Yahoo released the results of an OpenID usability study today, which revealed that logging in using OpenID still confuses many users. In the test, researchers first explained to established Yahoo users that they could use their existing Yahoo ID on OpenID-enabled sites. The researchers were happy to realize that the users understood the value of OpenID, but quickly noticed that even early adopters found OpenID too kludgy for general use.
The Yahoo researchers discovered that even with an OpenID box directly under the proprietary log-in for a site, users would still try to key in their Yahoo username and password in the incorrect field. Even auto-populating the box with the first part of the Yahoo URL (that would be the user's OpenID log-in) didn't serve as a reminder, and the research subjects needed to be walked through the log-in process again.
Of course, from there they got to the stage that hampers OpenID: leaving a site to head back to the OpenID provider and then return. Some users were confused while others simply forgot to return to the original site they were logging into. A few also gave up when they realized they still had to sign up to use their Yahoo ID as an OpenID log-in -- a problem OpenID was invented to overcome.
While Yahoo is using the research to improve their own usability of OpenID service by its users, the research is telling most of us what we already know: OpenID is still far too confusing for the average user because it has not been seemlessly intergrated into the sites which currently use it.
Post new comment