As a member of the Globus team at UChicago, I would be delighted if XSEDE chose to feature Globus prominently on its login buttons! And I agree with the rationale presented for why that would make sense.
However, what these buttons are offering is to allow users to login to an XSEDE application or service interface. The label "Globus Single Sign-on" sounds like an invitation to sign in to Globus, as opposed to an invitation to sign in to the application. As a user of the application, I don't want to sign in to Globus, I want to sign in to the application, so I'm unlikely to click that button.
If the powers that be in XSEDE agree that it's a good idea to indicate that Globus is being used, it might be clearer to label the button "Login with Globus" or "Login using Globus." That's actually more consistent with Web standards.
I'm not a user interface expert by any means, but I'll admit that even the "with Globus" wording above could be confusing for XSEDE users. Explanatory text next to the button would surely help me figure it out, but I'm not sure that's good design.
As a required reviewer for this design, I feel obligated to seek some assurance that others in the XSEDE project agree with this labeling and user interface design, and I'm reluctant to sign off on the design until I see that there's consensus for it, particularly from the folks who are primarily responsible for XSEDE's branding, "look & feel," user experience, user interfaces...
Hi Lee,
You say "As a user of the application, I don't want to sign in to Globus, I want to sign in to the application, so I'm unlikely to click that button.".
While the user's "immediate interest/intent" is to login to the XSEDE client in question, the "reality" is that the user is single-signing into Globus and all the clients subscribed to it and had been used by the client in the past, as a side effect.
Should the user be made aware of "reality" or not?
Should this effort amount to a little more than a piece-meal approach to marking an activity as done or take the opportunity at a holistic approach that presents things in their true light?
This is where I have come to believe that it would immensely help users to understand Globus Auth as "Identity Pooling and Client Single Sign-On".
Perhaps if the user is made to understand this, then the user would be inclined to click the button?
Thanks,
venkat
As I believe others suggested, would "Login using Globus" or "XSEDE Login using Globus" be more accurate?
Hi JP,
I wonder if "Login" will convey Single Sign-On? "Single Sign-On with Globus" would be fine if it wouldn't be considered too long; I personally would be fine with it.
Thanks,
venkat
Yes, Single Sign-On is better than Login. The more accurate we get the bigger the button ;-) I don't know how to avoid that.
I don't think Single Sign-on is better than Login. It's more technically accurate, but it's not what the user is looking for. The user wants to login to the application. The user doesn't immediately care whether it's single sign-on or something else, he/she just wants to get logged in by whatever means are available.
I don't see "Single Sign-on" buttons all over the Internet. I do see "Login" buttons all over the Internet. We should go with the flow.
Hi Lee,
"Login" sounds somewhat old-school to me :). Since "Sign in" is also seen often and it's closer to "Single Sign-On", I am including a mockup with "Sign in with Globus" as one of the many suggestions.
Thanks,
venkat
As I said initially, I'd be delighted if XSEDE chooses to feature Globus prominently on its login buttons and I agree with the arguments for it.
I just want to know that the decision was made with all stakeholders involved. I still haven't seen involvement from the key stakeholders.
Hi Lee,
Once I update the design doc with the current feedback, I am handing it over to Jim (and stay on the sidelines unless explicitly called to participate). Jim plans to have a conference call with all the stakeholders, including Maytal to hash out the button and text issues, sometime this month.
So, this aspect of the design is not finalized yet.
Thanks,
venkat