Where do I ‘Sign Out’?

99% of all web applications use the familiar “Sign In” and “Log out” to allow users to gain access to their site. The other 1% use a myriad of techniques, one of which I’ve noticed growing in popularity. To me, this new technique (which I call “Not Me”) is far from providing a good user experience. I mean.. It is me, its just that I want to log out. How exactly does “Not Me” translate to simplicity?

Two rather well known sites I’ve seen implement the “Not Me” scheme are Amazon.com and Buy.com. The first flaw I would note on Amazon is not having the “Sign In” link hyperlinked. Instead, they have a “personalized recommendations” link, which when clicked on, takes you to the sign in page. On first look, its kind of misleading and doesn’t let you know where to click on, to sign in to Amazon.

So you finally made your  way to the sign in and are done shopping and/or browsing around. You entered your credit card details and shopped till your hearts content. Where do I log out now? There is nothing that hints to you that “not being you” is the way to log off. Well, agreed log out is not exactly friendly to those who don’t use the web a lot (which by today’s standards are a handful of people). But come on… Is ‘Not Me’ the best you can do?

You’ve got to be kidding me!