It’s been suggested that the best opportunities to collect user feedback is: 1.) when a user first signs-up, and 2.) when a user leaves. In the first scenario, a new user is likely willing (if not expecting) to offer some demographic info to gain access to your application. However, few people realize that it’s also an excellent opportunity to recruit users to product improvement groups. User groups allow you to have active conversations about your site – first impressions, trouble spots and interface improvements. It works as a great retention strategy as well, you are showing the users that you value their input and are willing to make changes to keep them happy.

Of course, not everyone will love your site, and you will rarely get the opportunity to find out why. Integrating a questionnairre or follow-up survey into your system is an excellent way to add a safety net under your user base. A simple exit survey can alert you to a bug in your system that’s driving users away. In any case, I have provided some examples for inspiration.

There has been a lot of debate within the UI design community recently about whether to show passwords as a user enters them or to obscure them with dots. This debate comes on the heels of an alertbox article published last June by interface design guru Jakob Nielsen. I have gathered a few examples of how interface designers can offer their users the best of both worlds. The screenshot below, from Apple’s wi-fi connection panel, offers the user a checkbox (as mentioned in Nielsen’s article) to show or hide the password. Another interesting example I have seen recently, is on my Opera mobile browser. When I type my password there is a slight delay (approx. 1 sec) after I type each character before the plain-view character is converted into a bullet. Funny thing is, I think that was an Opera bug that has since been fixed! But in the context of this discussion, I think it might be an elegant solution if it was possible to do with javascript.

Ever been in an unfamiliar airport? You quickly scan for directional signs or the familiar logo of an airline to help you decide where to go next. These examples do essentially the same thing. They become the signpost in our busy application to help a first-time user navigate the application, to evalutate the possibilities. They very effectively help them answer that key question – “Where the heck am I and what do I do now?”

It seems we are all just getting pretty darn comfortable with our cyber-selves as reflected in these laid-back error messages. Either we’re all just “totally cool with it” now or development teams have found a new outlet for repressed creativity. Either way, it works – I’d much rather be somewhat entertained or have a chuckle while I wait for your site to come back up.

I’ve noticed HUGE INPUT FIELDS on more and more registration and login pages lately. Makes good sense to me. When I landed on this page, the call-to-action was immediately clear (I’m pretty sure they want me to sign up).  The massive input fields and the equally large input text gave me the “impression” that it was so easy a child could do it.  All I can say is perceptions are reality. I’d be interested to hear any comments that can quantify the lift in registrations by using this technique.

Attack of the giant input boxes