single sign on - To OpenID or not to OpenID? Is it worth it?

Question

Does OpenID improve the user experience?

Edit

Not to detract from the other comments, but I got one really good reply below that outlined 3 advantages of OpenID in a rational bottom line kind of way. I've also heard some whisperings in other comments that you can get access to some details on the user through OpenID (name? email? what?) and that using that it might even be able to simplify the registration process by not needing to gather as much information.

Things that definitely need to be gathered in a checkout process:

• Full name
• Email

(I'm pretty sure I'll have to ask for these myself)

• Billing address
• Shipping address
• Credit card info

There may be a few other things that are interesting from a marketing point of view, but I wouldn't ask the user to manually enter anything not absolutely required during the checkout process. So what's possible in this regard?

/Edit

(You may have noticed stackoverflow uses OpenID)

It seems to me it is easier and faster for the user to simply enter a username and password in a signup form they have to go through anyway. I mean you don't avoid entering a username and password either with OpenID. But you avoid the confusion of choosing a OpenID provider, and the trip out to and back from and external site.

With Microsoft making Live ID an OpenID provider (More Info), bringing on several hundred million additional accounts to those provided by Google, Yahoo, and others, this question is more important than ever.

I have to require new customers to sign up during the checkout process, and it is absolutely critical that the experience be as easy and smooth as possible, every little bit harder it becomes translates into lost sales. No geek factor outweighs cold hard cash at the end of the day :)

OpenID seems like a nice idea, but the implementation is of questionable value. What are the advantages of OpenID and is it really worth it in my scenario described above?

Answer 1

I respect your need for a business reason to use OpenID rather than a tech-geeky reason. So here it is:

Reason #1

OpenID is way easier than username+password. "Oh no", I hear the responses now, "OpenID is confusing and scary for users. They'll run away." That's why you don't tell the user it's OpenID. Just offer Yahoo and Google buttons and say "use an account you already have" or something to that effect. Users will love you. Underneath you're using OpenID, but don't advertise the fact, and perhaps don't even offer an OpenID text field, until OpenID becomes more mainstream.

A strong majority of users are already logged into Yahoo or Google, so "Click here to log in using your Google/Yahoo account" buttons will mean it's faster and easier for your customers -> more sales.

Reason #2

Do it for your customers, even if they're not asking for OpenID. OpenID is more secure than username+password, since your customers won't be reusing the same username+password on your site as all their other sites. It's bad security to reuse username+password across web sites, but that's what users do. Using OpenID (without telling them) to get them to reuse their existing [pick your small list of major OPs here] accounts will mitigate this and give your users added security. If your site is hacked, their credentials won't be stolen. And if other sites your customers have accounts with are hacked, there's a good chance your customers account with you won't be compromised.

Reason #3

Fewer support calls and web pages to support users who forgot their passwords.