Registration Confirmation
User Research and UX Design on eCommerce website
**Due to NDA Agreement, the logo and company name will be emitted**
Problem Statement
Users who register for an account experience uncertainty about whether their registration was successful because account activation takes a few moments to process. The lack of immediate feedback and clear messaging leaves users unsure about the status of their registration.
Additionally, the current design is plain and does not effectively guide users to their expected next steps. Ambiguous wording and unclear link destinations further contribute to confusion, reducing user confidence in both the registration process and site navigation. Addressing these issues is crucial to creating a smoother, more intuitive post-registration experience.
Competitive Analysis
Competitive analysis of what and how information is presented on the registration confirmation page when users create a new account.
Competitor Matrix
Created a competitor matrix in order to better identify features and trends of what happens when a user registers an account on an eCommerce website.
Key Findings
Most competitors have a confirmation page/view and automatically sign their users in after they register for an account.
After registering, competitors took users to one of the following:
Home page (25%)
Account page (31%)
Separate confirmation page (44%)
Competitors use different confirmation page variations that include a combination of the following features:
“Thank you” message
Message than an email will be sent
Links to products/categories
Link to Homepage
Subscription options
Help/contact section
Benefits information
User Research
Created a research plan that prepared me for moderated user interviews, which were conducted to better understand customer expectations of registration confirmations. I conducted moderated user interviews via UserTesting.com with desktop audio functionality.
Study Goals
Understand customer expectations for registration confirmation
Understand what information/interactions are helpful to include from a customer perspective
Research Plan
User Testing
Utilized UserTesting.com to conduct moderated user interviews in which I spoke to participants that matched with the following criteria:
B2B Purchasers
Online purchasers
Purchased from a B2B company in the past month
Rainbow Charts
A “Rainbow Chart” is a tool that is used to better analyze data. Each color represents a different participant, and using rainbow charts, I am able to clearly take notes about each of the participant’s responses. Once I finish all the interview notes, I created another chart that allows me to better analyze and visually see trends based on the participant answers.
Key Findings Based on User Research
“Continue Shopping” link doesn’t take users where they expect
Most users expect it to take them to what they were viewing before registering
Most users place a lot of importance on emails when it comes to registering for an account
First instinct of most users after registering an account is to check email
Most participants found registration confirmation page to be vague/lacking in information
No time frame of when account will be activated
Continue Shopping” implies continuing where user left off before registering
“Register” instead of “Registered” makes some users question if they registered or not
Presentation and Documentation
Created a final report and presentation. Afterwards, I held a research review where I presented out background information and the data from my research to the necessary stake holders.
Ideation
Held an ideation with other UX designers and the team responsible for the registration and confirmation pages
“What we know ______?” is an ideation form that is meant to get the participants thinking about how they can solve various problems that users had with the registration confirmation process
Create Concepts
Based on the research and ideation, I began to create concepts on how to improve the registration confirmation page. Ultimately, after multiple design reviews and creating various iterations, I ended up with two final designs, which we then started to begin user testing on.
Previous Design
Final Designs
Usability Testing
With the final designs, I began to start user testing.
First, I created a usability test plan which lists out the goals, methodology, participant profile, format, script, and questions that would be used. Two separate tests were run in order to examine the two registration confirmation concepts, allowing me to determine which registration confirmation page was the best fit.
Usability Testing Takeaways
Version One (Page Format)
High confidence in successful registration—users felt reassured by the confirmation modal and email validation
Primary next step—the majority of users instinctively wanted to browse products after registering
Lack of interest in delivery information and contact buttons—users didn’t see much need for the delivery information or contact buttons unless specific issues arose
Clear understanding of sign-in process—users understood that they had to wait for an email before signing in and that account creation would take some time
High confidence in successful registration—users felt reassured by the confirmation modal and email validation
Positive reception of modal design—users liked that the confirmation appeared on the home page
Instinctive action—most users’ first reaction was to click "Shop Now" to continue browsing.
Clear understanding of sign-in process—users knew they had to wait for an email before signing in and understood the account activation delay.
Version Two (Modal Format)
After analyzing the usability testing data, I found that the modal design provided a more seamless experience for users. Their primary goal was to start shopping immediately, and the modal allowed them to do so by keeping them on the home page instead of redirecting them elsewhere. Additionally, the modal clearly communicated that users would receive an email once their account was created, reducing uncertainty. The transparent overlay reinforced their location on the home page, helping users intuitively understand that clicking "Shop Now" would simply close the modal and allow them to continue browsing. Users also understood that their account wouldn't be created right away due to processing time, but they were still confident that their registration was successful.
Takeaways
Designing With Constraints: Because there is already a set style in place for the company, it has allowed me to focus more on solving the problem the customer or user is facing.
Holistic Process: Went through whole process of both user research and UX/UI design, which taught me about each step that much be taken at a B2B company when doing both research and design
Skills: Taught me how use UserTesting.com, Quantum Metric, and I learned valuable collaboration skills
