I‘m sure it’s a nice application, but why would I use my phone to log in? I can see it being convenient, but it also sends an odd message as a design decision. One could make the argument that using Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter or Yahoo to log into a Web site is debatable enough – but at least those are Web sites that you’re using to log into another Web site. Why would I use a mobile device to register onto a Web site? More than anything it sends the message that creating a user name and password is somehow antiquated. What if you lose your phone? What if you don’t want your phone to be tied to your user account on a Web site? What if I don’t want to operate my life by sending a text? These ‘what if’s’ are questions a potential user is going to have, and the more ‘what if’ caveats one has, the more they will back away from registering. To a new startup, that’s a kiss of death, and can be avoided by making design decisions that allow for multiple ways to log in.
I‘m not saying don’t have a mobile app – or that you couldn’t have this as an additional option to log in. But by using this as your sole option to engage with your users right from the start, you’ll lose people right from the outset, before they’ve even decided if they want to use your application. It’s similar to my frustrations with startups like Vine, who have no company information on their site – just the app. Nothing about their features, nothing about their vision – nothing about who the people are. Just one call to action, and an assumption that I’ll play with an application and that will seal the deal. If you can’t describe who you are or what you do and what sets you apart from your competition, it looks like you don’t understand sales, and in an attention economy, my time is as valuable as anything else. If I’m going to try out an application, woo me enough to make me interested. If you leave a negative experience right from the start, that wooing won’t go well.
I use my phone, like exploring technology from startups – and might eventually sign up if it becomes a valuable tool that my friends and colleagues find useful. But as a designer, it’s a misstep and leaves me wondering why someone would consciously chose this as the start of a path to user engagement. The more we assume everyone is tied to their phone and likes their life that way, the more we’re missing the point of smart engagement with technology. I’m their target audience – someone who does use their phone, does explore technology, does try things out – and if they’ve lost me from the start, then what success will they have with people outside their target?
I‘m trying to take my personal data protection and privacy more seriously, and get a sense that more people are moving that way as well. It would be a smart move as a business if Seesaw understands that people are protective about their data – including their phone number – and change how they log on. Heck, I don’t even like having Google’s 2 step authentication send me a text message – and that’s the symbolic Cod Liver Oil that I’m willing to take because of trying to take better care of my online data. Don’t leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth right from the start of their relationship with your brand – in this case, with mobile login, not just Cod Liver Oil
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