What have people done to improve the OpenID user experience, particularly as a relying party?

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+5 Q:

What have people done to improve the OpenID user experience, particularly as a relying party?

I've noticed that there is a very dramatic difference in the user experience for sign on with different relying parties. I've implemented a few relying parties myself, so I already have a few ideas, but I'm curious to hear from other people about what worked, what didn't. Empirical evidence (OpenID login stats before/after) would be ideal, but anecdotal stuff is fine too. Even small tweaks would be interesting.

How much does the identity provider factor into the equation? Yahoo's implementation is obviously terrible, while myOpenID's is pretty good. Verisign's is vault-like, and I'm starting to think this compromises the user experience significantly. But what about others? Have you seen users having more issues with one provider versus another?

What best-practices, if any, can be derived from this?

+2 A:

On the sites I've implemented OpenID on, I've seen that most user's log in with their Google IDs, which I'm guessing from those stats that Google probably has the widest adoption, along with the easiest barrier to entry as far as OpenID login is concerned.

Joseph 2009-09-20 19:04:25

Interesting. Are you able to give percentages perhaps? Most of the sites I've done it on have been tech-heavy demographics, and that tends to really screw with you when you're considering user experience stuff.

Bob Aman 2009-09-20 19:07:08

this is what I do and it's super easy. I'm pretty much always logged in to google anyways so I never really have to bother with it.

Carson Myers 2009-09-20 19:07:31

Honestly, this surprises me a little. Unless your site provides a "Login with Google" button that internally just uses the magic https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/ud URI... well, I didn't think it was common knowledge. In which case, successful usage of the "Login with Google" button is really the information I'm looking for.

Bob Aman 2009-09-20 20:04:54

@Sporkmonger The sites I'm using them on are for very non-techie users. I have a feeling that influences their choices a lot. Also, I have a big Google icon for them to click on that automatically kicks it off for them, so yeah it's easy for them to use.

Joseph 2009-09-20 21:43:28

+3 A:

I'm currently working to refine the OpenID login experience in such a way that no matter what web platform and language you're using you can just drop it in and get a very user-friendly experience that works across browsers.

It's not done yet, but the the link above shows a screenshot of some of what I'm working toward.

Also, if you don't mind taking a dependency on a third party for your authentication, the RPXNow service is an option to consider today.

Andrew Arnott 2009-09-25 15:06:30

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What have people done to improve the OpenID user experience, particularly as a relying party?

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