Retention, Part Seventeen: Make it Easy

By Sanya Weathers

It’s always entertaining to see what lengths companies will go to in a quest to complicate the process of giving the customer what they want. If you are trying to improve retention, you should be scanning every point of interaction and removing obstacles.

Account creation: How much information do you really need before allowing someone to sample the product? A user name, a password, and an email address. Don’t ask for more until the customer has passed through the turnstile to see what you have to offer.

This is one of those areas where Facebook integration offers value. Someone else, namely Facebook, has already gathered all the data you want. Why bother making a user fill it all out again? Ask for a handle, put in a “sign in with FB” button, and move on. But for those who don’t like or use Facebook, keep it simple – name, password, email.

Avatar creation: Consider making this free, at least for the first character. Let people dink with the creation process over the web, on their mobile devices, or basically at any minute that isn’t part of their precious downtime. To save the creation, they have to create the account – but at that point, they have an incentive.

And speaking of avatar creation, don’t forget the random button. Press one button, get a fully fleshed out avatar. Some people don’t want to spend an hour messing with sliders. Respect their time and give them a one click option.

Interface: Whether we’re talking about billing, accepting the EULA, saving a character, or adding a friend, the button that initiates the key action in the sequence should always be obvious. Make it sparkle. Make it red. Make it blink. Never make people hunt for the button that begins any process. If someone can’t move on with your product without using submenus, you did your interface wrong.

Help files: Is your knowledge base located outside the product? Do customers have to leave the product to request help or customer service? A customer that has to walk away from the product to maximize his enjoyment (or even use it at all) is a customer who might not walk back.

Establish channels between media coverage and the product: All coverage should drive users to the product. A simple hotlink is fine, if that’s the best you can do, but it would be better to have calls to action that inspire readers to see what you’re about. Codes for free items/time/storage/visibility for those who go from the article to the product are better. But the only limit is your budget and ingenuity.

Billing: Test your billing process on all browsers. Hit the back button on each page to see what happens. If a customer leaves a field blank, do they have to start all over or just correct their mistake? What happens if they make a typo? What if they hit enter twice in rapid succession?

A billing process that makes people suffer is a billing process that won’t be completed.

Social connections: Is forming an in game group something a mammal with one finger can do? Is adding a friend one click simple, and possible whether the friend is offline or online? Is sending messages to offline friends enabled? Are you making it as easy as possible for people to tie themselves to your product with their own social bonds?