You’ve probably already heard of OpenID. For those of you who haven’t, it’s a new and upcoming standard for user authentication (and fellow Gizbuzz blogger Huw gave a nice introduction here).

I personally think OpenID is a great idea, and I’m a proponent of the idea and the standard. For a web development project I’m working on at the moment, we’re going to be using OpenID as the sole authentication system for users. That is to say, you will need an OpenID to actually sign up for the service and it will be the single system controlling your sign in.

There’s a problem though. The average computer user has never heard of OpenID, doesn’t really understand it and might be turned away from using this new service if they don’t very quickly ‘get’ how to sign up. We could have just shunned OpenID, built another proprietary username/password system and be done with it.

As a web service provider, though, I feel we have a responsibility to be pushing for new standards and helping spread OpenID. After all, it’s only through the widespread adoption of standards that the web is what it is today.

So we want to push OpenID and bring it to the forefront. What do we need to do?

Service adoption

I’m doing my bit here. New services (and existing ones) need to either support OpenID or use it as their single authentication solution. Until services force people to get OpenIDs, people simply won’t bother.

Huw mentioned in a follow-up comment on our previous OpenID post:

“I initially got an OpenID because Zooomr required me to have one. Now I use it on other services.”

If that’s the case for techies, it will be the same, if not more difficult, to convince the average user to get an OpenID. Which means new services need to push.

User education

Users need to be shown the benefits of OpenID to them – the fact that they don’t need to remember millions of passwords, maintain separate accounts on different services.

Privacy. Interoperability. Time saving.

We need to sell OpenID to them on the benefits to the end user (and leave the techie stuff where it belongs).

Interoperability with other credential systems

AOL have already done an excellent job at this by giving everyone with an AOL/AIM Screen Name an OpenID, in the form of openid.aol.com/screenname.

Now we need everyone else to join in. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, I’m looking at you. Maybe we have to do something to sweeten the deal for them, I don’t know. Without the support of the big players, OpenID will be in for a tough fight.

Advertising

This sort of ties in with user education, but still, we need OpenID to get advertised and publicised. Again, stress the benefits for the end user and where appropriate, also show the technical advantages.

The more people who know what OpenID is, the more people might use it.

I personally am very keen to see OpenID becoming a success and I hope that with enough effort, it can become a part of the future of the web.