UI Feedback for creating and editing password items

Hi,

I hate to be "that guy", but I have a few specific gripes about the interface for adding/editing passwords. I've been trying to help my parents migrate their insecure passwords from a text file full of pet names and birthdays to random passwords stored in 1password with a printed backup.

It's been next to impossible to show them how to fill in the form for new items. This seems to be primarily due to the fact that the form fields don't look like editable form fields. As you know, the user has to hover the mouse over them or click to see that they are editable. Because the editable view basically looks the same as the the non-editable view, they can't tell which view they're in and what they can and can't do in that view.

They've been trained for years to click or double click on things, but clicking directly on the word "username" doesn't reveal that there's an editable field or do anything. When they're editing an item, there's a little bit of a hint that there's something else they can click on, but for new items, they field itself is just totally invisible.

While in "edit" mode, it's very easy and enticing to hit the gear icon that generates and fills in a new random password. It's in the same place as the "Copy/Reveal" button, so I think they expect it to copy or reveal the password? Or perhaps they think they should click on it in order to start editing the password field. Or both, I don't know.

When they do that, there's no confirmation dialog, and given that the passwords are a long string of random characters, it's hard for them to tell that anything has changed until they've hit "save" and their password no longer works.

Yes, there IS a dialog that pops up with an option to choose the length of the new password, but they can't really see how to dismiss that dialog. Clicking outside it? There's no Save/Confirm/Cancel button. It barely looks like a window to them. And whether they figure that out or not, the password has already been re-randomized, with no way to get the old one back unless they figure out where "cancel" is at the very bottom of the screen and abandon any other changes to the form.

Another issue: The distinction between "Login" (the big box at the top of the editing view) and "username" (the little box just above "password") is lost on them. Unless I'm standing next to them, they always put their username in the "Login" field, and they end up with a list of almost identical items until we work together to sort them out.

Bottom line, I just think the editing screen is too clever.

They're very sorely in need of a way to create, store, and copy/paste truly secure passwords, and the user interface simply confounds them.

These are my grievances. Do with them what you will. I apologize if this isn't the right venue.

Thank you!