Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Website passwords
Raised as a usability problem by 32 people on Hacker News over 14 years (2011–2024), in 32 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Inconsistent password rules make users alter and forget passwordsUnreviewed
20112026- Undocumented password rules discovered only by trial and error during reset2024-08-17
- Password rules are unclear and mismatched, so valid passwords get rejected2024-05-15
- Password reset flows and password managers are confusing, and users must learn unwritten rules to get through them2024-02-06
Password rules and blocked paste hinder password manager usersUnreviewed
20112026- Arbitrary character rules and blocked copy-paste in password fields frustrate users with password managers2022-12-23
- Generated passwords must be manually edited to meet site-specific character restrictions2021-04-14
- Sites block strong passwords and force arbitrary character rules, so users write passwords down2018-02-22
Inconsistent password change flows make mass changes take hoursUnreviewed
20112026- Having to create and remember a new password for each website is burdensome2021-08-30
- Every site and feature requires its own separate password2018-12-06
- Each site has a different password change UX, making mass password changes take hours2014-04-09
Non-ASCII passwords are rejected or create accounts that can't log inUnreviewed
20112026- Forms reject non-ASCII passwords, error out, or create accounts that can't log in2015-12-16
- Mismatched passwords only caught after submit, forcing retyping and losing other entered data2013-02-04
- Mutually incompatible password requirements and slow, error-prone phone keyboard entry make logins hard2012-04-24
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 32 complaints
- Undocumented password rules discovered only by trial and error during reset2024-08-17
- Password rules are unclear and mismatched, so valid passwords get rejected2024-05-15
- Password reset flows and password managers are confusing, and users must learn unwritten rules to get through them2024-02-06
- Five-minute access window forces readers to skim or lose the page they're reading2023-12-08
- Forced rotation and complexity rules make passwords too hard to memorize2023-09-06
- Arbitrary character rules and blocked copy-paste in password fields frustrate users with password managers2022-12-23
- Passwords rejected for unstated rules, revealed only after failing2022-12-20
- Password length and complexity rules are hard for users to satisfy and remember2022-05-04
- Having to create and remember a new password for each website is burdensome2021-08-30
- Generated passwords must be manually edited to meet site-specific character restrictions2021-04-14
- Every site and feature requires its own separate password2018-12-06
- Sites block strong passwords and force arbitrary character rules, so users write passwords down2018-02-22
- Password silently truncated past a hidden max length, so login later fails2018-02-06
- Sites conflict on allowed characters and don't reveal requirements until password change2018-01-02
- Paste disabled, so password manager passwords cannot be pasted in2017-12-12
- Paste blocked in password fields, and some sites make users pick individual characters from dropdowns2017-05-18
- Password silently truncated on create page but not on login, so login fails2017-03-10
- Password forms give vague, shifting rules, forcing users into weak passwords2016-09-08
- Sites block pasting and force a clumsy on-screen keyboard for typing passwords2016-06-26
- Strict password rules force hard-to-remember passwords, causing many failed login attempts later2016-03-20
- Blocked symbols and umlauts make passwords hard to type, and masked input prevents spotting typos on phones2016-01-04
- Forms reject non-ASCII passwords, error out, or create accounts that can't log in2015-12-16
- Password rules shown only at sign-up, so users forget them and must reset passwords2015-01-19
- Inconsistent password rules force users to alter passwords and forget them2014-06-12
- Each site has a different password change UX, making mass password changes take hours2014-04-09
- Changing a compromised password means repeating a different process on dozens of sites, taking hours2013-05-21
- Mismatched passwords only caught after submit, forcing retyping and losing other entered data2013-02-04
- Mutually incompatible password requirements and slow, error-prone phone keyboard entry make logins hard2012-04-24
- Forced password format rules like required special characters are hard to satisfy and drive users away2012-02-21
- Users email support about passwords despite a prominent forgot-password link, so they can't find it2011-10-28
- Spaces silently stripped from password, so the typed password no longer works2011-10-01
- Can't remember whether an account predates the password formula, so must guess which scheme to apply2011-03-22