Impact of Removing Registration

In Web From Design, I advocated ways to get people engaged and interested in Web applications and services without requiring an explicit sign-up form. In many cases, registration is an obstacle that prevents people from exploring and engaging with an application.

Since then, several people have asked what the impact of removing registration would be on content quantity (does removing sign-up forms increase participation) and content quality (will quality go down if registration is not required). Not too long ago, the community news site, Topix published details behind their experience killing sign-up forms.

The results?

• Since removing registration, volume has exploded and passed a quarter-of-a-million aggregate posts
• And the quality of posts? The post kill-rate (removal) actually dropped -hovering below 2%. This is less than half of the number incurred when registration was in place.

  Check out the full details on the Topix blog.