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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I think that i-names (<a
href="http://www.inames.net/">www.inames.net</a>) should be mentioned in this
discussion, as they are accepted as an OpenID identifier and offer more possible
solutions as well as UX challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Briefly, for the uninitiated, inames are a
globally unique namespace that start with an “=” (recommended for
individuals) or an “@” symbol (for communities). The names
can also have delegation character (a “*”) so that you might end up
with =example, @exampleco or =example*name and
@exampleco*marketing*marketingguy and so on. = and @ names are owned
(read cost the user) while delegated names might be given away, much like email
addresses.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The syntax of these names can be a
migration path for sites that have unique names already. A site that could (and
I am thinking outloud here) have a place to put this unique name that maps onto
the site’s @ name and doesn’t initially have to explain the user
that they just used an OpenID at all. This would probably change the user’s
experience in some way, however.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>For i-name users, there are services available
now (and more coming) that may help those registration concerns. For
instance profile sharing capabilities that may or may not find themselves into
an OpenID spec are integral to the i-names plan. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Inames can also be reused to keep in
contact with members.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The biggest challenge (I hope) here is the
user education. URI’s set up as OpenIDs and XRIs (Inames) which are
by nature set up as OpenIDs, all fall under the same umbrella and this might be
confusing, if not handled properly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Hopefully this was less disjointed than it
seemed writing it and will help frame the discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Best,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Brad Topliff<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>=brad.topliff<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> user-experience-bounces@openid.net
[mailto:user-experience-bounces@openid.net] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Joshua Viney<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, November 06, 2006
11:56 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OpenID user experience<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Unique Usernames vs.
Email Addresses - What does this mean for OpenID?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>As mentioned in a previous email <a
href="http://openid.net/pipermail/user-experience/2006-November/000028.html">http://openid.net/pipermail/user-experience/2006-November/000028.html</a>
, there was recently an active discussion in the IxDA mailing list re:
usernames vs. email addresses for sign-in (thread found at <a
href="http://lists.interactiondesigners.com/pipermail/discuss-interactiondesigners.com/2006-October/012228.html">http://lists.interactiondesigners.com/pipermail/discuss-interactiondesigners.com/2006-October/012228.html</a>
). There wasn't much of a conclusion. The more hardcore usability people tend
to lean towards empowering the users by letting them enter whichever they
prefer. From my experience working in the online personals/social networking
and MMOG worlds, I would tend to lean away from using usernames because:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>1. unique usernames don't scale (how often to you see implementations
of "check availability" because of this problem?)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>2. email addresses have a known format/structure which makes it easier
for users to fill in the form during registration and after being away for a
while <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>3. email addresses can be reused to keep in contact with members<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The issue of users having multiple email addresses is largely solved by
the site keeping in contact with the user using the email address provided. It
would be very difficult for me to forget my Amazon email sign-in because they
send me emails every week. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>OpenID seems like it could be a very compelling replacement. UX and
product folk have been struggling with this issue for a while (Here's the link
to Jakob Nielsen's Useit Alertbox from 1999 that addresses this issue: <a
href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990711.html">http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990711.html</a>
), what lessons can be learned from existing authentication implementations? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The core issue for product and marketing folk is to authenticate users
with as little disruption to the user process as possible. Every step that a
user must take in order to achieve a goal on a site increases the likelihood of
abandonment (think initial registration not sign-in). I would argue that any
process that wants to replace existing systems should attempt to be more
efficient in this regard. Placing control of user data in the user's hands is
one piece to the puzzle, but it will be a lot easier to convince potential
relying parties if we can show increases in conversion and decreases in support
related issues re: lost sign-in information.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I believe there is some risk in attempting to change the way users sign
into sites. What happens in the future when OpenID is supported on sites where
a person already has a membership? Is there any way to connect that user's
previous account/membership to their OpenID account? Has this been discussed?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div><span style='border-spacing: 0px 0px;text-align:auto;-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none;
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'>Josh Viney<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><a
href="http://www.eastmedia.com/"><span class=apple-style-span><font
color="#0000ee"><span style='color:#0000EE'><span style='-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: underline'>http://www.eastmedia.com</span></span></font></span></a><span
class=apple-converted-space> </span>-- EastMedia<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><a
href="http://identity.eastmedia.com/"><span class=apple-style-span><span
style='-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: underline'><font color="#0000ee"><span
style='color:#0000EE'><span style='-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: underline'>http://identity.eastmedia.com</span></span></font></span></span></a><span
class=apple-converted-space> </span>-- OpenID, Identity 2.0<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><br>
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