Forgotten password? Try not to panic, you'll only make things worse

An article in the New York Times, Can't open your e-mailbox? Good luck, reports that many users get locked out of their gmail accounts from typing their passwords wrong one too many times.

The question is, how many times is too many?

In favour of "self-service online support" (blogs, forums etc- very useful as a first port of call), Google claim it's down to the users to provide an alternative email address and/or a security question when they sign up for an account.
Failure to do so can mean weeks without email access.

However, if this is such a common occurrence, I wonder if the importance of this information (for the user's benefit) is conveyed on the sign-up page and whether enough is done to reassure the user that this information is not going to be sold on to third parties - if that's the case.

Furthermore, when you mistype your gmail password, there is no indication of how many goes you get before the account gets blocked. Gmail error message "Username and password do not match":
Perhaps a little work on the contextual help would get the message across that it's best not to panic and try 50 combinations in swift succession? (as most of us are inclined to do!).

Part of the Google account sign-up form:

The security question and alternative email address should possibly be marked as "recommended", or one of them be obligatory. A privacy statement next to the secondary email field could also help build trust.

I suspect a bit of qualitative usability testing, privacy reassurance, encouragement and explanations of why a security question could benefit the user, along with some improved contextual information could help reduce the number of users locked out.

For the remainder, human customer service in the form of email support or call centres could reduce stress for users and get them up and running again in no time. Let's face it, the last thing you need is your email account making you feel guilty and stupid.