Should email verification be mandatory during the registration process?
I am building an authentication system for my website and am trying to figure out whether I should force the user to verify their email address before they can be fully authenticated so the user can perform actions like posting, commenting, purchasing etc.
Most people online seem to suggest that email verification should be a mandatory step in the registration process, because if the user were to ever miss type their email address then they would be at risk of losing all their data when they logout or if another user were to login with the miss-typed email address.
source: https://ux.stackexchange.com/a/111023
But in practice, most websites like indie hackers, reddit, airbnb, twitch, never enforce email verification during the registration (or even purchasing) process. So how do companies like these handle situations where a user has miss-typed their email address? I'm pretty sure this has happened quite a few times on their platforms given their large user bases.
I think email verification is mandatory. Otherwise, you will get fake registrations. What you want is people who love your product. If they are not willing to do a simple authentication then they will probably never buy from you.
I think as someone suggested in the comments: only allow verification if the user wants to do xyz with your project, let the user browse, while logged in with the unverified email address.
To unlock more features, ask to verify the email address.
I know remember that when signing up with Facebook (very recently), new email address, it allowed me to use its features, but in less than 1 day, you have to verify the account using a phone number. So, first email address, which gives you limited access and then phone number verification for full access.
It's not mandatory in my product, I don't even ask for passwords at registration. I will restrict some features to verified users soon though. This way people can still take a look very fast and decide if they want to stay around.
Probably in the MVP, you don't necessarily need email authentication.
Once you have enough retention - Start worrying about it ?
I didn't have an Email Verification and still don't have it. As an early-stage startup, I get a lot of yopmail emails but some of them are genuine. I don't think I'll implement verification until the product is good enough. I will contact users regarding their experience.
So you decide.