Intervention: Photoshop iPhone App (Sign Up Process)

If you can’t get the Photoshop.com domain name you want (e.g. BrianRagan.photoshop.com) because the iPhone Photoshop App is throwing you error messages, don’t discourage. Here’s my tale of how getting the run around got me my name (and sent the Photoshop App into UX Rehab).

Opening the app, I was greeted with this Sign In screen. I don’t have an account on Photoshop.com so I tap Join Now. I’m surprised there is no forgot password feature.

I hit the sign up form, which thankfully doesn’t ask for much. I start thinking about what to choose for my personal URL.

I enter my info. Normally the Previous and Next buttons are next to each other (makes for faster back and forth action if you hit one of them too many times and go too far).

Hmm…I’ve never created an account on Photoshop.com or with this app. What are they talking about? Must be that the URL is already taken.

I try a couple others I would want with no luck. Should I even bother with this app? I press on, for the sake of my future blog readers. A thought comes to mind at this point—maybe I created an Adobe account sometime long ago that they have allowed photoshop.com to use. Does that explain the original error? Now I have to go to the website to investigate—and my time is being wasted.

I decide to leave the Sign Up and try to sign in with the account I now think I created on Adobe.com long ago. I get this message, which is similar to one I get after visiting photoshop.com, my next stop. At this point, I decide to search my email account. No email ever received from Adobe regarding this account. Did I trash it ages ago? Was it sent to Spam? I request another Account Verification email. It doesn’t come in a few minutes. Now I try again on the App—maybe I’ll see if I can sign in instead of create an account, since clearly Adobe thinks I have an account. I get the message above. Trapped. Desperate to find a way to get things working, I go through the password change process on the website—maybe that will send me an email and I can at least verify if I do indeed have the account I now think I have. I get the reset password email. I register a new password, then viola, I’m let into the site. I proceed to set up my personalized URL. On a gut feeling, I try my original choice—the one the App said wasn’t available. Surprise! It’s available! A nice reward after a frustrating sign up experience. I wonder how many people would make it this far.

I return to the App to sign in and I get an error message. Oops—I typed the password in incorrectly. It surprises me again that there’s no Password Help, particularly after I’ve tried and failed to sign in.

This kind of poorly executed process (including confusing messaging, lack of guidance, and missing functionality) is pretty typical, isn’t it? It’s type of frustration that makes them think that computers and the Internet are out to get them (and they’re right!—but does Adobe really want to be the messenger of that bad news?). All jokes aside, how many potential customers will Adobe lose to this problem? Wouldn’t it be simple to design the system to avoid the potential loss?

Reason for check in:

1) No information to help people who already have an account (via previous Adobe registration), but don’t realize it

2) No support for forgotten passwords

How to get out rehab:

1) Provide help on the first screen—anticipate what people might need

• First of all, how about a message that says: “Sign in with your Adobe.com account if you have one.”
• Offer a password help feature.
• If I enter an unrecognized email address, tell me it’s unrecognized. That way I can try other email addresses I might have registered with, without having to leave this screen.
• If I enter a recognized email address, but an invalid password, tell me my password is incorrect and help me remember it: offer to email it to me immediately.

2) Provide less contextually ambiguous and more useful messaging—provide actionable and useful guidance, and offer a clear path to next steps

• “Error 1005: Account Create Error: Account Already Exists”? How about “The email you entered is already registered. Sign in now to choose your personal URL [Sign In button].” and after people successfully sign in (they may need that password help!), take them to a screen where they choose their personal URL.

3) Bonus: Make an AJAXian URL picker where I can see if my preferred URL is available as I type (like when you sign up for a Gmail username).

I’m enjoying playing with the App. I do wish the sign up process had been less frustrating.