There’s a usability issue so common that I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen customers stumble on it. At first glance it might not be an obvious usability issue, but years of user testing and user research later it proves to be a problem for a large proportion of users across a broad spectrum of profiles. It happens right at the start of the checkout process with the form to either log in or register:
When presented with a log-in form, users are often naturally drawn to start filling in the edit boxes on the left to sign-in. They don’t read the surrounding text – they’re only interested in getting through the checkout process quickly so they can complete the purchase. They don’t even notice the button on the right that is for new customers who don’t have an account already.
This is fine for existing customers, but new customers are likely to believe that the sign-in fields are the start of the registration process and if they have an account or not they would expect to move the process forward without entering new information on a new form. This is often not the case.
Providing an error message stating that ‘details don’t match the system’ may not resolve the situation. For customers that have many online accounts it’s feasible that they won’t remember if they have an account or not, but the error message assumes the customer is doing the right thing in trying to sign in; it suggests that an account with this email address exists and that the password is wrong. Perhaps the customer will enter the password again or a different password, and may not realise the issue lies because they are filling in the wrong form.
Meanwhile, customer frustration and anxiety increase and the item remains tantalisingly unpaid for, increasing the likelihood of checkout abandonment. This is where a usability and user experience show their worth time and time again – no retailer should have this issue on their website if they are looking to optimise their sales and conversion.
It’s likely to be less of an issue if the new customer register button is on the left and the login fields are on the right because, since users naturally scan a screen top left to bottom right, they’re more likely to notice the button and decide if it’s relevant for them. But it still forces customers to decide whether they should register or log in, and the choice isn’t visually equal or obvious – it’s still tempting just to fill in those edit boxes. To try to eliminate this checkout usability issue, the choice has to be translated into the question ‘Do I already have an account with this company or not?’
Surprisingly, in our Ecommerce Retail report only 2 companies out of 15 presented the login/registration in a design that we recommend to our clients to resolve this issue:
Integrating the login/registration into 1 form means customers aren’t faced with the choice of whether to log in or register. They have to enter their email address in either situation, so that’s a no-brainer. Instead, the choice is presented as a simple question: ‘Do you have a password?’
Of course, they still have to remember if they have a password or not, but the particular confusion generated by the Next form and not knowing if it is your password that is wrong, or the fact you don’t actually have an account can’t happen. By answering ‘No’ they signal their intent to be a new customer. By answering ‘Yes’ they’re declaring they have an existing account – they’ll make sense of any error messages subsequently generated for a wrong password or non-existent account in this light.
Because the design is more streamlined, there’s less visual clutter, and less for the customer to consider. Customers will always make mistakes but the checkout process should be as smooth and short as possible.
So, why do so many companies persist with the clunky Next-style form that could see customers entering password after password and then when realising they perhaps don’t have an account having to re-fill a different form to sign up? I don’t know! But giant of Ecommerce, Amazon, go with the streamlined design as we recommend to our clients, which says it all.
Have you come across this checkout usability issue? Have you been stuck in the sign in or register loop and ended up typing in your details numerous times into different forms just to be able to buy something? Let us know in the comments below!
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Genine Keogh says
I feel there are pros and cons to both designs and have experience user testing both.
At first glance the recommended design would seem to work in general as it requires minimal effort and is less cluttered if the user first understands what they are required to do.
However, I have observed some new visitors to an ecommerce site confused by this simple design because they assume that the question ‘do you have a password?’ is related to the email address they have just entered, in which case they do have a password and continue to enter the one they use to login to their hotmail / gmail account with only to face an error message that they can’t be found.
Amazon overcome this by adding the extra text to the label on the password field ‘I am a returning customer…’ but the page is still headed ‘Sign In’ which could be confusing to a new customer looking for a clear path and the key words to sign ‘up’ or ‘Register’
It’s all about clear signposting, field labelling and using the language that a visitor would use to describe who they are when they reach this page.
Of course this could all be different depending on the type of customer and the ecommerce retailer.
14 December 2011 at 2:25 pm
Someone says
Why does anyone think you need an account to buy things? If you make using the web harder than walking into a store to buy something, then guess what? People will walk into the shop down the street.
All you should care about at check out is a valid credit card. After that if the customer wants to give you more details, consider yourself lucky. I don’t need an account to walk into to a brick and mortar store and by something. Why do you think I need one with your web store?
My drug store has made it more complicated to get a refill order placed on the web than by phone. So I pick up the phone.
16 December 2011 at 9:45 pm
Ivan Vandervaeren says
I gotta say I agree with you all, actually ;-).
Truly agree with Philip stating that such log in/register procedure in two different columns is confusing and subject to many mistakes, as observed during various usability tests.
I also agree with Genine statements since we also observed such behaviours in our usability tests as well.
Fact is there does not seem to be a “perfect way” for log in/registration. There will always be issues, as Philip stated, and it’s all a matter of weighing what is best acceptable by your company or not.
Within the company I work for, for instance, we sell Telecom products (Mobile, Internet, TV, etc.). Within our e-Shop, we are struggling hard on how to make the registration/checkout process successful. Indeed, most of our sales relate to the buying of all in one packages (TV, mobile, internet). Therefore, once a package is added to the shopping basket, we ask the user either his phone number (existing) or address (new) because we have to check if the requested package will be available in his address (not all our customer base can have TV from us, for instance, depending on technical, geographical constraints). We know it is a real pain in the ass for the user but we don’t know how to do it otherwise. Should we only ask the user this info at the end of the checkout process, it would mean that we would let the user configure each part of his package, then only maybe to tell him that he ccan not have this package at the given address, which would also be frustrating. We didn’t find the right solution yet. It’s not like just buying a shirt or a book, so…
11 January 2012 at 11:05 am
Phil Webb says
Yes – it’s hard to find a perfect solution!
Ivan, I would recommend trying to pre-empt situations which may frustrate users as early as possible. It will be frustrating for customers to choose products they cannot later buy because of where they live. In this situation it would be good to offer prominent filters based on location (which would prompt the user for postcode for example) so they only see suitable products before choosing them. Also provide content that makes it clear that what can be delivered depends on location so that customers may be encouraged to register/log in before browsing – maybe the initially just the minimum that’s required to show suitable products upfront, then capturing the rest in the checkout journey…
11 January 2012 at 1:30 pm