Last week I went to meet someone on a first date in English Bay Vancouver (see photo). parked my car in a parkade, but the parkade had yet another new Parking App.
- First I had to register, create a new account, password, license plate, etc.
- But, the app sensed I was on an Android phone, so it tried to integrate with Google Identity Management
- Then why did the Parking App ask me for Identity Information it did not really need?
- Google wanted me to authenticate, but I have dozens of different identities with Google, and it did not tell me which one it was using
- Now this is really odd because usually when Google wants to authenticate me, it just uses my phone and fingerprint, but this time… NO
- Well, I could not remember the password because I did not know which account it using, so had to reset my password
- Of course, you cannot use previous passwords
- Typing secure passwords on a phone is especially painful…
- Overall I suspect this was some sort of integration problem because Google rarely treats me so badly
- Eventually, Google vouched for me I and I was back in the Parking App
- Now I had to enter my credit card information
- Then I had to select where I was parked, and how long I wanted to park for
- Finally, when I clicked “OK”
- The Parking App sent me to Google Pay, instead of using the credit card information I had already entered
- There was no other option to pay…
- Google Pay reported an “Error” but gave no useful diagnostics
- This is the first time Google Pay has ever failed me… ever…
- But I was locked in a loop, and after failing to pay 6 times I gave up and paid directly at the parking machine
- In all, it took me over 15 minutes, because the process was broken.
- Fortunately, my date was late, so I did not look like an idiot, and we had a lovely time…
Note the sunset…
I carry around in my pocket a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 with astonishing computing power and connectivity, yet, none of it could overcome this hell. In more technical terms, this was a horrible ‘User Experience,’ or a horrible ‘Journey,’ through the terrible integration of two Identity Systems, the parking app, and Google.
In the past, I have worked in Fraud Detection, and we used the term “Frictionless Transactions” to focus on consumer experience, while also keeping transactions secure, so I wanted to relate this real-life story of Identity Hell.
As a company at the forefront of Identity Excellence, Forgerock is dedicated to finding ways to achieve Frictionless Identity