Assumptions on User (Lack of Enforced Password Policy & Confusing Location Input Requirements)

[kundansai-138]

Description:

1. Password Security: The platform explicitly instructs users to create strong passwords (with letters, numbers, and special characters), yet there are no technical controls to enforce these requirements. This effectively renders the security advice moot, as any password (weak or strong) is currently accepted without restriction.
2. Precise Location Input: The website requires the exact same location to be re-entered for revisiting past trips, but this is unintuitive and error-prone. If a user cannot recall the precise text string they initially used, they cannot retrieve or review their previous trips accurately.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Go to the registration.
2. Enter a weak password (e.g., “1” or “a”).
3. Observe that the system does not block or prompt for stronger credentials.
4. Next, plan a trip by entering a specific location (e.g., “hall5, IITkanpur”).
5. Attempt to revisit the planned trip by entering a slightly different variation of the same location (e.g., “hall 5, IIT kanpur”).
6. Notice that the system fails to recognize the trip and does not provide any meaningful guidance or fallback mechanism.

Expected Behavior:

1. Password Enforcement: The site should enforce or at least validate password strength according to the guidelines mentioned in the user manual (e.g., requiring a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols).
2. Location Retrieval: The site should allow users to easily retrieve previously entered trip locations even if they type in a near match or a slight variation of the original location, or at least provide relevant suggestions/autocompletion to reduce errors.

Actual Behavior:

1. Password Security: Weak passwords are accepted silently without any warning or enforcement, with the user manual based assumption that user should be using strong passwords.
2. Location Accuracy: The system demands an exact text match for revisiting trips and for finding trips, making it difficult for users to return to previously visited routes if they do not remember the precise wording of the location.

Impact:

• Users may be lulled into a false sense of security because the user manual advises strong passwords, yet the application itself allows any password undermining best practices and potentially exposing accounts.
• The location requirement can cause significant user frustration, as small typographical or formatting changes can prevent user to view or find trips.

[harshitptl21]

Issue #23
Issue #17