Clearer guidance when requesting a password reset without an account
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Zuzanna Kurtys
A customer recently tried to reset their password but became frustrated when no reset email arrived. After checking with Citrus-Lime, we discovered they had previously checked out as a guest and had never created an account.
Could the password reset process provide clearer guidance for customers in this situation? For example:
“There isn't an account associated with this email address"
This would help customers understand why they might not receive a reset email and what to do next, reducing confusion and support enquiries.
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Steven Sproat
I agree there's a usability issue here, but explicitly stating that no account exists would disclose account status, which is not a strong position from a security perspective. A better approach might be to maintain the current ambiguous messaging for security reasons, while improving the customer journey for guest checkouts.
For example, if the email address is associated with previous guest orders, the customer could receive an email inviting them to create an account using that address, with those historical orders then linked to the newly created account. This would help users who don't realise they've only ever checked out as guests, while avoiding account enumeration concerns.
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Scott
No brainer - great idea and stress point remover