Account Creation Improvement Project/Assumptions

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In order to better understand what we are working towards, this page lists all assumptions that we have about the tests and the conclusions we're drawing about how to improve the account creation process pages. Assumptions about new users / non-contributors # Assumption Based on Conclusion 1 New users don't know where to start editing and most of them think that everything is already done. UNU-Merit Survey New users will be more likely to start participating if we (a) tell them that there's a lot that still needs to be done and (b) give them 3–4 options for what they can do immediately, preferably sorted by how much time it takes and what topic the task deals with. 2 Wikipedia feels cold because readers/new users don't know who is actually writing it. Anecdotal If we show new users photos of Wikipedians as part of the account creation process, they will understand that Wikipedia consists of an active community and they will want to be part of it. Even just listing how many have already created accounts (and started editing) may inspire people to join the winning team [1]. 3 New users want to create a userpage as a place where they feel "at home" / where they can show that they are a part of Wikipedia. The more newcomers are directed to creating a user page, the more likely they are to start editing afterwards. Polish Wikipedia Let new users create a user page as part of the account creation process. 4 Non-contributors think that the existing community consists of nerds. They don't want to be part of that group. Judd Antin, My Kind of People? Perceptions About Wikipedia Contributors and Their Motivations If we show them early on that the community consists of "nice people" they want to be part of that community. One way of doing that is to link to pages of Wiki-meetups. Another way of doing that is to link to categories of "Wikipedians from Sacramento" or some such Wikipedian-category [2] 5 Non-contributors think that you have to have some kind of "super power" or "super knowledge" to edit Wikipedia and that the existing community consists of people who are much smarter than they are. UNU-Merit Survey If we explain that everybody can help in some way (and at the same time show them what needs to be done), they are more likely to start editing. 6 People who create a user account want to help Wikipedia to get better, but they have a very different level of time and skills. Obvious We have to offer them a set of options to help that meets their individual skills and their availability of time. Good example: http://www.sparked.com 7 People who create accounts want to "be part of Wikipedia" Account Creation survey We should mention that they are part of Wikipedia when they edit, not when they create their account. 8 People usually create accounts for web sites they like, so when they create their accounts, they most likely like Wikipedia Account Creation survey We should acknowledge that we too like Wikipedia 9 Newcomers do not know how Wikipedia works (what a wiki is, that their edits can be reverted, Wikipedia's policies, the culture of Wikipedia, whom to contact, and how conflicts are resolved). They are likely to quit or never start editing if they run into problems with this. Obvious We need to educate the newcomer. Perhaps this could be accomplished by rewriting the Main page and explaining some of the things we need them to know. 10 New contributors have a limited patience for learning about a new system. Obvious We also need to think about not slowing the new users down to the point of stopping them from start editing, so any education need to be short and to the point. 11 New users are not aware of what their account brings before they get it Obvious, also the comments below this image We should explain the benefits of accounts before they get their account, and show the features clearly, even before they get an account. 12 New users want to know who owns Wikipedia (who is behind it). Anecdotal The Wikimedia Foundation sounds so impressive (top-ten web site, staff of 50-60, no ads, everything free to reuse forever, run by the charming Sue Gardner, but dependant on tens of thousands of volunteers) that we should give them a glimpse into the world behind the scenes. Also, Wikipedia is always among the 50 most visited pages [3] Assumptions about the technical implementation # Assumption Based on Conclusion 1 Too much text and warning signs scares people away. Wikimedia Usability Initiative We have to remove all clutter and all elements that make people uncomfortable about creating a user account. 2 Videos will inspire newcomers more than text to the degree of 1–2% more edits. … Experiment with videos that are inspiring and that encourage new users to make their first edit. It also makes it more interactive and intuitive. 3 With so many account names already taken, new users can find it hard to come up with a user name that is free. UI-Patterns.com With AJAX, we could help them find a user name that is not taken. 4 New users have another chance of quitting the account creation process if they are stuck on choosing good passwords UI-Patterns.com Automatic password strength meter (done in AJAX) makes it easier to inspire people to choose a strong password. 5 We want to increase the number of returning visits. This means that we should make it easy for people to come back to Wikipedia. Many other web sites offer this feature including Google and they are known to be a popular homepage. We should include a "Place Wikimedia among your favorites" and even "Make Wikipedia your start page" 6 People may want to recommend Wikipedia to their friends Many other web sites offer this feature We should include the option "I want to tell my friend about this." 7 People find their way to the account creation process more easily if it is visible on any page See this image We should offer this feature to anyone who is not logged in. 8 Users should know where in the process they are. This can be a good way to inspire them to start editing. Seth Priebatch explains We should have a progress bar, indicating how many steps there are left - with the final step being to make five edits in Wikipedia. 9 New users are often suspected of making more mistakes and vandalism than more experienced Wikipedians Anecdotal, as well as discussion about implementation of this Account creation page New users (with less than 10 edits for instance) should have a flag on Recent changes and Watchlists to make it easier for Recent changes patrol. 10 New users have no idea how many edits they've made. Anecdotal We should give them a progress bar showing them how many edits they have left until they have made 10 edits. Further reading Editor Trends Study Collection of other websites account registration