"I’ll bet that the time-to-signup isn’t an important anxiety factor."
It is for me. When I'm looking to try out a product, I hate having to jump through hoops just to get to the download link. Fill in 5 pages of information (generally with fake data), making sure I'm not opted in to a mailing list, waiting for that confirmation email etc etc. What a pain in the butt when I'm not even sure I'll use the product for more than a few minutes.
I have skipped trying out a product on several occasions because I simply couldn't be bothered going through their signup process.
You have gave up your signup process because you were not excited enough.
What article suggest is to "clutter" your minimalistic sing-up form with useful information on what happens after you sign-up. Hopefully this will excite the user more. So that filling that extra field or confirming that e-mail will not be such a pain.
Basically if you are not exciting the visitor, then even a tiniest time-to-signup won't help.
It is for me. When I'm looking to try out a product, I hate having to jump through hoops just to get to the download link. Fill in 5 pages of information (generally with fake data), making sure I'm not opted in to a mailing list, waiting for that confirmation email etc etc. What a pain in the butt when I'm not even sure I'll use the product for more than a few minutes.
I have skipped trying out a product on several occasions because I simply couldn't be bothered going through their signup process.