How I Removed RVWR’s Need to Create an Account
I was browsing through the RVWR analytics one day and noticed that since launch about 500 people have downloaded RVWR while only 180 people actually signed up. Right away I knew this was a problem but I wasn’t sure the best way to fix it.
I had heard many times about delaying the need to create an account but it was always something I brushed off because for RVWR I truly thought it was “necessary” for the user to have a good experience. After running those analytics through my head for a few weeks I realized I needed to put some effort into solving this problem.
Marco
A few weeks later I went to the Apple TV Tech Talks in NYC and bumped into Marco Arment. We talked about Gimlet Media, Overcast, and then I told him about RVWR. From there we started talking about how sign up screens are horrible and he told me what he ended up doing with Overcast to make the experience less painful. In the end I was really inspired to start working on a solution for RVWR.
The Ideal Experience
The first thing I did was create a list of things I thought the user should be able to do without ever signing up…that list intially included one thing. My first thought was to limit the user’s ability to consuming reviews. I got this idea from Twitter — you can search through Tweets without having an account so it should be the same with RVWR. The problem was I didn’t know the best way to handle it.
Attempt 1
My first attempt was to put a public feed before users ever saw a sign up screen. This would allow them to read through all the reviews ever published on RVWR. Basically you were following everyone. Then the next screen would be a CTA trying to convince the user to sign up. After going down this road for a little I realized it was time to go back to the drawing board. Limiting the user’s experience and providing an uncurated feed of reviews was not the best way to portray RVWR.
Attempt 2
My next idea was to create a different tab bar for people who are not logged in. Again limiting the user’s experience. I experimented with only having a public feed, the ability to search, and a CTA screen to prompt them to log in. This was also a bad idea because again it was presenting the users with a half-assed version of RVWR. I couldn’t show them what they were missing if they could never see it in the first place!
Final Attempt
My final attempt drew inspiration from Yelp. Yelp allows users to use the entire app but prompts them to log in/sign up when they want to write a review. So I applied this same mindset to RVWR. Create an experience that doesn’t feel any different to the user but when they do try to do something that requires logging in or signing up then let them know…gently.
The End Result (RVWR 1.2)
When you first start RVWR you are presented with a one-time prompt that says “Here is a feed of reviews. Right now it contains reviews hand-picked by the RVWR Editors. When you log in this is where your friends reviews will live.” Once that prompt is dismissed the user has full-access to everything a logged in user would have except the ability to publish reviews, follow friends, and comment on reviews. As an anonymous user you can do things like favorite reviews, bump reviews, and compose drafts. All of these things carry over once you finally decide to sign up.
Mission Accomplished
I feel great with the end product because it keeps the experience true to RVWR while only putting the necessary things behind an account. Now users can download RVWR and start using it right away. I’d love to know your thoughts. Is there a better way to handle it? Give RVWR a download here: http://rvwr.io.
