There is a very normal SaaS flow:
Landing page
↓
Create account
↓
Verify email
↓
Enter app
↓
Try feature
I built a version of that pattern too.
Then I started questioning the most basic part of it.
Why should somebody create an account before they know whether the tool solves their problem?
For some products, registration is essential.
For others, it is just inherited behavior.
The product question I should have asked earlier
Instead of asking:
"How do I get more users to sign up?"
I should have asked:
"Why does this action require an account at all?"
Those are completely different questions.
The first assumes the wall should exist.
The second forces you to justify it.
When registration makes sense
Accounts are valuable when users need persistent state.
For example:
- saved projects
- billing
- team collaboration
- usage history
- API keys
- shared workspaces
- analytics dashboards
- cloud storage
- preferences synced across devices
In those cases, identity is part of the product.
When registration can be unnecessary
Now consider a simple utility workflow:
Open tool
Drop image
Convert
Download
Leave
What persistent state is required?
Maybe none.
If the tool can deliver value immediately, forcing:
name → email → password → verification
before the first successful result is pure friction.
The user did not arrive because they wanted a relationship with your SaaS.
They arrived because they wanted a file converted.
The "capture the email" instinct
This is where SaaS incentives can fight user incentives.
The business wants:
- leads
- accounts
- retargeting
- upgrade opportunities
The user wants:
- the result
If you optimize only for account creation, you can accidentally reduce the number of people who ever experience the product's value.
That is a bad trade.
Let value come first
A better model for some utilities is:
Try core workflow
↓
Get successful result
↓
Offer account for persistent benefits
Now registration has context.
Instead of:
"Create an account to continue."
you can say:
"Create an account if you want history, analytics, saved settings, or higher limits."
That feels much more honest.
This changed how I think about BatchSet
BatchSet includes browser-based image and marketing utilities.
For common image conversion, I did not want account creation to be the first task.
The user should be able to understand the product by using it.
That is why the basic workflow emphasizes:
- no mandatory signup for common conversion
- no watermark
- browser-based processing for supported basic conversions
You can see the current product here:
👉 BatchSet
I am the person building it, so this is not a neutral product review. It is a product-design lesson from working on it.
Friction is not only forms
Signup walls are obvious friction.
There are quieter forms too:
- too many settings before first action
- unclear file limits
- fake "free" buttons
- surprise watermarks
- download gates
- forced tutorials
- unnecessary onboarding modals
- slow confirmation steps
Each one delays the moment where the user says:
"Yes, this solved my problem."
The activation event matters
Every product has some version of an activation event.
For a file converter, it may be:
Successfully download the converted file.
For a project-management product:
Create the first project and invite a teammate.
For an analytics product:
Connect a data source and see the first useful dashboard.
Your onboarding should help users reach that event.
If a signup form is required to support it, fine.
If the signup form only delays it, reconsider.
A useful experiment
Take your current funnel and write every step:
Visit landing page
Click CTA
Choose plan
Create account
Verify email
Complete onboarding
Upload file
Configure settings
Process
Download
Now ask of every step:
Does this help the user reach value, or does it only help us?
Some business-required steps are unavoidable.
But the question is still worth asking.
Final thought
Not every SaaS should remove registration.
But every SaaS should justify registration.
"Because SaaS products have accounts" is not a strong reason.
The best onboarding is not the one that collects the most information.
It is the one that gets the right user to a meaningful result with the least unnecessary friction.
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