5 Best Practices for the Sign-up Flow (with examples!)

How to design a better sign-up flow? Let’s dive into the best practices.

1. Keep it simple

The sign-up form should ask only for essential information. In case the product requires additional information besides an email and a password, split the sign-up flow into several steps.

A bad example of the sign-up form that asks for too much information at once.

The sign-up form above asks for too much information at once. Potential users are not motivated to spend time completing a complex registration form.

The sign-up flow is split into two steps.

In this example, creating an account requires additional information besides an email and a password. Therefore, the sign-up flow is split into two steps. This approach gives users a sense of completion after the first step, which motivates them to finish the next one.

The sign-up form and user flow.

This sign-up form is simple. It asks only for an email and a password. Other information, which is not required for creating an account, can be asked for during future onboarding steps after the sign-up is completed.

Examples

Airbnb’s sign-up flow.

Jira’s sign-up flow.

2. Provide social login methods

Social login methods make the sign-up process quicker and easier. When users sign up using social login, other essential information such as name and email can be retrieved automatically. Additionally, users will not need to create a password.

The sign-up form with and without social login methods.

Examples

Examples of products that offer social login methods in their sign-up forms.

3. Provide instructions for the password field

Display instructions near the password input field to help users create a password, and provide instant feedback as users type. This makes password creation and the overall sign-up process easier.

The password field without instructions.

The password field that provides instructions and instant feedback as users type.

Examples

Airbnb’s password field.

Spotify’s password field.

4. Allow users to make the password visible

By offering the option to show the entered password, users can check their input, which reduces the chances of typing errors.

The password field with and without the password visibility feature.

Google’s and LinkedIn’s password fields.

5. Provide clear and specific error messages

When a user enters something incorrectly in an input field or misses a required field, the error message should indicate where the error occurred and how to resolve it. Otherwise, the user has to guess which information was entered incorrectly and why it was wrong.

A bad and a good example of the error state in the sign-up form.

The error state in Dropbox’s and Shopify’s sign-up forms.

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