No logins? Open Discussion

[darrius]

My argument is to have no logins and only rely on firebase's anonymous login.

how it would work:

1. a unique session would be stored on the user's phone and would continue unless the user deletes the app
2. explaination : https://firebase.google.com/docs/auth/web/anonymous-auth
3. open discussion from another user: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41733137/firebase-auth-anonymous-login

here's why:

1. simpler - the onboarding would be easier. there would also be less friction for the user to post a new comment or reply to a message. this helps give them the confidence that the platform is safe.
2. less support requests - this would eliminate the need to build a dashboard to troubleshoot account. dealing with refunds is also easier too because we simply can't.

here would be the changes that would need to be made to the 'system':

1. remove 'give gems' - no reason for this
2. keep 'extend chat' - as long as users can only extend a chat by 1 day then we won't have to worry about users overpaying by accident
3. review user limits for spam control - we need to make sure probably limits are setup to remove spam. for instance, limit the number of posts per day, etc

and lastly, here's how I came to this conclusion:

1. explain the app to potential customers - when I was demoing this app to people in person, I noticed the 'glazed' eye effect happening. this happens when there is (1) too many features (2) too many steps and (3) to much technical jargon.
2. next, i asked them and myself a simple question - "what would need to be true to be able to have a fun, quick and random chat?" from this i realize how we can eliminate more stuff to make it easy to have a quick chat.
3. Are there other features that you would like to remove?

what do you think @dawidvdh @Domthegrom

[dawidvdh]

@darrius I completely agree with you, actually had a similar ideas i wanted to pitch to you guys although it wasn't going to be removing, but more postponing certain features of the app for the MVP release which would have meant eliminating giving gems as well.

Like what if we released in stages, really minimally because this is kind of the approach I want to take when developing the app as well, feature based.

So for initial release we have a feed (with write and reply), a inbox (with simple messaging, no video calls etc, really simple text based messaging think irc but also keeping the "I want feedback") with an extended chat option.

the beauty comes in that you can then get the app to the users very quickly and prioritising whats important to the users and what important to you in order to make it feasible or how you can profit off of the user needs.

In terms of login, again i feel like registering should be a choice? Much like how you can verify on irc if you want to.

Then in terms of spam we can do a rate limit maybe? so a user can only post 1 card every hour which in turn should make the cards a lot more meaningful, I mean this could even be monetized in future as well.

Let me know what everyones thoughts are

[darrius]

@dawidvdh great points. yes, let's simplify for mvp 1.

we need to prove these points for mvp 1:

• people pay to extend chat
• people pay to voice / video chat

those are the biggest assumptions, so at a minimum those features need to be built in

[darrius]

@dawidvdh to you point on rate limits:

we could approach it in two way: individual vs group rate limits. individual rate limits would be mapping out all different possibilities for each action. group rate limits would be bunching everything together.

if we just focus on the "feed" screen then for a standard group limit could be:

Free users: 50 actions Paid users : 150 actions

Actions would be:

• post new message
• swipe to new message
• report a message
• reply to a message

All actions would be counted as 1 point. Once a user hits the limit, they would be promoted with a "Wait" screen. They would then have to wait 30 minutes to continue or pay 1 Gem to continue.

@dawidvdh @Domthegrom what do you think? do you think this would be a simple fix to our rate limit issue?

[dawidvdh]

Yes I think so, the grouped rate limit seems beneficial to the user in terms of he can pick what to use his action points on but then also there needs to be an indicator of how many actions remain for the current user?

Also I assume the 'wait' screen will be dismissible so that the user can still browse around on the app but as soon as an action is attempted the same screen will pop up?

[darrius]

to your point:

1. i assumed not showing a user how many actions they have left. if a user knows that an action is counted when they 'report' a post, then a user will not want to 'spend a point' to flag a message. in the user's mind, the pop-up would be random.

2. the wait screen would disable the 'feed' until either they pay with 1 gem or wait 30 minutes. the 'fanmail' section would be accessible. no limits on this section.

[dawidvdh]

Well look in my opinion, I think people will eventually figure it out but also before that happens many may become frustrated at the randomness and start making their own assumptions of what they shouldn't do in order to get limited and it could be completely incorrect, like maybe people start theorising that is they report a users then they get rate limited so they stop reporting people completely.

take this use case:

1. As a first time user I swipe through cards until i have 1 point left, I report something and now I am rate limited. I now feel like i have done something wrong and no longer want to report anyone anymore.
2. I am with a friend and we are both using the app, I again get rate limited after reporting someone but my friend does not. Now a bunch of theories could be drawn (has one been using the app longer then the other and is therefore more trusted, is the app actually just buggy.. ).
3. I decide to purchase a monthly subscription so that i can report users without feeling guilty.
4. i swipe through 149 cards and report number 150 and again get rate limited, at this point I am looking for a way to contact support because it no longer makes sense to me as a user.

I know this use case seems a bit unrealistic but it is 100% possible, In my experience I try and eliminate any assumptions from the users side.

But yeah just my thoughts on it, if were happy with random then its all good on my side.

[darrius]

Valid points. So what's your recommendation on how the system should be constructed?

[dawidvdh]

Perhaps we can not indicate anything and just have a quick explainer of why they are being rate limited, have a modal pop up if they are rate limited saying something along the lines of:

You have taken 50 actions, You now have to wait for 30mins (have the time actually countdown) or you can get a premium account and and we will dismiss this and give you 150 actions you can do before you have to wait 30mins in future.

The following consumes action points:

• Reporting a user
• Swiping through the cards
• etc etc

Look this is example copy that needs to be designed and condensed accordingly but thats probably how i would approach it.

[darrius]

Got it. Yup we are saying the same thing. http://take.ms/YbYZN

[darrius]

@dawidvdh i think this could be a solution

Free account - 50 actions Premium account - 150 actions

An action is counted by:

• report a user
• swipe through cards
• post a new message
• reply to a message

When action limit is reached:

• Free account - pop-up displayed directing user to wait 30 minutes or subscribe to become a premium member.
• Paid account - pop-up displayed directing user to wait 30 minutes or pay 1 gem to continue.

Here's away to handle spammers: We can classify a spammer as doing the following actions repeatedly (50 / 150 of the same actions in one setting):

• report a user
• post a new message
• reply to a message

To punish the spammer they would be forced to wait 12 hours before they could continue.

What do you think?

[dawidvdh]

Everything looks good however i would be careful of setting reply to a message as spam, some people like to reply like this:

user: oh hey user: I also have that breed of dog user: we like to play fetch

... and so forth.

I feel like we could maybe measure action per second and use that also to identify spammers however I feel like this is a good idea for the next iteration of the app maybe?

[darrius]

This is def. something for next iteration.

For clarification: The rate limits would only apply to people in the 'feed' section. This would be the user replying to a continuous amount of messages in the feed.

There would not be rate limits for when a person is engaged in a 1-on-1 chat.