Account Sign-Up Usability Redux

There have been a few articles of late talking about usable sign-up procedures for sites wanting to provide user accounts; however, i think it bears revisiting is the "why" for accounts in the first place. The very number one mistake in the first article linked above:

Mistake #1: Having a Sign-in In The First Place -- Jared M. Spool

There are way too many sites that offer/require accounts to do the simplest of things:

• site feedback


• ask a question


• leave a comment


• provide location specific content


• just to buy something

Some props to some sites that do it right:

• Yahoo! - want to see TV or Movie listing for your area, just give them a zipcode


• craigslist - post and manage your item/event/rant, no account required


• etix.com - creates a convenience account post sales, because most likely you won't need it


• Bed Bath and Beyond


• most blogs - just ask for name/email to comment

The text at Bed Bath and Beyond says it perfectly:

You don't need an account to place an order. To make future shopping easier, you can create an account upon order completion.

Do you really want to serve your users? Stop creating artificial barriers that keep folks from performing the simplest of tasks. If you really think users want your email, ask them point-blank to join a mailing list (e.g. Birkenstock USA).

Forcing users to create an account to perform basic tasks as a means to collect their email addresses or generate some self-serving user statistics is just not user friendly nor customer centered.