registration - Email registered by someone else - First time Login / Register

I am working on a system where the administrators can add information about potential users. So a user can exist without even knowing it.

Current Login:

At this moment there is an extra input field (see above) to check if someone registered you already. This seems rather clumsy to me. This is actually the first step of the registration progress in case the email is not yet known, wich seems even clumsier to me. Also the field doubles as a "forgot my password" field. This might seem handy from a developers perspective, but I think UX-wise it is not working. If only because nobody uses this pattern and it will confuse people rather than help them.

I am thinking of incorporating the "email lookup" functionality in the standard login / register form; If someone enters an email that is registerd (but not activated) he gets an immediate inline notification.

What are your thoughts on this?

Answer

A few companies such as Amazon and Google (login pages linked) have the user start with their email before anything else, then take action afterwards. To apply this to your situation:

1. User enters their email (only field available at start)



2. If registered, prompt them to enter their password, then login.


3. If registered but not activated, prompt them to complete registration.

If they fail to login in case 2, you could reveal a "forgot my password" button.