Alessandra SierraHelping friends & family with “computer problems” is always revealing: Sign-on is a nightmare. Different identity providers, unstated password rules, multiple platforms competing to be their password manager, anxiety about getting locked out
Sign-on anxiety is a huge factor, especially with critical accounts like employers or government services. The perceived cost of a lock-out far exceeds the perceived risk of a “bad” password
Experiences with “customer support” have taught us that when an automated system locks you out, there is no appeal. You will never get that account back. You have no rights to your data, your contacts, or a service you depend on
Glenn Vanderburg@lambdasierra Yep. And here's another discouraging thing: when I have sampled the opinions of people who *don't* have those problems, a common theme is that we have learned to *slow down* when we're signing up for a new account, because we have to get it right and record everything very intentionally. Why is that discouraging? Because I'm not optimistic about the prospects for getting most people to change their habits in that moment when they just want to sign up and get something done.
@glv Exactly! Sometimes I beg friends to let me walk them through a process like account recovery, writing down everything as I go. I know that these systems are ultimately deterministic, therefore one can manage them by being deliberate. But I’m pedantic even by programmer standards
@lambdasierra Here's a good follow: @jessamyn, a librarian who often posts about her experiences helping older or non-tech-savvy people navigate online complexity. Those posts are often quite revealing about how complex and impenetrable our systems seem.