Web Design for Sign Up - 8 Seconds to Make an Impression

18 Jul, 2012

Here’s a reality check for you: You only have eight seconds to make a connection with the users that use your website for the first time! Yes, it’s a matter of eight seconds to persuade them to use your website and convince them that they have the right decision.

What do users think?

How you wondered what users are thinking when they land on your website? One thing is for sure; what you imagine people are thinking differs from what they’re actually thinking!
We let ourselves believe that our audience has the characteristics we want, like confidence, decisiveness, passion and excitement for our software. This is not true. People still have to be convinced before taking the plunge.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

Sign-up difficulty

Step 1 of getting people interested is done. The next step is to convince those interested people to actually sign up to use your website for the first time. This step is important for the following reasons:

Making the first, and lasting, impression (best chance to turn a person into a loyal user)
Lots of questions, few answers (use the opportunity to tell the story of your software)
Convert potential to kinetic energy (change the energy of being interested in software to the energy of actually using it)
Critical choice (people are choosing to either start a relationship with you or not which will certainly affect your future)

Different users

Every person who visits your website is trying to do something specific and you can identify some repetitive roles that seem to pop up again and again. Here we have noted down some roles for you:

Ready to go – They are ready to start using your application so make it aseasy as possible to sign up by removing usability problems and preventable friction in the interface.
Interested but unsure – They need to be reassured they’re making the right decision in trying your software so provide them multiple levels of detail.
Fact-finders - They want enough detail so they can report back to others so provide them solid summary and how-it-works information.
Skeptical - They want to find out that the website they’re currently using is a better solution so provide them lots of evidence that other people are happy using your website or web application.

The Sign-up Framework

The set of information and resources we provide to people who are going to be signing up for our application is called a sign-up framework. It usually contains the following:

An elevator pitch, a tagline, or some other brief explanation of service
Graphics or illustrations that show how your software works
Copywriting that describes your software
In-depth feature tour or feature pages
Video or screencast showing actual use
Evidence of other people using your software successfully

A sign-up framework helps people jump from being interested in your software to being a first-time user. Hence your sign-up framework must do the following:

Communicate the proficiencies of the software clearly
Let a person to decide if the software is right for them
Answer any questions people have about thesoftware
Solve any preconceptions people have aboutthe application
Connect people with any other people who they might collaborate or work with
Give them an idea of the type of relationship they’ll havewith you

Hopefully after solving following these points, eight seconds will be enough for you to make a lasting impression on your user. If you want expert help with your application, contact 4M Designers. We’d love to hear from you!

Comments ()

Sharing is Caring

Here we share our experiences and thoughts about web strategy, social media marketing, SEO & really anything that strikes our fancy.