The Lack of Easy Onboarding Hurts Our Opportunities At Adoption...
So how was your day Jon?
Thanks for asking....
I popped on Twitter and the first thing I saw was this....
Not a bad start huh?
One of the largest video game developers on earth shouts out, what we've all been doing for a while now.....
Invest in crypto :)
Bullish yet? Well you should be...Electronic Arts and the entire gaming community are pretty much the perfect audience for crypto currency adoption. They 'understand' a digital landscape and the days of lining up at your local EB Games to buy a copy of the new Call of Duty are long gone. It's all digital downloads and yup...Is screaming for not only purchases to be made via crypto...But also rewards and tokens that gamers could earn while creating their content for their viewers...
Ahh the possibilities....
But then we hit...The onboarding problem!
It's rant time...And while I'm not the most experienced Steemian or have the most Steem Power, I do spend a HUGE amount of my day...Working with new Steemians, that are brand new to Steem.
And here's what I see....
Add a few of these for good luck....
This was from two people...Brand new to crypto and to the Steem blockchain....
The first new Steemian was greeted with instructions to go to Github to get more info about Steemconnect...Are you kidding me? Github? You want people, who are BRAND NEW to crypto, and are getting their first taste of what Steem can offer...To go to Github?
I know this may not be evident from all the technical talk that goes on here, but the user base we are trying to attract....Has never heard of Github not to mention try to navigate it. This is the last place we should be recommending people to go to when they are just trying to 'become active'.
The next Steemian I was working with gave up after about an hour of trying to figure out what an account key was versus a password. Now I know that's all part of the Steem blockchain, and people WILL learn it as they go..But for a brand new USER of this stuff..It's just way over their heads.
This is my issue, but I get it...Blockchain is different. And signing up here isn't like signing up to Facebook. But my goodness...We are missing on SO much opportunity by making this so complicated for everyday people just to....Use.
Steem 'Lite' seems to be a solution for account creation that was talked about and I truly hope this becomes a priority for the powers that be here. You cannot ignore the 'normies' as they are called.
Just look at that Tweet by Electronic Arts...The masses are coming, and they will start poking around on Steem sooner rather than later...
But if we make this stuff more complicated than it needs to be. And new Steemians require a PHd in computer science just to sign up and use an application here...I can't help but think of the lost opportunity we have to showcase how great Steem is.
I'm just a passionate user. A nobody on Steem really...
However I've spent the better part of my almost 2 years here working hands on with people and introducing them to the blockchain....And nothing has stopped my ability to onboard people, more than ease of use.
They will learn, just like we all did, the in's and out's...But what we need is for them to be able to use this blockchain, from day one. Without the complicated steps...
Please remember us...The USERS of Steem. Keep it simple! Adoption will be there!
The Union Is Here!
Blockchain meets Affiliate Marketing....
=> CTP Condenser - https://www.CTPtalk.com
=> CTP Token on Steem-Engine - https://steem-engine.com/?p=market&t=CTP
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://plus1daily.com/the-lack-of-easy-onboarding-hurts-our-opportunities-at-adoption/
I totally agree with you. Not everyone has a PhD degree on here.
Make it SIMPLE.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Yup and that's the problem...We need to cater to everyday people if we want more adoption.
Yep, I think it should be following the KISS rule = keep it short
stupidsimple. Most successful system works using that principle. Karen barely has time to learn what keys are or even reading TOS.And then try to do it all on mobile.
This is critical. I'm thinking about it all the time.
urgh it would be a nightmare i’m sure. and that is. a huge opportunity that is missing now with partiko’s dev team missing. they understood ease of use.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I did some helping yesterday. I've only been a Steem guy for a few months. Some things, you helped me with, other things I googled. Now it all feels second nature to me. It's far from a perfect system. Gamers are perfect for this kind of crypto platform. I was thinking about this yesterday. Any in world "money" in whatever game they play is loosely a crypto currency. Especially if they can get it back out and trade if for that dirty F word fiat.
A big red easy button would be great.
Join Steem -> Click Here
Would be awesome for sure...
I so feel your pain. Lol wait till you hear this one. I onboard some people and they have done learn and earn activities, which I rewarded. They have still to collect their rewards because I didn't tell them it was a manual thing. Some rewards are a few weeks old....... so much hand holding...
