1. Nick Gassman - Wednesday, 1:07pm
When you fill in a form to sign up to a website, the password field,
but not the username, is usually asterisked. Is it to avoid the risk
of someone peering over your shoulder?
Yes. But I've come across a better solution to the asterisk+double input
field pattern.
It will not work in web browsers, but I think it adds up to this
discussion. In Palm OS, when you type a password, each letter you type
remains on the screen for a moment, and THEN becomes an asterisk. That
way, you get feedback on what you just typed, which makes it unnecesary
to type it twice in two different input fields.
Please note that usage context IS different, since it is easier to hide
the palm device from peeking eyes while entering the password, but it's
not that easy to do so with a big 17" computer display sitting on your desk.
And sometimes when they aren't asterisked, you have to type the
password in twice, but not the username. What's the rationale for
that?
That's just a plain mistake :-)
Users CAN read it, so they don't need it twice.
Guillermo
--
Guillermo Ermel
Responsable de usabilidad
MercadoLibre.com
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