UX critique: Aeroplan sign-up

I signed up with Aeroplan (Air Canada’s loyalty-marketing card) this week, because I was tired of gas-station clerks offering me Aeroplan brochures. To ensure that I get some benefit for surrendering my gas-purchase data to the marketers, I thought I’d write a series of posts on Aeroplan’s sign-up UX.

I realize that UX teams work under constraints, as in the case of Mr X (here and here), so I don’t mean any criticisms as attacks on the designers’ competence. They achieved their objective: I found the process basically OK and relatively painless.

They begin well

I like the way they start. Click the Become a member button on the main page and you’re placed into an entry page that gives you an overview of the process:

 

 

Why only five?

In Flexible Inputs Need to be Flexible, LukeWroblewski makes a good point about data entry in forms. With phone numbers, for example, the form should either tell the user what format to use or accept any reasonable entry, reformatting it if necessary.

(graphic by Luke Wrobewski)

This is perfect, as far as it goes. But I would mildly criticize the way Wrobewski specifies the solution. (I’m well aware that he’s a much better information designer than I am.)