Re-experiencing information: Dealing with user-submitted data (Lucas Pettinati)

Part One: The reality of what's out there

We want instant gratification
It's cheap and easy to switch providers
Little white lies
3.6 million US adults in 2007 lost $3.2 billion between 2006 and 2007 in identity theft
Remembering account details is difficult

Part Two: Improving the essence of registration
Immersive Registration
Connect with your users
Ask only necessary questions
Only use unique IDs if necessary - communication, banking & finance - no meaningful need for a unique ID for commerce transactions
Use email or another common ID
Respect your user's locale
Use CATPTCHA wisely (completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart)

Provide audio version for the visually impaired
Allow user to request a different image
Beware of color-blindness limitations
Use CAPTCHA to protect commodities like usernames

Part Three: Dealing with forgotten credentials
Register --> Use --> Forget
Account recovery mechanisms

Email
Sends email with current or temporary password
Quickest method
Assumes user controls their email account

Challenge
Asks for answer to a secret question in order to reset password
Prone to repeated errors
Works best when account information is up-to-date
Predefined questions often have easy-to-guess answers
Custom questions often contain, describe, or state the answer

Forensic
Confirms account activity and details in order to reset password
Verified actions only known by the account owner
Safest method
Most difficult to implement

Email recovery tips
Put the user in control
Think of life events
Be flexible
Allow alternate paths

Summary
Mindset
User want to retain their privacy and may be worried about iD theft
Registration
Build a relationship prior to registration
Be personable - use humor if appropriate
Explain the value of questions if they may be seen as out of context
Use an immersive registration process when possible
Account recovery
Put the user in control of account recovery
Remind users that their account may contain old information
Use human support when possible