User Story:

As a logged-out user who tries to edit an article, I want to be gently guided toward account creation, with clear benefits and a friendlier message that makes editing feel approachable and rewarding.

Asana hypothesis tracking: WE1.8.2 Logged-out editing UX (formerly WE1.1.15)

User Problem

When users attempt to edit while logged out, they encounter a jarring warning message that emphasizes editing as an IP or temporary account. This interface can feel abrupt and discouraging, and it frames logged-out editing as the primary path rather than encouraging users to create an account.

There is an opportunity to soften the logged-out warning message and guide users toward account creation in a more supportive, motivating way. By improving the tone and visual hierarchy, we can better communicate the benefits of creating an account and make the overall experience less intimidating.

Goals

Reduce the sense of friction or alarm when users encounter the logged-out warning.
Highlight the benefits of creating an account (e.g., edit attribution, watchlist, communication tools, and reputation building).
Increase the emphasis on Account Creation & login
De-emphasize Temporary account editing (it should be clearly available, not doesn't need to be the main CTA)

Supporting Data

• https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Contributors/Mobile_Web_Editing_Research
• Registered users are significantly more productive in terms of visible edits.
• Mobile web, with its large reader base, presents a major opportunity to convert readers and logged-out editors into registered contributors.
• Research shows that small visual and language tweaks—such as softening tone, improving color contrast, or clarifying benefits—can increase engagement and conversion rates.

Hypothesis

If temporary account editing is not presented as the primary CTA on mobile web, more users will choose to create regular accounts instead of creating temporary accounts.

Scope:

In scope:
This Epic includes the initial design work and any follow-up engineering and experimentation work.

Out of scope:
Desktop designs and implementation. This initial experiment should first focus only on the Mobile UX, since the current Desktop experience is quite different.