RECOMMENDED: Proposal to create the OpenID User Interface working group

[David Recordon]

The Specifications Council recommends that the Foundation members unanimously approve the creation of the OpenID User Interface working group (votes found below), as proposed below and found at http://wiki.openid.net/OpenID-User-Interface-Work-Group-Proposal.

If you are a member of the OpenID Foundation, you'll be able to login and vote on the creation of this new working group after this 14-day notice period.  The vote thus will be from Sunday March 15th through Sunday March 29th.  All votes are held in US Pacific Time.

--David

Specs Council Voting:
Allen Tom - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs/2009-February/002726.html
Brad Fitzpatrick - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs/2009-February/002729.html
David Recordon - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs/2009-February/002731.html
Dick Hardt - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs-council/2009-February/000115.html
Johnny Bufu - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs-council/2009-February/000116.html
Josh Hoyt - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs-council/2009-February/000119.html
Mike Jones - http://openid.net/pipermail/specs-council/2009-February/000120.html

Proposal:

      Name

OpenID User Interface Working Group


      Background Information

OpenID traditionally requires the Relying Party to redirect the entire 
browser window to the OpenID Provider for the user to authenticate 
before redirecting the browser back to the Relying Party. It is believed 
that the User Experience (UX) could be significantly improved if the 
authentication flow occurred within a smaller popup window, making the 
experience less disruptive to the user. 

Although it is possible for Relying Parties to open a popup window for 
the user to authenticate at the OpenID Provider using the Provider's 
default user interface, the overall user experience can be optimized if 
the OP was aware that its UI was running within a popup. For instance, 
an OP may want to resize the popup browser window when using the popup 
interface, but would probably not want to resize the full browser window 
when using the default redirect interface. Another optimization is that 
the OP can close the popup, rather than return a negative assertion if 
the user chooses to cancel the authentication request. 

Users who begin the OpenID sign in process on a Relying Party in one 
language and then transition to their OpenID Provider's site in a 
different language may find the overall experience to be very 
disruptive. In many cases, the Relying Party may want to pass a language 
hint to the OpenID Provider to use to display the User Interface to the 
user, especially if the user is not already authenticated at the OP.

 


      Statement of Purpose

This workgroup intends to produce a very brief OpenID extension to 
enable the OpenID Authentication User Interface to be invoked in a 
standalone popup window, and to allow the Relying Party to request that 
the user interface be displayed in a particular language.

 


      Scope

Produce an extension that allows an OpenID Provider to indicate its 
support of a popup friendly user interface, as opposed to the default 
user interface optimized for a full browser window. The popup must be in 
an independent browser window, and must not be framed by the RP. 

 

The extension will also define a mechanim for RPs to pass a language 
hint to the OP to help determine the langange used to display the OpenID 
Authentication user interface.


      Out of Scope 

The content of the user interface other than the language that the 
interface is displayed in is out of scope.

 


      Specifications 

OpenID User Interface Extension 1.0 


      Anticipated audience

All those interested in improving OpenID Usability. 


      Language of business

English. 


      Method of work

Mailing list discussion. Posting of intermediate drafts in the OpenID 
Wiki. Virtual conferencing on an ad-hoc basis. 


      Basis for completion of the activity

The OpenID User Interface Extension 1.0 final draft is completed. 


      Proposers

    * Allen Tom, atom at yahoo-inc.com, Yahoo!
    * Brian Ellin, brian at janrain.com, Janrain
    * David Recordon, david at sixapart.com, Six Apart
    * Chris Messina, chris at citizenagency.com, Vidoop/DiSo Project 
    * Breno de Medeiros, breno at google.com, Google
    * Luke Shepard, lshepard at facebook.com, Facebook


      Initial Editors

    * Allen Tom, atom at yahoo-inc.com, Yahoo!
    * Breno de Medeiros, breno at google.com, Google