Current UX Bottlenecks of Blockchain Technologies

Apr 08th, 2019 - Written by Andree Huk

Alec wrote an article about the current issues of the technology. He makes a few good points but neglects to put them into context, unfortunately. We would like to provide some more context here.

  • "The same thing goes within the blockchain. I don’t think people really “need” the technology, but I am sure people need technology outcomes — freedom, trust, and privacy. ...And the issue of a blockchain adoption is in the user experience." - Andree @blended: He makes a valid point but does not add that freedom and privacy may be the result of having the technology in the first place.
  • "Technology should follow existing user behaviors and habits instead of reimagining user experience — that could make it successful" - Andree @blended: User behaviour–as generally as Alec writes about it–is not the result of technology. Alas, user behaviour in regard to product and tools does depend on the underlying technology, of course.
  • "Seems like this it could bring large value for a user, but jargon raises the wall of a misunderstanding between technology and user experience." - Andree: Jargon does not help indeed. But it's also important to note that this jargon makes it appealing to the early adopters and innovators, but of course not to the mainstream.
  • "...use blockchain-specific terminology only in absolute need. Yes, it is trendy, but if you are trying to reach a wider audience, use words that people are familiar with." - Andree: It's not about trends. It's a crucial way to tell visitors what a product is about.
  • "Some people could say that it does not matter, you can copy and paste this lengthy string, this is done for privacy and security, etc. Still, it is all about ease of use — domain names are way more readable than IP addresses, you can easily remember godaddy.com instead of 104.238.65.160." - Andree: Absolutely valid point. It will take time though.
  • "To make changes, you need to get an agreement among all stakeholders, all smart contract participants." - Andree: Only for the underlying chain, not products or services on top of that chain.
  • "Then you pay bitcoins (or, it is better to say, fractions of a bitcoin). And then real life happens — you wait for at least 30 minutes and pay commission on a top of your $4 cup of a cold coffee." - Andree: This is a very superficial example. As per our experience, only shops that do have a nerdy crowd would offer that option, knowingly that it's a pricey option.

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