On Dec 13, 2007 1:05 PM, Brian Moseley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Dec 13, 2007 8:26 AM, hank williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > But thats not the psychology. Its not that big a deal to fill out a > > new sign up form, but when you ask people to sign up for something, > > rather than just giving them the benefit, you loose customers. > > how do you gather the information you need for a working server > account if you don't ask the user to enter a username and a password? > if you don't call this process "signing up for a server account", what > do you call it? >
I was speaking in general terms, not in the case of chandler. Often there is a choice as to whether to ask for sign up information in a webapp and it is often best to defer because of the drop off dynamics, until the user has more invested. I was not saying you could get a server account without asking for a username! Sorry about the confusion!!!! > > One of the other issues is that it generally is not clear what you > > have to do before you are finished with the process. It is very > > helpful, for example to know that you have to fill out exactly two > > pages, instead of when the software asks you to do things without > > telling you how many and what the steps are. > > I certainly agree with this. > > > The bottom line is that fewer steps has an *enormous* effect on > > uptake. Seemingly (to a developer) small things, can have a hugely > > disproportionate impact on the mental state and enjoyment of the user. > > you sound as if I've never used an application, only developed one. on > the contrary, I have actually used one or two pieces of software in my > life :D > lol! Funny thing is I am a developer too. But I know that when I am so close to something I dont realize that something I think is trivial is really not. Thats why I learned the discipline of sitting quietly behind the mirrored glass and observing user testing. Because no matter how smart I think I am, the feeling of watching a user struggle with something that you think should be so easy is visceral ( I am surprised they did not schedule the testing such that Mimi could attend). You feel it in your bones and you dont want to feel it again. So I always take my best shot and then perfect with real user observance because I know I can only trust myself but so far. Hank _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Open Source Applications Foundation "Design" mailing list http://lists.osafoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/design
