen on learning and clearing any challenges coming his way.
Working in such a fast paced industry as Application Development, Paulo always aims to try and learn new technologies and new ways to perform his work, either through optimization or efficient process management. He is always open to embrace projects as long as they represent a brand new challenge and learning experience for him.
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