He might well be an expert in UI but certainly is no expert in security - so I think he is broaching fields he is not qualified in :) Regardless just because h

He might well be an expert in UI but certainly is no expert in security - so I think he is broaching fields he is not qualified in :) Regardless just because he is a well respected individual does not make all his ideas "the right way". I think people are misreading what he said and making knee jerk reactions. But, for exampl...: > password masking doesn't even protect fully against snoopers. Seems an irrelevant point - he doesnt weigh the security tradeoff against the supposedly improved usability. I would argue that password masking is the #1 deterrent for casual password stealers. Plus reading fast typed keys is a skill needing to be acquired. A determined thief will always find a way to get your password. The masking is deter the casual criminals (or just your co-workers etc!!) > It's just you, sitting all alone in your office, suffering reduced usability to protect against a non-issue For a UI designer/engineer I think this shows a whole lot of ignorance about how people use computers... does he really imagine most people use their computer this way? really? One important point he misses is that password boxes leap out at you BY being masked. This is an important UI concept because the user knows they are logging into something "secure". It is also the expected behaviour (for better or for worse); not just a convention but an ingrained expectation! UI designers hardly ever break expectations like that in my experience ;) In terms of not seeing what your typing: he should know a vast majority of people watch their fingers as they type. Knowing you made a mistake is a fairly natural process (yes, we have tested this). He DOES have a very very good point about mobiles - this is a perfect example of where masking shouldnt be employed. And I suspect this is the main point he is making. But extending it to every format? No, that IS silly. :)