You and the team have definitely made some gret improvements over the last few months, so thanks for that. And yes, it has gone by very fast!
I'd really, really, really like to hear/see more details around the actual user experience and interface design.
Not so much in the Exchange itself, as that is fairly on par with others, but in the REST of the Bitshares experience. I feel like we are still stuck on basic html from the 90's with no real concern for optimizing the layout and placement of menus, buttons, graphics (or lack thereof), etc.
If we bring modern web design and interaction into the Bitshares user experience, well, that would be a huge catalyst for growth and perception among users.
I personally think that an independent Worker Proposal would be best suited to be laser focused on JUST the design and user interaction/flow through the site. This should involved multiple rounds of completely fresh design mock-ups; voting from the community (similar to a 99designs approach); and THEN work with the development team (perhaps you and your team) to integrate the winning design with the backend code.
I think that incremental nit-picking around the interface is wasteful. It needs a full blown MAKEOVER.
Again, to reiterate above point, I'm not referring to the Exchange itself. There are definitely some design/UX improvements to be desired there as well, but I strongly think it's the REST of the user experience where the lack of modern, intuitive web design is hurting the platform.
My 2cents.
Thanks for your efforts here!
I tend to agree in general, however what you're talking about is a V E R Y big effort, a total redesign. The approach you describe (focus groups, mock ups, better involvement of community input) is something I've been saying for years that we've needed, but unfortunately the 2 things that keep that approach from being implemented is 1) cost and 2) time to complete the required work, both in up front design & architecture as well as the work to implement it.
To create a quality UI/UX for a product that meets users needs requires first to identify your target user audience, and that is rarely included in crypto project planning. Once identified those users need to be engaged to provide feedback the UI team needs to hone the UI into a product the users are pleased to use. That takes people skills, and many (most?) programmers fall short in that department.
Lastly I'll comment that I didn't quite understand:
the distinction you're referring to with that sentence. BitShares IS THE DEX (Decentralized EXchange) . Would you please elaborate on this point? There are different aspects to the ecosystem, the wallet is the biggest wrt UI/UX but even within the wallet are different aspects: trading (big implications for trading pros AND casual, amateur traders), exchanging, creating assets, and a really big one: how to incentivize users to vote to counter the widespread voter apathy that severely impacts the governance model.
Could the gamification, dopamine hit-feedback designs that facebook has used so effectively to "hook" users and essentially make them addicts be used to create an incentive to vote (and also encourage quality voting), or would it have negative side affects even if employed for that specific purpose?
Thanks for the response. I posted a follow-up response here, since my thought process was wanting to go in a few directions:
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@clickside/my-response-to-my-response-to-recent-bitshares-gui-worker-proposal-renewal
@clickside I disagree. I think iteration, like evolution is the way forward. There is nothing stopping anyone from applying for a UX WP.
Hi @billbutler - all good, we can disagree. You've done a great job, I voted for your first WP, and I've voted for your renewed WP. My comment started based specifically around your line about "An expanded budget to fund real UX talent"
I also posted a follow-up response at:
https://steemit.com/bitshares/@clickside/my-response-to-my-response-to-recent-bitshares-gui-worker-proposal-renewal
That being said, if you can build that into your budget then great. I just think a true design effort should come at it with a fresh perspective and not simply be confined by the current iteration, and I'd imagine most designers would want to deploy their creative talents.
Either way you've got my vote.... I'd just like to see Bitshares design get a facelift (again, not really talking about the Exchange tab itself).