[OpenID] Fwd: Excellent critique of OpenID usability

tom calthrop tom at barnraiser.org
Sat Aug 18 16:58:38 UTC 2007


Hi David,

I took up the challenge of writing some texts for consumers first;)

The following text is free to use and I welcome any feedback on it (as 
we are trying to improve it for us as well:). We have a "what is 
OpenID?" button within our consumer distributions. This links to the 
following texts:


W*hat is OpenID?*
Bored with filling in registration forms? Lost your login information 
again?  No idea which web sites have what information held about you? 
You are not the only one. Many web sites today ask you to register and 
many people forget their login information which is stored in those web 
sites.

OpenID is like a digital identity card with which you can show to enter 
a web site. You get to keep your information in one place and you get to 
choose which information you wish to present to each web site.

*How does it work?*
We provide you with an option to log in to our web site using your 
OpenID.  You enter your OpenID whereupon we take you to your OpenID and 
request some information from you. If you agree you are returned to our 
web site where you are automatically  logged in. You can do this with 
any web site that supports OpenID.

*How do I get an OpenID account?*
Simply go to your favourite search engine and type in "OpenID provider" 
to find service providers or if you wish to run your own OpenID then 
type in "OpenID free and open source software" .

[Assumed consumers will replace this with an advert for recommended OPs]
*
Who makes OpenID*
OpenID is an open Internet specification which is maintained by the 
OpenID Foundation. More information can be found at http://openid.net/


... a version of this which includes a graphical walk though of the "how 
does it work" process and lists of known consumers / OPS may be the 
foundation of a "getting started" guide on openid.net?

