Mobile Internet/Data usage is on the rise. I also am part of this revolution, where more and more sites and applications that were accessed via my laptop, I now access those on my BlackBerry. Smart phones are quite high when it comes to usability and user experience. However, one aspect that has intrigued me about all smart phones that I’ve seen and surveyed so far, is the usability of a “password” entry field.
My big question is -
Do we really need asterisks?
Mobile is as personal as it can get as a device. What are the chances of a person looking over your shoulder when you’re typing a password in your mobile? QWERTY or otherwise, typing on mobile is always a pain. I am always in doubt whether my first letter in the password field would be taken as UPPERCASE or lowercase; whether the numerals I mean to enter as part of the password, will enter correctly; whether a special character from the symbol library will register properly, etc. Even easy-to-type passwords create a fear in mind of receiving an abusive response in terms of “Incorrect password” OR “Sorry, could not login. Please try again!” High pressure!
Imagine this scenario while registering on some site or application, where there are TWO “asterisks” fields – Password and Confirm Password! If there’s a mismatch, how do you figure which one’s wrong???
Mobile browsers may not allow “Save password” features due to security reasons, and so, the usability-breach-stated-above is an every time pain and suffering. Maybe a user option to “expose” the password characters as they are typed, before turning them into “stars” – that would be helpful I guess.
Till then, no star from my side for the assumed-security-enabled-password-*******!
Thoughts?
Vishal Mehta is a usability professional who loves to play chess and has a strong eye for details. He’s also the CEO of IDYeah Creations, a UX practice in Pune, India. Vishal is also a guest blogger on UXBooth, Technorati, BlogCritics, and SAP Community Network.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Absolutely True. Fail to understand the reasoning behind using asterisks while typing password.
The option to “Show Password” is something that can be implemented and will improve the experience.
Unfortunately, enabling this is more than just adding a feature/option on the mobile; all the web app companies need to implement this at their end
These days, hiding the password does not make much sense on regular desktops also; since a determined cracker can easily guess the password looking at the keyboard. On mobile devices, it makes even less sense and is simply a pattern blindly copied from web UI.