Improve UX in browser install page

[moxiegirl]

I'm in the middle of documenting how to get the browser and create a blockstack id --- a formal doc. In doing so, I thought of a few ways to improve the layout and information on the https://blockstack.org/install page. What I think is important:

• Clarify the title --- I don't think users are installing "Blockstack" unless we define it solely as the browser.
• Provide a brief definition of the browser for users
• Clarify what users need to move forward as separate from what a developer requires.
• Remove any outdated information such as the "limited capability" note
• Things which launch browser actions should be buttons -- things which are not are links.

My suggested changes appear in this mockup:

[aulneau]

Comments from Slack ->

I don’t know if downloading the browser === building dapps. I think people who download the browser want more security and to have things run locally vs on a server they have no visibility in.

[moxiegirl]

@aulneau can you be specific about what "more security" entails with the local as opposed to the web app?

[aulneau]

Generally with decentralized apps, being able to run them locally gives people less concern than using an app that is on a server. I think others could probably weigh in better than I can about the exact details of why it's better. You can have better insight into the requests that something locally makes compared to something on a server. Something on a server would probably be considered more centralized than something running locally.

[polluterofminds]

@moxiegirl For someone that is living in a country where censorship is a real concern, it's possible that https://browser.blockstack.org is blocked at some point. Downloading the browser allows it to be run locally. I think the key value proposition to communicate there is that downloading the browser gives you a higher level of security and a better chance to avoid censorship.

I think the censorship resistance of Blockstack as a whole is very much undersold, so this could be an opportunity for you guys to play it up.

[moxiegirl]

@aulneau thanks for the response. It seems to me the ability to "have better insights" is largely dependent on a users computing skills. A standard end user persona is unlikely to have those skills. Here I am thinking of a typical Facebook user that isn't heavy into desktop technicals. Such user perhaps doesn't even own a desktop.

@jehunter5811 that's a nifty point. I hadn't considered that, ah, United States gotta love the tunnel vision. Erm, do you think that censorship is main use case at Blockstack's current maturity or an edge case that may later become a main? I see it as an edge case but I also think it might be interesting to add a blurb in there that calls out this point to people concerned with censorship.

[polluterofminds]

Good question. I think at some point @xanbots told me that Blockstack's analytics show similar worldwide spread to what I'm seeing with Graphite. Here's the distribution of users hitting the Graphite log in page:

That equates to more than 50% of users visiting Graphite being outside the United States. I think decentralization is a novelty for folks in the States and for folks in other relatively open countries. However, in most of the rest of the world, decentralization is a solution to a real problem. That problem is largely censorship in the forms of blocking sites, intimidating users, prison, and death in some cases.

To me, Blockstack's current maturity actually supports the censorship-resistance side of things far better than it supports any other uses.

[yknl]

Given that we have feature parity between the Blockstack browser web app and the native apps, it would make sense to remove the "Limited capability" tag in the download page. We should also put it above the native versions since it's a much easier way to get started. However, I don't think we should label it as being for developers, because there are many reasons why someone would want to run a native app than just for developing dapps.

[moxiegirl]

@yknl As a new user coming to the Blockstack, I thought I needed the download to create an ID or to use it. The position of the web app last and its note made me think it was sub-par. Further, once I had Blockstack running on my machine, I was confused about what the web app was in relation to the local instance. Relying on users to go to help to figure out the differences and when to choose them seems like a barrier.

So, I'd like to keep a distinction...and provide guidance. It just is friendlier to help people. How about a title adjustment on the subheads and a bit more info re @jehunter5811 's point on censorship? Something like this:

[moxiegirl]

@jehunter5811 Gave me some help solving this issue. Got another bit for the uninstall out of it too. The original comment here should stand @jeffdomke. Thanks for your comment as well.

@jehunter5811 @yknl @jeffdomke ~I discovered this morning that I can't open a Dapp without launching the local browser. That means the browser application acts more like a local, enabling client (think chat/conference app like Skype) for a Dapp rather than an alternative version of the web browser. So, I've adjusted the page accordingly:~

[polluterofminds]

@moxiegirl I don't think that's accurate. I think what you're running into is that if you have a local version of the browser running, you will be automatically routed through that for authentication. Whereas if you don't have the local browser downloaded, you will have the option to download it or use the web app.

[moxiegirl]

@jeffdomke I was running the webapp, I selected a Dapp, and when I went to use it, it launched my local version of the browser. Here is an example of what I saw with each App I attempted to launch.

If I don't' choose the app, the system simply cancels my request to sign in.

Now, it could be the Dapp making the request for the local app. Perhaps these are mobile apps, but there is no way to tell from the presentation on the Browser page. And, was it the case that some of these apps don't work on desktops, I would expect the page to filter what it presents me based on the device I'm on or something.

Of course, I haven't tested every individual app...four seemed sufficient at the moment.

[polluterofminds]

@moxiegirl That's because you have the browser installed. If you don't have the browser installed, you should see something like this:

[moxiegirl]

@jehunter5811 Thanks for the reply. That test ^^ shown above was run with no browser installed locally. Just to confirm, I ran removed everything and tried it again. Same result.

Perhaps the removal is flawed? I'm currently running through the uninstall, the procedure I'm following is documented on my fork here:

https://github.com/moxiegirl/blockstack/blob/tutorial-fix/tutorials/browser-introduction.md#on-mac-1

[moxiegirl]

@jehunter5811 Dang it, the dmg was mounted even though the App was deleted. I hate that. Once I ejected the mounts it worked as you said. Thank you for spending some time to help me figure this out. I'll add a check for the mount to my procedure.

[polluterofminds]

No problem! This is why I rarely end up testing the web app browser. It's just too difficult to uninstall the local browser and re-install. BrowserStack has been helpful when I do want to test the web app browser, though.

[moxiegirl]

@jehunter5811 It occurs to me that a better UX is not to ask, IOW, if I launch from the Web browser, sign in with the Web browser; if I launch from local open in local. It seems an obvious win from a user's perspective.