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An open universe
As the number of websites we ‘belong’ to grows and grows, we’re fast hitting the point where signing up for a new site becomes a significant impediment to joining.
When I start up my computer of a morning, I’m signing in to an increasingly diverse range of services - the local network, the wireless connection, instant messenger (x 3), my RSS reader, my photo sharing service. It’s a list that goes on. And on.
Consequently, we find ourselves pausing over the ‘Sign up’ button wondering do I really want this, how do I do know it will make a difference for me - it inhibits our desire to explore and try out what’s new.
This is something we have been thinking about at Precedent more and more as we work with clients to try and create ideal registration processes that are at the same time, unobtrusive and simple yet gather enough information to be made really useful to the application and to the user.
That’s why we are excited by the possibilities being opened up by Open ID. The idea is simple - that we can create a single address for ourselves (just like a website in fact) that identifies us and avoids creating yet more forgettable user name and password combinations.
It is a great idea that is generating a lot of momentum at present - AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo and Digg have all recently announced their intention to adopt it. It will be coming your way very soon.
