Medium account setup: sign-up, interests and membership offer
This captured iOS flow moves from a brand splash through sign-up routes, email and code verification, a loading state, suggested people, required topic selection, membership plans and a personalised home feed. It offers Google, Facebook, Apple and email account routes, keeps sign-in visible, links terms and privacy information, provides code resend, asks for at least three topics and allows the membership sheet to be closed.
The screenshots show interface choices, not their behavioural outcomes. Typography does not establish authority, two fields do not measure cognitive load, profile photos do not by themselves demonstrate social proof and one feed view cannot create familiarity. The membership offer appears before the capture shows value produced from the selected interests and frames purchase partly as support for writers. Price, benefits and renewal information are present, but continuing without membership is represented by a close icon and comparing the plans requires a long scroll.
- Captured
- Capture date not recorded
- 10
- Screens
- 3
- Ingredients
- 3
- Applications
Common contexts
Business goals
What works
What the captured flow does well.
- Google, Facebook, Apple and email sign-up routes are visible together, with sign-in available for existing accounts.
- The email form links to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before account creation.
- The verification sheet repeats the destination email, offers code resend and disables validation until a code is entered.
- The interest screen states the minimum number of topics and keeps Next unavailable before the requirement is met.
- The membership sheet can be closed and shows monthly or annual billing, prices, concrete benefits, legal links and renewal information.
- The first feed labels recommendations as “For You” and displays publication, author, date and engagement information for each story.
What could improve
What deserves closer review.
- The sign-up routes do not explain what account data each external provider shares or whether the recovery and privacy experience differs.
- Email sign-up does not say before submission that verification uses a one-time code, and the verification sheet has no visible route to correct the email address.
- The loading overlay gives no status, expected duration or recovery route if account creation stalls.
- The suggested-people screen says recommendations are based on interests before this captured sequence has collected any, and it does not explain whether anyone will be followed automatically.
- Topic selection requires three choices from a fixed visible list without explaining how they affect the feed or offering search, another-interest entry or an obvious skip route.
- The membership offer arrives before the capture demonstrates the personalised feed, frames payment partly as helping writers and gives free continuation less explicit presentation than paid selection.
Screen-by-screen breakdown
Follow the journey.
Each annotation distinguishes what is visible from our interpretation or hypothesis, then identifies a practical opportunity to investigate.
Screen 01
Splash screen
Keep the splash screen brief. If loading takes long enough to require feedback, provide an accessible status and recovery path; do not add persuasive copy simply because the screen is temporarily idle.
Screen 02
Landing signup
Keep every account route and sign-in visible. Explain what data Google, Facebook or Apple will share and any meaningful recovery or privacy differences so people can choose a route for reasons beyond its position.
Screen 03
Account creation – email
Say that Medium will send a one-time code before the person submits their email. Summarise material account terms, version them and keep the full Terms of Service and Privacy Policy directly available.
Screen 04
Account creation – verification
Add a clear way to correct the email address, state code expiry and resend timing, support password-manager or operating-system code entry and provide specific, recoverable error messages.
Screen 05
Account creation – progress
Announce a concise loading status to assistive technology, prevent duplicate submission and provide retry guidance if the request takes unusually long. Only show an estimate when it is reliable.
Screen 06
Account creation – welcome
Explain why these people are suggested and whether continuing follows anyone. Do not say recommendations use interests until those interests have been collected; make preview, skip and later unfollow routes clear.
Screen 07
Account creation – topics selection
The screen requires three or more choices from a fixed visible topic set before Next becomes available. This is an observable constraint in the choice architecture; the screenshot does not show whether the minimum improves relevance or excludes suitable interests.
Explain how topic choices affect the feed, why three are required and whether the step can be skipped. Add search or another-topic entry, preserve a clear selected state and let people revise choices later.
Screen 08
Post account creation – upsell (top view)
“Support independent writing and get the best of Medium” frames membership as both product access and support for writers. The screen does not show that this creates moral obligation or changes purchase behaviour.
State that membership is optional and give “Continue without membership” comparable prominence to Select. Compare monthly and annual totals, renewal timing and the practical differences between plans before purchase.
Screen 09
Post account creation – upsell (scrolled view)
Keep legal and renewal information available before selection, separate reader benefits from claims about helping writers and make plan comparison possible without relying on a long scroll. Refusal should remain easy and consequence-free.
Screen 10
Home
Clap and response counts appear beside stories in the “For You” feed. They are observable records of engagement, not objective article quality, and may partly reflect prior visibility or accumulated social influence.
Explain or link to why stories are recommended, provide an easy way to edit interests and treat clap and response counts as engagement signals rather than quality. Let people hide irrelevant recommendations and report why.
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