Why do websites focus on new users and not existing ones?
After using a few products for a while now, such as Google Mail or Facebook it turns out I tend to use them mostly over the web. That means I am usually not using any apps for mobile devices to access them. There are pretty good desktop and mobile apps to access both of the services, but most of the time I am using a browser and just use their web interface.
What are you talking about?
The point I am wondering about is, why are websites hiding the login form from their users although their website is useless without logging in. A few examples:
All of those services (see the Links section below for links to their website) are (kinda) useless without you logging in. Still, when accessing their main page there is no login form to be found. There are links to login forms, but one would have to click that to get to it.
Then, there are good examples, too:
Both sites have the login form on their main website and make it easy for you to log in. Facebook has a pretty good approach to this in my opinion since one could sign up on the same page (focusing on new users) as others (existing users) can log in.
Why does it bother you?
My day-to-day job is working on the computer and I am getting used to use the keyboard more and more and using the mouse as less as possible. Things get done a lot quicker when you can keep your hands on the keyboard and not have to move to the mouse to click a link etc. So, let’s say I have my browser (Firefox) open and want to open a new tab (cause tabbed browsing rocks), I hit CTRL + T to open a new tab and I am in the URL bar of the browser. Then I type in http://facebook.com/ and the browser takes me straight to the page. The Email field of the login form is selected for text input and I can start typing. After entering the Email I hit the tab key and the focus shifts to the password field. Hitting Enter when the passwort is complete logs me in directly. So no mouse needed. Now try to do that on Evernote – You can get to the website with no use of the mouse, but then you have to follow the Login link.
But there are workarounds!
I know there are workarounds, such as adding the login page to your bookmarks directly, so for Evernote you would have a bookmark pointing to https://www.evernote.com/Home.action instead of just https://www.evernote.com/. This will take you straight to the login form. Yes, this is a workaround, but why in the world is the login form hidden on websites that make no sense withough you logging in?
Can you explain this?
If you are able to explain this or think you have a good answer / guess on why websites do this, feel free to contact me in any way you desire. I would be really happy to understand the concept behind this!?
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