Products · Product
OpenID
Raised as a usability problem by 94 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2007–2023), in 72 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Can't remember which OpenID provider account to use on each siteUnreviewed
20072026- Two different login methods confuse users compared to plain username and password2017-07-13
- Users can't remember which provider they signed up with2013-08-26
- Users must remember which sites support OpenID and their login credentials for each2011-12-16
Typing a URL to log in is confusing for ordinary usersUnreviewed
20072026- Users must learn unfamiliar URL-based identity, so they wouldn't adopt it over passwords2018-07-09
- User forgets the URL identifier needed to log in, so doesn't use it2011-01-31
- Users must enter URLs and pick random providers to log in2011-01-25
Login fails to fill in the correct email and usernameUnreviewed
20072026- Confusing sign-in flow; Yahoo ID fails and provider sign-up keeps misdirecting the user2012-06-26
- Logging into MyOpenID for account changes makes later Stack Overflow logins use the wrong credentials with useless errors2012-03-29
- Login fails to pick up the user's correct email and username, and OpenID confuses people2010-01-07
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Users get stranded mid-redirect with no good way to debug failures2023-12-02
- Can't tell if OIDC setup is correct; overlapping standards and hidden gotchas2023-06-27
- Users must set up a provider and paste odd URLs into sites2020-11-14
- Self-hosting an OpenID provider is confusing for non-technical users2020-11-14
- Confusing sign-in with a crowded board of provider logos to choose from2018-11-01
- Users must learn unfamiliar URL-based identity, so they wouldn't adopt it over passwords2018-07-09
- Two different login methods confuse users compared to plain username and password2017-07-13
- Users can't tell which provider to pick and don't understand redirect dialogs or what they grant2015-05-10
- Users fear login via Facebook will spam friends; developers can't tell which provider to choose2015-02-04
- OpenID has bad UX design that hindered adoption2014-02-03
- Users can't remember which provider they signed up with2013-08-26
- No way to block sites that can see the user's OpenID URL2013-01-03
- OpenID login is an awful user experience for people signing in2012-09-21
- DNS-based identity is hard to use; OpenID UX described as atrocious2012-07-30
- Users don't intuitively understand OpenID, since the login is a URL that seems confusing2012-06-27
- Visitors couldn't understand what OpenID was or how to use it2012-06-26
- Confusing sign-in flow; Yahoo ID fails and provider sign-up keeps misdirecting the user2012-06-26
- Logging into MyOpenID for account changes makes later Stack Overflow logins use the wrong credentials with useless errors2012-03-29
- OpenID providers hide entry points and use inconsistent user ID URLs, confusing users and developers2012-02-28
- Users can't figure out what their OpenID URL is or how to use it2012-02-21
- Users must remember which sites support OpenID and their login credentials for each2011-12-16
- Users don't understand multi-provider login and get locked out of accounts2011-08-29
- Presentation of the sign-in process is confusing and makes people think it's too many steps2011-07-19
- Google and Yahoo OpenID login URLs are hard to remember2011-07-15
- Users don't know what OpenID URL to enter to sign in with Google or Yahoo2011-07-15
- Users must remember which identity provider they used and end up with duplicate accounts2011-07-14
- Sites offer only a few providers, so users cannot enter an arbitrary OpenID URL2011-07-14
- Forces a click-to-reload prompt every time the user returns to the page2011-06-21
- Locked to one browser flow, requires user to authorize every action, unusable in apps2011-06-20
- People can't remember which OpenID identity they used on which site2011-01-31
- User forgets the URL identifier needed to log in, so doesn't use it2011-01-31
- Logging in through OpenID is a hassle, and the sites using it are a pain to sign into2011-01-31
- Users must deal with URLs and the OpenID term during sign-in2011-01-30
- Users can't remember which account they used and must guess the OpenID format2011-01-30
- Users must enter URLs and pick random providers to log in2011-01-25
- Users must enter a URL as their identifier, which normal people don't understand2011-01-25
- Relaying services go up and down, and the experience is hostile to users2011-01-25
- Non-technical users find OpenID confusing because its design is hard to grasp2011-01-25
- Current OpenID implementations are horrible and hard for average users to use2011-01-19
- Typing a URL to log in confuses ordinary users, so it is hard to use2011-01-19
- OpenID seems more troublesome than it is worth to the commenter2010-12-13
- Average users can't figure out the OpenID login and give up2010-11-30
- Forgets which icon and email address was used to log in2010-11-24
- Delegation makes the spec far harder to understand, and users lose their accounts when providers change2010-11-24
- User must dig through email to recall which OpenID provider they used2010-11-24
- Users must manage two separate accounts and can't tell which one is failing2010-11-18
- Users can't tell which of many OpenID accounts to use for login2010-11-17
- Many evolving OpenID implementations make users feel stupid and create friction2010-11-17
- Can't remember which OpenID provider account to use on each site2010-11-17
- OpenID user experience has been degraded by committee decisions and is not simple enough2010-11-17