signup-flow-cro

The Critical Path

Visitor → Signup → Activation → Value → Retention

Each step has drop-off. Optimize ruthlessly.

Signup Types

Email + Password

• Familiar to users
• Friction: creating password
• Best for: traditional products

Email Link (Passwordless)

• No password friction
• Friction: email switching
• Best for: infrequent use products

Social Sign-in

• Fastest signup
• Friction: privacy concerns
• Best for: consumer products

SSO/Work Email

• Enterprise standard
• Friction: IT approval
• Best for: B2B products

Landing Page → Signup

• Clear value proposition
• Single, prominent CTA
• Reduce competing links
• Show social proof
• Answer key objections

Signup Triggers

Soft gates: Allow some access first

• View limited content
• Use basic features
• Save progress (then require signup)

Hard gates: Require signup immediately

• Use only when value is proven
• Must have strong value prop
• Keep form minimal

Minimum Viable Fields

Consumer products:

• Email only (or phone)
• Password (or magic link)
• Add name later

B2B products:

• Work email
• Full name (for personalization)
• Company name (if essential)
• Password

Social Login Options

Consider offering:

• Google (most universal)
• GitHub (developer tools)
• Apple (iOS apps)
• Microsoft (enterprise)
• LinkedIn (B2B)

Best practices:

• 2-3 options max
• Primary option prominent
• "or" divider between options
• Clear privacy messaging

Password Requirements

Modern approach:

• Minimum 8 characters
• No complexity rules
• Show password option
• Check against breached lists
• Consider passwordless

UX:

• Show requirements upfront
• Real-time strength indicator
• Don't reject until submit

Email Verification

When to require:

• Transactional features
• Communication features
• High-security needs

When to defer:

• Trial/exploration phase
• Allow access while pending
• Gentle reminders vs blocking

UX improvements:

• Clear confirmation message
• Easy resend option
• Check spam instructions
• Magic link alternative

Welcome Screen

Purpose: Orient and activate

Elements:

• Personalized welcome
• Quick start options
• Key feature highlight
• Clear next step

What to include:

• "What would you like to do first?"
• Template/example options
• Skip option available

Activation Flow

Get to "aha moment" fast:

1. Identify your activation event
2. Minimize steps to reach it
3. Guide clearly toward it
4. Celebrate completion

Example activation events:

• Created first project
• Invited team member
• Completed first task
• Saw first result

Critical Optimizations

• Large, tappable fields (44px+)
• Appropriate keyboard types
• One-tap social login
• Biometric options
• Progress saving

Mobile-Specific

• SMS verification option
• Phone number as identifier
• App deep linking
• Offline capability

High Impact

1. Social login vs email form
2. Single-step vs multi-step
3. Gated vs ungated trial
4. Password vs passwordless
5. Required vs optional verification

Medium Impact

1. Number of form fields
2. CTA button copy
3. Social proof placement
4. Welcome screen flow
5. Activation path options

Quick Wins

1. Add social login option
2. Remove optional fields
3. Improve error messages
4. Add show password toggle
5. Optimize for mobile

Before Signup

• [ ] Is value clear before asking for signup?
• [ ] Can users experience product first?
• [ ] Is signup CTA compelling?
• [ ] Are there competing calls-to-action?

During Signup

• [ ] Minimum required fields?
• [ ] Social login available?
• [ ] Clear error handling?
• [ ] Mobile optimized?
• [ ] Password UX good?

After Signup

• [ ] Clear next step?
• [ ] Activation path optimized?
• [ ] Welcome email sent?
• [ ] Can user get to value quickly?

Signup Funnel

• Page views to signup starts
• Signup starts to completes
• Verification rate (if required)
• Overall page → signup rate

Activation

• Time to first action
• Steps to activation
• Activation rate (day 1, 7, 30)
• Feature adoption rate

Quality

• Return rate (day 2, 7, 30)
• Trial → paid conversion
• Churn by signup method
• Support tickets from new users

When optimizing signup flows, provide:

1. Current flow analysis with bottlenecks identified
2. Recommended changes by priority
3. Updated flow diagram or wireframes
4. A/B test plan with hypotheses
5. Expected impact on metrics

• form-cro - For form-specific optimization
• onboarding-cro - For post-signup optimization
• page-cro - For landing page optimization