Guys, let's live together or on the "Password" field when registering
The note. A little cry of the soul about how not to make a password field when registering on sites.
Under the cat gathered a few thoughts, examples and conclusions on this topic.
The problem, by the way, is as old as the world. And yes ... this has been said too much, but for some reason they continue to do wrong, and I don’t observe significant progress in the right direction. Until. Therefore, the repetition ... then you know.
If now I am not mistaken in numbers, then, according to research, we work not 8 hours stated per TC per day, but somewhere 6. We can think productively and intensively for 3 hours. But we can not work at all, but only make it appear.
What do we spend working time for? Social networks beat all attendance records, then come the news, followed by online shopping. And all this at the computer, bought for the blood of the employer, and not on the phone. Because what? That's right, because when you sit at a computer with a smart look, you work, you sit on the phone - a slacker.
What am I all about? The fact that the main time when we buy goods and consume content is very often working. And it also means that the path to this content should be as simple and easy as we act in conditions of heightened danger and secrecy. Joke, of course. But still, let's not forget the context of use and user scenarios.
And the scenario could be like this: I sat reading the comments on the article - I decided that I did not agree with Shurik958 - a clever idea arose, I wanted to voice it “Let me know!” - You cannot leave a comment without registration - I decided to register, anticipating the applause of other users and the disgrace of the alleged opponent - clicked the button "Register" - it started ... E-mail, password, confirm the password. No, not right - too simple. Again an error - passwords do not match. And all this in the conditions of the strictest secrecy, often without the opportunity to see where you made a mistake. Everything. The thought has passed, the moment is lost, the mood goes to hell. User is lost.
All this to the fact that I made the most unpleasant discovery: in contrast to mobile applications, forms for registering web versions are not so convenient and even crooked.
And what percentage of potential users and buyers fall off during registration, I think, it’s written enough without me. And even such arguments as “Favorite sites are stored in bookmarks with saved passwords and do not require any registration for a long time”, “Who needs that pass,” “Everyone has this way”, “And registration through social. why do you need nets? Use this ”and“ But in the application everything is convenient for us ”will not convince me that the e-mail + password registration form should also be made convenient. Such as a mobile application of the same resource.
Why do so?
If back in 2009 (!), Jakob Nielsen in his article “Stop Password Masking” adds the idea to refuse double confirmation fields and give the opportunity to see what we have written there.
In 2010, an article-opinion on this topic was written on Habré . Emotionally very written.
But in 2010, the trees were big, and the Internet was not as advanced. What to say about 2018, when you simply do not have time to follow the flow of information and the user gets lazy so that he does not read the extra line, he does not write the extra letter. But on the websites they continue to ask for confirmation of the password, carefully hiding it “While our spaceships plow the expanses of the universe ...” (c), i.e., we almost talk about teapots telling, at the same time we force to perform absolutely unnecessary actions, remnants of past years, I would say. And these are not sites that schoolboy Vasya did for a chocolate bar on his knee, but quite well-known representatives of this world with a million audience.
Having rummaged on open spaces, I found several reasons:
- everyone does this (classics of the genre!);
- prevents mistakes when entering and saves the psyche of particularly suspicious citizens;
- So does Google!
- Our priority is mobile app (version).
But how does Jakob Nielsen answer this question in his article: “Password masking became common without any reason, except
a) it is easy to do
b) it was a default in the early days of the Internet ...”
Everything.
Why not do so
Because double repetition of the password without the ability to view the content puts unnecessary obstacles and increases the number of errors. And it does not protect the user from evil uncles who decide to steal his password.
Jakob Nielsen recommends “Do what users expect, and they can focus their brains on understanding your products and offerings instead of struggling with the user interface. Password masking is not what users are actively looking for. Losing this function will not cause confusion ... Let's clean the web from the web and remove things that are only because they have always been there. ”
So how should it be?
Leave one password field with the option to hide or show. We kill two birds with one stone: we prevent the mistake and calm the vigilant citizens. Many companies in their mobile applications have done just that, forgetting to transfer this remarkable opportunity to the site.
Examples
A few examples where the correct field to enter a password (or close to the right) in a mobile application and the wrong site.
I really want that the correct thoughts from the applications moved to the web.
Yandex.Zen
website also has sense icons confused.
Fishki.net
AliExpress
Wildberries
Example for imitation CIAN
Colleagues designers, friends, let's make the users life better! Do well and correctly not only in mobile applications. Recall the beautiful word "context of use" and think that it can be different and its convenience is our task.
Thanks for attention!