> Of course, nothing beats the security and privacy of username + password + TOTP (or security key), but you can't necessarily expect normal users to know to do that (or how).
Honestly, this just seems like a UX problem.
The ways this is currently implemented are often terrible, but not always. I'll give an example: I recently did a stint at "Green company" and they gave me a yubi key. They also used Microsoft for most things. To login with Microsoft authenticator I type in my username and password, click yes on the next page, and then click yes on my phone. But to use the yubi key was needlessly frustrating. First, Microsoft doesn't let you use it as the default method (hardware key). So then you have to click "use another form of authentication", "hardware key", "next" (why? Idk), and then finally you pin and tap the key. A bunch of needless steps there and I'm not convinced this wasn't intentional. There's other services I've used working at other places where it's clean and easy: username + password, then pin+ tap key (i.e. hardware key is default!).
I seriously think a lot of security issues come down to UX. There's an old joke about PGP
How do you decrypt a PGP encrypted email?
You reply to the sender "can't decrypt, can you send it back in clear?"
It was a joke about the terrible UX. That it was so frustrating that this outcome was considered normal. But hey, we actually have that solved now. Your Gmail emails are encrypted. You have services like Whatsapp and Signal that are E2EE. What was the magic sauce? UI & UX. They are what make the tools available to the masses, otherwise it's just for the nerds.
