How I conducted user research to solve the Sign In vs Log In debate for a client during COVID

The Task

While working on a client project, part of my scope of work was to design the onboarding experience for first time users visiting their site. That’s when we started having discussions on how to word the Creating Account process.

Some of the most common CTAs used by companies include the following:

  1. Sign in / Sign up
  2. Log in / Sign up
  3. Create account / Log in

Although these are commonly used, users find these instructions confusing and we wanted to select the words which were the easiest to understand and follow.

We felt that the third option (Create account / Log in) was the best, however, wanted to get users’ opinion on this. With COVID, we had to think of a remote way and since this was a relatively small task, I suggested we take a poll online. The medium we chose was Instagram.

Since the people on my list were of the same target group of my client’s, this seemed like a great solution.

The Action

I went on my Instagram stories, added my question and asked viewers to vote their preferred option. This poll was available for 24 hours.

The Question

In using apps or websites and creating an account, which of the following are easier to understand. Send me your votes:

A) Sign in / Sign up

B) Create account / Log in

C) Log in / Sign up

Posted on my story, on Instagram

The Result

Out of 105 users on my list:

  • 86 viewed the story
  • 37 viewers voted out of which:
    • 7 preferred Sign In/ Sign up
    • 21 preferred Create Account / Log In
    • 9 preferred Log In / Sign up
  • 7 people sent over a direct message out of which:
    • 4 preferred Create Account / Log In
    • 2 preferred Log in / Sign up
    • 1 preferred Sign In / Sign up
User feedback: Poll results

Conclusion

We went ahead with using “Create Account/ Log In” for them. Sharing this because I believe how important it is to get user feedback at various design stages. There are cost effective ways and creative ways to find answers while working remote, etc.!

© 2022 Deepti Mansukhani