Friday, June 22, 2007

Too much information

Kim acknowledges the need for standardized information resources for Cardspace users (although the issue is of course not specific to Cardspace).

The research of the psychologist Paul Slovic on how the quantity of information does not guarantee quality predictions would seem relevant.

Slovic performed an experiment in which he gave bookmakers varying amounts of information relating to horses' performances, and then asked them to predict the horses' success in races. He found that the accuracy of the picks remained the same, no matter how much information the bookmaker had - the extra data just served to make the bookmakers more confident in their picks.

Users will soon be presented with skads of information designed to help them understand (and effectively predict) the consequences of their decisions regarding their identity - and its sharing. Will the information help them accurately predict the results of consenting to some identity operation, or simply serve to make them feel comfortable with their choice?

No comments: