I have to agree with almost everything in this post. Simplicity is the key. I would argue that complexity is the number one reason why BitShares never really took off.

People who join Steem come here because of the financial incentive - thus they want to know exactly how the income mechanism works and what determines the amount. So they are forced to read the whitepaper as for now it is the only official "tutorial" on the site. If they fail to comprehend how the system works - they will not feel in control and might decide it is not worth their time.

I read the whitepaper twice. Some parts were really clear. Some parts, like the anti-gaming mechanisms of the system, overly complex. Having more than one currency also confuses me and I've tried about 20 different cryptocurrencies in the past.

My suggestion is to make a really clear FAQ, a flowchart or info-graphics that describes what benefits the poster and the voter most. If it is overly complex to produce a simple visual tutorial - the system will be too complex to gain traction outside the cryptocurrency community.

Another point I want to make is that the user must also grasp intuitively where the money comes from and what gives it the value. Right now I still don't understand how exactly how is the STEEM created, at what rate and how much will be available when there are millions of active users in the blockchain. It should all be visually presentable on a graph.

I would also suggest to implement a feedback feature that gives user a potential gain prediction for every action (voting, posting) it makes. People crave for instant feedback.