From time to time, as I try to log in to a website, I get a message like this:

It looks like you're trying to login with your email address. You must use the username you selected when signing up. This can be found in our welcome email.

How annoying is that the system will recognize that you are using your email to log in, and instead of actually accepting it for identification purposes, tells you to go find the username you selected when signing up?

Here are an example of a much better design solution:


Clearly, Twitter was created by people who care about user experience, and has a design that plans for errors, and tries to support, not fight, the user's responses. Other websites, like AAPH.org, have also come to the conclusion that typing into text fields isn’t most people’s idea of a fun time, and that the burden should be in the system, not the user, to fetch information that is readily available:

To make things easier, you can now log in using your email address or your username, whichever you like. In the case of AAPH, many people had created complex user names, e.g., "John Smith, Ph.D, CChT, MFC". That caused problems because the username had to be entered exactly the same each time to log in. Try using your email address - it'll be easier.

Unfortunately not all designers seem to realize that the user just wants to get something done, not think about "correct" formats. Refusing to allow spaces or dashes in entry fields such as credit card number and zip code is another common example of disregard for the design practice of "forgiving format" (see "No Dashes Or Spaces" Hall of Shame for samples).

Computers are good at figuring out how to handle input of different types, so when you design an application that requires user input, please let the user type whatever he needs, and make the software do the right thing with it!

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Related posts:

How to annoy users during sign-up in two easy steps

Convince me first

The TED community has chosen Partners in Health, an organization that has operated medical facilities in Haiti for more than 2 decades and have numerous people on the ground. Among other activities, PIH has helped coordinate efforts to bring the largest hospital in Haiti back into a functional facility.

You can make a donation here, and rest assured that your money is going where it can do the most.

To donate by mail, send a check made out to Partners In Health to:

Partners In Health | P.O. Box 845578 | Boston, MA 02284-5578

Photo: Dr. Evan Lyon has been a volunteer physician with Partners in Health for over a decade,
and participated in PIH's initial response to the earthquake on January 12, 2010.