Sign-up Forms: Top 5 Design Tips

Interaction with the user at all stages of their journey through your site or application is a real art. Every detail, every phrase, and every window is critical. Up to 61% of customers will take their business elsewhere after one bad experience. That’s why it’s crucial not to mess up the first step – registration, during which the sign-up form design plays a vital role. 

Whether the client has already been on your website or visits for the first time, logging into a new or already created account is a must. Sign-up forms are the tool that helps to enter and make a purchase successfully. In this article, we will discuss the importance and features of such forms. Also, we will reveal how to make a sign-up form using the advice Arounda professionals have collected over the years of creating website designs.

Table of Contents

• The Sign-up Form Basics

• Why Does Sign-up Form Design Matter? 

• 5 Tips for Creating the Best Sign-up Form

• 3 Best Signup Form Examples 

• Conclusion

The Sign-up Form Basics

The sign-up form is one of the first interactions between the user and your product. In practice, it’s a separate page, window, or module that contains fields for entering customer data. Usually, first, the site asks for a login (email address or phone number) and a password – that’s the sign-in form. Users can create an account in the same window if it’s their first visit. They will also enter all the necessary information there.

Login forms may differ depending on the site’s specifics and the services it provides. Often, it’s enough to log in using a Google, Apple, or Facebook account, which transfers all the required data to fill in the mandatory fields. At the same time, the sign-up form can ask for more details, such as location, preferred delivery method, date of birth, and more. In both cases, the sign-up page opens access to the product (or closes it if the design isn’t straightforward and intuitive). 

Why Does Sign-up Form Design Matter? 

In addition to the primary goal – collecting the necessary information about the user in exchange for access to purchases or services – sign-up forms have other essential abilities. Keep them in mind when designing such forms.

1. A successful registration form design helps reach more users. The easier the first visitor’s interaction with the website, the greater the chances of completing the conversion.

2. The sign-up form is the first test of the site's functionality. The page’s visual and technical performance represents the company's overall image. We recently wrote about visualizing the user journey through your site. Registration, or rather convenience, is crucial to that journey. It forms the first impression and settings for discovering the rest of the website. 

5 Tips for Creating the Best Sign-up Form 

Registration forms are essential to user-website interaction. Therefore, paying particular attention to this stage and thoroughly testing every detail is crucial. We have collected valuable tips for a successful design process to help you create a sign-up form and avoid typical mistakes that hide in minor aspects.

Create Short Forms

Indeed, the desire to collect as much information about your users as possible is natural. But your intent to create an effective form that gets people to sign up on your site should prevail. Reduce the fields of the form page to the essentials. These may include email or phone number, password, first and last name, and other data required for your niche. You can always get more information during the checkout process. Don’t ask to enter everything at once – it can push the user away from making an order.

Add Other Registration Methods

Most sites now practice an easy registration form using already created accounts, such as Google or Facebook. This technology is called single sign-on (SSO). It allows people to fill in the required fields automatically instead of entering some basic details. Single registration is quick and doesn’t require an additional password, significantly reducing the user's time to access your service.

Separate Registration and Login

This may sound like an obvious rule, but the difference between sign-up and sign-in should be clear to the user. Use separate pages or windows for these two processes. You can also choose words that are less similar (for example, use "registration" or "create an account" instead of "sign-up"). At the same time, don't forget to add an easy way to switch between logging in and creating a new account if the user chooses the wrong option.

Specify Password and Email Requirements

Password and login are immutable elements of a sign-up form. But you may encounter particular challenges with them. For example, a user creates a password that doesn’t meet the site's requirements. The form isn’t complete but doesn’t tell what has gone wrong. To avoid delays at this stage, immediately specify the basic requirements for the password. As for the problem with an incorrect email, you can address it by checking the input field automatically. Highlight the row in red and prompt users to verify whether the email address is correct.

Make the Registration Field the Page's Main Focus

The user should intuitively understand where exactly you expect them to enter their data. Intuitiveness is the main principle of creating a sign-up form UI design. Optimally, redirect it to a dedicated registration page. Alternatively, provide a popup window to cover other elements. It’s also worth directing the user's attention to the first input field. Make it active and ready to fill out immediately after entering the registration form.

3 Best Signup Form Examples 

To understand the best sign-up form design, let's look at several examples of these pages and analyze what works well and why.

Google

The Google sign-up form looks somewhat different from the three usual fields. However, despite the large amount of data users should enter, the page is clear and accessible. Here's what else is worth attention in this example:

• Password requirements

• The reason for creating an account

• A login option instead of registration

Airbnb

Here’s another example of how a long form can be comfortable and not crowded. In the first stage, Airbnb lets newcomers register with a Google account, Facebook, or email, streamlining the process significantly. The website also provides the following amenities:

• The explanation for each step

• Convenient entry of birth date

• Alternative login with a phone number

Netflix

The streaming giant chose a different format for the sign-up form. Netflix divides registration into several stages. It’s a successful tactic that turns a long-form process into an easy, step-by-step journey. Netflix also considered the following points:

• Only a password and email are necessary

• The first two stages are simple clicks without data entry

• Each registration stage has an explanation

Conclusion

Registration forms are essential to the user's journey through your company's website. When filling out the fields, the client faces your technical properties for the first time. People can evaluate the convenience of account creation and overall interaction with your business. Therefore, it’s worth paying extra attention to this stage to avoid losing some customers in the first minutes of interaction. 

Need a compelling sign-up form that will work for you and your users? Contact our team!