User story & summary:
As the maintainer of the user login and signup experience, I want to better understand where users drop off in the account creation funnel so that we can identify friction points, improve conversion, and support editor growth.
Background & research:
This analysis will help uncover critical insights about user behavior during the account creation process. Only a fraction of Wikipedia readers become editors. Understanding where and why users drop off in this funnel, particularly between reading, account creation, and first edits, can help the Growth team focus efforts where they can have the greatest impact.
Because our account creation form is relatively long and does not support social login, it is possible that we are losing users due to form complexity or UX friction. A data-informed approach can help validate these assumptions and guide improvements.
Guiding Questions:
- How many users begin the account creation process but do not complete it?
- Are users dropping off due to the form length, complexity, or poor mobile usability?
- How does our account creation conversion rate compare to industry benchmarks or similar platforms?
- Which fields or steps in the form cause the most drop-off?
- Are there significant differences in conversion rates between mobile and desktop users?
- For users who create an account, how many drop off the site after the initial account creation, and how many continue to view at least one other page? (To get a sense for bot created accounts that finish their task after creating the account)
- How many users are submitting the form without JavaScript enabled?
- Potential implementation: fill in a hidden field using JS, and count submissions that don't have the field populated
- For interactions with the CAPTCHA on account creation, how many users:
- don't attempt to fill it out
- fill it out incorrectly
- require multiple attempts to get it correct
- succeed
- time needed to fill out the CAPTCHA
Data Needed:
To answer the above questions, we will need the following data, ideally segmented by platform (mobile vs desktop):
- Unique impressions of the account creation page (Special:CreateAccount)
- Number of users who begin filling out the form (i.e. complete at least one field) but do not submit
- Number of users who complete multiple fields but do not submit
- Number of successful account creations
- Time spent on individual form fields
- Time spent on page before interacting with the form
- Bounce/drop-off rates at specific fields or stages in the form
- Average time spent on the form page before abandonment or submission (if possible)
- Comparison with industry-standard account conversion rates (if available)
Related tasks / previous investigations:
Please feel free to edit and add to this list.
- T346327: Track impressions, success and abandonment rate on the signup form
- T205760: Understanding first day: account creation from mobile
- T206377: Personalized first day: how many accounts are made from which contexts?
- Donor Thank You page funnel
Acceptance Criteria:
- Collect or query the necessary data to evaluate the current account creation funnel.
- Identify gaps in instrumentation and create a Phabricator task for any additional tracking needed.
- Share findings, including key metrics and potential UX concerns.
- If possible, develop or update a dashboard to support ongoing monitoring of account conversion trends over time.