Considered useless, maybe, would be a better title.
Of all the various trends that have accompanied the wide range of the “web 2.0″ school of applications, the one feature that sticks out, that I really like, is the minimalist sign-up form. Whether they call it signing up, registering, creating an account, the trend has been:
- To ask you for less
- To make it quicker
- To give you options (login with OpenID, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo ID, etc.)
- To make any further information optional
It used to be that any time you “signed up” on a new website, it seemed that you had to go through a long form, including your address (what?), telephone number (you’re calling me?), username, first name, last name, email address, password (twice), favorite color, inseam measurements, and so forth. And for awhile, because that was the norm, I think people online simply accepted that.
No more, thank God. New web applications, if they don’t accept OpenID or an existing ID from a different service, generally just ask for an email address and a password. There’s no particular reason you can’t use an email address as a User ID for many applications, so why make it another field? If you want to have the option (for privacy reasons… not a bad idea), you can always allow people to set a username after signing up. Make it simple.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but as a result, my tolerance for old school, long, multiple page, sign up forms has dipped below zero. If I visit a new service and click “sign up”, chances are I’m just considering checking it out. If click “next”, and see Yet More Fields to fill out before I’m able to get into the application/web site… I’m liable to just close that tab and forget it.
