Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com?
Is it just me or does it seem strange that there is no Sign In on Amazon.com’s homepage?
Each time I visit amazon.com, and I visit too often, if I’m not already logged in, I stumble looking for the Sign In link. I would expect the “Sign In” text at the top of the page to be a link taking me to a Sign In form. Or even better to automatically display a Sign In form on the homepage. But instead you are required to click on something that would only be available to you once you ARE signed in – e.g. “personalized recommendations”, “Your Lists”, “Your Account”, etc.
This seems like such a fundamental flaw that it had to be done on purpose. But why? Why break with convention and force people to take an extra cognitive step? Did they conduct usability studies and find that this was superior somehow? I’m very curious…
Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com? – Dexo Design – Russell …: Russell Wilson’s blog and information hub f.. http://tinyurl.com/mbsdko
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Perhaps they're using the mentality that novice users will be be more familiar with an interface that's more like the real world. As for advanced users, they can find their way around the site and will hunt down a way to log in if they need to.
It's just speculation. We can't be sure until we see the usability studies.
I'd guess they concluded that "signing in" doesn't achieve any real-world goals — it's just an authentication step that "serves the machine." Instead they just let you pick what you want to do and ask you to sign in when it's necessary. Real estate on that page is very precious, I'm sure, so they probably just decided to omit it because it just wasn't needed. Or perhaps they didn't want to give the impression that "signing in" was necessary.
On the other hand, as you point out, the "sign in" link is ubiquitous. If you've learned from other sites that you need to authenticate to get anything done, you might well thrash a bit finding it until you learn that you don't have to.
I'm guessing that "signing in" is an abstract step along the path to what the use really wants and they are attempting to bypass it. In other words, as a user I never really want to "sign in" – what I want is to look at past orders or see personalized recommendations. BUT, signing in is so much a part of popular convention that it is expected. Amazon's way may theoretically be better but it forces users to retrain themselves and modify their behavior/thought process for Amazon's site versus other sites.
From Anne Hjortshoj and Diego Moya (with their permission) on the IxDA list:
Anne:
I'd be willing to bet it's a direct reflection of their registration
process, which (I think?) follows the more -recent- convention of
"don't make the user register until there's a clear benefit to doing
so," i.e., until there's a clear contextual reason to do so — buying
a book, for example, or saving items to a wish list.
What's the benefit of an obvious call to sign in, vs. the way Amazon
currently does this? Other than the sense that having a sign-in button
is a convention and something that people (or specifically, web
designers) expect?
Diego:
Maybe they have read *this* and wanted to collect their $300,000,000…
The $300 Million Button
http://www.uie.com/articles/three_hund_million_bu...
(Short answer: forcing buyers to register cost sales, so that
convention doesn't work for stores).
I've always been glad that their sign-in happens when needed. It serves as a notice and transition that my activity is going from something casual to something more important. I think that only a minority portion of users think and act upon the idea that sign-in near the beginning of activity is ubiquitous and helpful. And I disagree with them except for specialty sites, such as email or other private data access. I still believe that most users need the "ask them for info only when needed treatment" and Amazon does it decently in my book.
Phillip
Sometimes don't you just want to sign in to view your account? I know I do. When you select "Your Account", the sign-in area is relegated to the right side of the screen in a small box. The text in the body is generic wording that describes what amazon does in the "Your Account" section. On this screen, I'm not sure why the sign-in box isn't more readily obvious (maybe on the left side instead?) A generic "Your Account" screen seems like an oxymoron.
Dear Amazon – Paul and I are available, as an expert team, to help fix the usability issues mentioned here. We are ready to start work asap and are very excited about this opportunity!!
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I’ve also noticed the same and it annoys me because I set my browser to delete cookies after each session since I don’t want to be tracked by 99% of the sites I use. But I do want Amazon to track my interests so I sign in always. But I also wrote to them recently to ask why the Sign Out buttons is not next to my name when I am signed in. Instead, I have to click Help and then the button appears. Seems bizarre to throw obstacles in the way of your users.
Thanks for posting about it. I thought I was the only one who noticed.
Luis
I suspect Amazon loses virtually no sales from this screen. If they did, you know they’d change it!
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Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com? – Lesson here always room for improving even the best performing sites! http://bit.ly/SYXeG
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The customer’s experience is irelevant as long as it does not impact sales. Perhaps they have some political/beaurocratic reason for keeping this option – but it is indeed not a "user experience" reason.
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RT @russwilson Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com? – Dexo Design – Russell Wilson’s Blog on UI Design and Dev… http://tinyurl.com/mbsdko
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Truthfully – I'd rather see a sign in button, it eases my mind to know that when i'm logged in – all my actions and decisions are saved, even though I know that amazon still builds a cart for you even when you are not signed in.
RT @UXBooth Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com? -Dexo Design-Russell Wilson’s Blog http://bit.ly/yl7OJ
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"Hello. Sign in to get personalized recommendations"
There is a sign in at the top ^.
That's just it – when "personalized recommendations" is highlighted I expect that to take me to recommendations; not to sign me in. I'm thrown off by "sign in" not being highlighted.
Amazon has a quite sophisitcated system, of gathering the credentials whenever it is needed. It recognizes you by cookie, depending on what you want to to, whishlist / order / order to a new adress / gift certificates it asks for nothing / password / credit card data.
There might be a sign in button if you have no cookie at all.
It's gradual engagement on steroids, one could say.
I recommend listening to Jared Spool and Brian Christiansen in their podcast, where they talk about this:
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2009/06/05/present...
I think it's an interesting design decision:. Sign in link seems to be important, but maybe actually no one really uses it an amazon, as they offer a more gradual engagment.
RT @russwilson Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com? – Dexo Design – Russell Wilson’s Blog on UI Design and Dev… http://tinyurl.com/mbsdko
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