What an RP Wants, Part II

Joseph Smarr

11/02/09

What we said in February

• Hybrid OpenID/OAuth is a game-changer

• Plaxo/Google integration proved the “Chasm of Death” can be crossed

92%success rate

What we said in February

We need all the major players to become first-class OpenID Providers (OPs)– More user data (profile/email + contacts) – User-friendly (not scary) consent UI – Auto-login on return (checkid_immediate)– Commitment to do what it takes for both sides

to be successful (ship early & often)

What’s happened since

What’s happened since

Facebook became an OpenID RP and joined the OpenID Foundation

What’s happened since

Plaxo built a deep 2-way integration with Facebook

(using Facebook Connect)

What’s happened since

MySpace rolled out full Hybrid/Open Stack

(though without validated email address)

What’s happened since

Microsoft declared they’ll do OpenID for real

(though were vague on timing)

What’s happened since

Yahoo rolled out Hybrid.

What’s happened since

Yahoo rolled out Hybrid.

What hasn’t happened since

Still waiting for more great OPs

• Facebook (Hybrid RP)

• Microsoft (Doing OpenID, but OAuth?)

• AOL (OpenID, but not 2.0 or Hybrid)

• Twitter (OAuth, but OpenID?)

• Plaxo (Hybrid RP and PoCo Provider)

• LinkedIn (?)

So, where do we stand?

• Significant progress, though more slowly than we might have hoped

• But the fact is, I cannot recommend a new startup bet their business on being an RP

• Why?

• Still a bunch of unsolved issues and un-met needs…

What an RP Wants

What an RP Wants

What an RP Needs

What an RP Needs

• More high-quality OPs

• Desktop / mobile / API best practices

• Solution to the “Nascar problem”

• Confidence that RP users are 1st class

• Virtuous cycle

Desktop / mobile / APIs

• OpenID login is a web-only solution

• As an RP, how do my users log in to:– My rich desktop client – My iPhone app– My REST API– My TV widget

Desktop / mobile / APIs

• Option: use OAuth flows as a bridge– Pop a browser for OAuth flow– Log in using (web-based) OpenID– Need some way to tell the client to continue

• Option: direct auth API proxied to OP?– Simpler UI, but assumes username/passwod

• Do this for all users, or just RP users?– Consistency vs. complicating the base case

Solution to the “Nascar problem”

Solution to the “Nascar problem”

• How many buttons?– What about smaller OPs?

• What to do for return users?– Visits from other computer?

• E-mail addresses as IDs?– What about OPs that aren’t

webmail providers

Confidence in RP users

• Part perception issue, part reality• What happens when an OP dies?• If users get trained by login buttons, can I ever

move/change them?

Virtuous Cycle

Virtuous Cycle

Example: Plaxo & TimesPeople

Conclusion:

We’ve still got a lot of work to do.

Why I still believe…