Posted using Partiko Android
Oh no doubt....We had someone in our Discord that JUST claimed their rewards....Almost 3 months later LOL
Great post @jongolson You are truly poking the right question. I couldn’t agree more with what you said.
People are focussing all the changes to try and change the rules and mentalities for the users already in here. But never hear the ones that leave steem or struggle to get in. This is without a doubt one of the biggest problems here not only keep people active and interested but also recommend this to others (that can understand and pass throw the sign in process).
The excuse of 'this is not like Facebook' is always the same and we all understand that since it has the blockchain and payments on it. To be sincere no one wants steemit to become Facebook. We should all want a better thing and in order to do that the platform must become even simpler than Facebook itself. To archive that we should at least try to think and even gather ideas on how should it be possible to implement and improve such a thing... To be honest on the short time I have been here I never saw a discuss like that or even worst... the care to do such so. So this is still the perfect playground for the ones already in here that gain with it. Without shaking those pillars... Steemit will always be the complicated place to be around or even try to enter.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thanks so much for the comments...And so true. This isn't supposed to be Facebook, and I dont think anyone wants it to become...But I do appreciate their ease of use and ability to just...Get people using their site.
Indeed take always the best from other apps or competitors and leave out the shady and bad things and you have a success in your hands.
I think with some time and more polish steemit can get there. They have to stay focus improving and making the UI better but even more important listen to the audience.
The people here on steemit are not the same on Facebook. So I am 100% with you the interface needs work to be easy to use but they can’t forget their target audience and there unique needs.
Posted using Partiko iOS
absolutely: I also am not a tech guy, although i do pretend to be one around my friends who have iPhones.
The "lite" option is talked about a bunch and i dunno if this is even possible but an easy signup that lets them at least participate would be a great place to start, even let them see the "SP they could have access to if they sign up for a full (and free) account. Perhaps even store it somewhere for them until they decide to. Of course their upvotes would have no weight but it could give them a chance to at least have some interest in going further.
Anyway, i don't know if this is even possible but I really agree with you when i say that I too think this should be of the utmost importance right now.
Ha ha ha ha ha iPhones make me look brilliant lol
But yeah it's so important...Just let people use the stuff...Not everyone is here for the rewards and most of the newer Steemians might not even understand the rewards element...They just wanna participate.
Bravo amigo. Been harping on this for ages because I see where things are going.
Thanks man...Oh I could only imagine how long you've been on it. It's crazy cause it should be priority. The more people just using this stuff, the better
The masses will NOT come unless it is made easier to get an account and to use. Currently, there is a huge NOT WELCOME mat at the door. You have to "want to" to go through the mess the first few times. I would not have done it if I didn't "want to" learn about the CTP token. I would just continue to do my crypto business on CoinBase and say "What's a Steem, is that anything like Steam? Are Steemians the groupies of Steam Powered Giraffe?" Both of which I had heard of years before I heard anyone say the word "Steem". Folks, you are fighting an uphill battle unless you reach out to the "normies"
^^^^^ 10000% agree man. The welcome mat should be rolled out from day one.
Yeah the onboarding process is brutal, I have talked to 3 people in person and trying to show them how to create an account, only one ever did, so this really needs to be addressed.
Right now it's what we have to work with, so all we can do is have awesome instructions for how to do this, like step to step instructions with great details and such, keep up your great work and stay awesome.
Yeah oh dont get me wrong, there are services and amazing Steemians out there helping people jump on board. My thing is that it shouldn't need more than 30 seconds to sign up and get active.
That is exactly right, maybe lite tribe accounts of some sort, if it can be done.
I have to agree that for the simple steem user, these keys need to be abstracted away like they are with keychain. Better still, that needs to be combined with a 2FA solution and some sort of key escrow method for account restoral. Something where advanced users could still function as they currently are, but also an easy-button solution for the unsophisticated user. Perhaps a 3rd party integration with a project like Civic or something similar to handle authentication.
Yeah man...Big fat red easy button would be great for everyday people. Who may not yet understand the need or importance of decentralized platforms like this...But just wanna poke around and test the waters.