tom




Recordon, David wrote:
> Fully agreed and glad to see Tom drafting some text versus justing
> saying it sucks. :P ;)
>
> Now to find that "getting started" guide.
>
> --David
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: general-bounces at openid.net [mailto:general-bounces at openid.net] On
> Behalf Of tom calthrop
> Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2007 12:15 AM
> To: 'openid-general'
> Subject: Re: [OpenID] Fwd: Excellent critique of OpenID usability
>
> I fully agree.
>
> It was not so long ago that no one knew what email was. Today just about
>
> everyone has email in the industrialized world, however ask any of them 
> what SMTP is and in most cases you'll not get much in the way of an 
> accurate answer. Most people know how to send and receive email but the 
> fact is, most of them have no idea how it works (nor should they). They 
> have learnt how to use email via services (webmail) and software 
> (Mozillas Thunderbird as an example), but they rightly have little or no
>
> familiarity with the underlying protocol(s).
>
> In my humble opinion http://openid.net/ is the home of the 
> Specification, the foundation and should be the gathering point for 
> developers and implementors.
>
> Many consumers direct people to htttp://openid.net/ with a link entitled
>
> "what is OpenID?". Would you put an RSS button on your site with a link 
> to http://www.rss-specifications.com/ ? Upon pressing that link the 
> consumer should be introducing OpenID with links to preferred suppliers 
> (OPs). Here is an nice RSS intro example 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3223484.stm. It's down to each OP to 
> work on usability and accessibility and should not be of any concern to 
> the OpenID foundation.
>
> So I would say (on http://openid.net/) clarify the sites role, then 
> provide an easy exit for those that are in the wrong place:
>
> /Welcome, OpenID.net is the home of the <link>OpenID foundation</link>, 
> the OpenID <link>specification</link> and a gathering place for 
> interested developers and implementors. An introduction to OpenID can be
>
> found in our <link>getting started guide</link>./
>
> This gives you the rest of the home page to present development, 
> specification and foundation news (with RSS so that I can easily monitor
>
> all activity;)
>
> tom
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Gabe Wachob wrote:
>   
>> I see these complaints about OpenID.net not being understandable to 
>> end users and I totally agree with that assessment. But that was never
>>     
>
>   
>> the goal, and I think simply slapping up a list of openid providers 
>> would be inadequate.
>>
>> OpenID is a protocol, not an service offering or even a technology 
>> that a user can use directly. Hence, I don't see why (as OpenID, the 
>> protocol) should be marketed or even explained to end-users, IMHO. W3C
>>     
>
>   
>> doesn't market HTTP to end users, it markets the web (to the extent it
>>     
>
>   
>> markets to end users at all). This is like promoting the web by 
>> putting up links to web servers and web hosting companies.
>>
>> I don't think the community has actually figured out what messages are
>>     
>
>   
>> to end users (though I know the marketing group of the OIDF is 
>> actively working on this).
>>
>> Right now, I'm simply not all that concerned about end-users not 
>> understanding openid.net - it was never intended for them, any more 
>> than RFC 2616 was intended for users of the web. I think openid RPs 
>> and OPs need to describe to their own users what the experience is 
>> going to be at **their site** - the bottom line is that the user 
>> experience for each RP & OP can vary quite a bit - compare, for 
>> example, the user experience on Jyte vs. the user experience on 
>> Technorati.
>>
>> What the community needs to do is provide the very basic cognitive 
>> structure that the RPs and OPs can be plugged into. That's it. OpenID 
>> is a piece of a new way of thinking about online digital identity 
>> (user-centric, card/identifier-centric, not service/provider-centric 
>> identity) and **that** has to be explained to the user - only then can
>>     
>
>   
>> OpenID be understood in context in any sort of meaningful 
>> (non-technical) way.
>>
>> So, coming around to the topic, I think it would be useful for the 
>> user's perspective to put together a good presentation/document/wiki 
>> page(s) on user-centric identity (as opposed to a multitude of 
>> username/passwords) and how OpenID fits into this space - I'm sure 
>> there's something good out there to start with (or just use)?
>>
>> Anyone want to work on this at barcamp block?
>>
>> -Gabe
>>
>>
>>     
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   
>> *From:* general-bounces at openid.net [mailto:general-bounces at openid.net]
>>     
>
>   
>> *On Behalf Of *Stephen Paul Weber
>> *Sent:* Friday, August 17, 2007 1:38 PM
>> *To:* openid-general
>> *Subject:* [OpenID] Fwd: Excellent critique of OpenID usability
>>
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: *Stephen Paul Weber* <singpolyma at gmail.com 
>> <mailto:singpolyma at gmail.com>>
>> Date: Aug 17, 2007 4:37 PM
>> Subject: Re: [OpenID] Excellent critique of OpenID usability
>> To: Eric Norman <ejnorman at doit.wisc.edu
>>     
> <mailto:ejnorman at doit.wisc.edu>>
>   
>> I must admit that openid.net <http://openid.net> should hide all 
>> geekery on another page and provide a short list of OPs
>>
>> On 8/17/07, *Eric Norman *<ejnorman at doit.wisc.edu 
>> <mailto:ejnorman at doit.wisc.edu>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Aug 17, 2007, at 11:10 AM, Simon Willison wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> "OpenID: Great idea, bewildering consumer experience"
>>> http://miksovsky.blogs.com/flowstate/2007/08/openid-great-id.html 
>>>       
>> <http://miksovsky.blogs.com/flowstate/2007/08/openid-great-id.html>
>>     
>>> This is a really valuable article. It's a critique of OpenID by a
>>> usability guy ( http://miksovsky.blogs.com/about.html ) - it's
>>>       
> pretty
>   
>>> comprehensive, and provides some useful suggestions for improving
>>> things at the end.
>>>       
>> Yes it is. Well worth reading.
>>
>> And I just made a comment on his blog that most on this list
>> probably won't want to read. (Mercy sakes, did I ever put too
>> much cynicism on my Corn Flakes this morning).
>>
>> Eric Norman
>> http://ejnorman.blogspot.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> general mailing list
>> general at openid.net <mailto:general at openid.net>
>> http://openid.net/mailman/listinfo/general
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> - Stephen Paul Weber, Amateur Writer
>> <http://www.awriterz.org>
>>
>> MSN/GTalk/Jabber: singpolyma at gmail.com <mailto:singpolyma at gmail.com>
>> ICQ/AIM: 103332966
>> BLOG: http://singpolyma.net/
>>
>> -- 
>> - Stephen Paul Weber, Amateur Writer
>> <http://www.awriterz.org>
>>
>> MSN/GTalk/Jabber: singpolyma at gmail.com <mailto:singpolyma at gmail.com>
>> ICQ/AIM: 103332966
>> BLOG: http://singpolyma.net/
>>
>>
>>     
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   
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>> http://openid.net/mailman/listinfo/general
>>   
>>     
>
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>   

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