A new user can encounter Seed Hypermedia in several ways, one could be though a site made with seed and the other one could be from our own home site seed.hyper.media.
New Users Web
In the case that the user encounters seed though another users site, they will most likely browser though it and read anything that initially caught their attention. This could make them want to (1) comment or (2) subscribe.
The current design makes the commenting side somewhat difficult as there is no easy way to understand how to comment. No one reads while scrolling with the mouse on top of the text since that can be distracting. This means that some people may not be able to understand that they can do in-line comments, unless there are already existing comments marked on the document. On the other hand, general commenting is currently symbolized by the feed star. This is a new icon we introduced, but it does not have any social of common understanding that could associate it with commenting, especially for new readers. (See issue on linear)
If the user does find a way to comment and they try to publish a comment after writing they will be prompted with the following.
The terms "public key cryptography" and "private key" are technical jargon that may cause confusion for people that have no understanding this terms. If our target users are people that can understand the meaning of this, then there is no problem with keeping it this way, but if we want anyone to be able to use seed, it will be really had for some people to understand what this means and how these "keys" will continue to be mentioned in the future.
I would recommend a change of wording to the following:
Create Account on isabellavelez.hyper.media
Your Hypermedia account is secured with advanced encryption. A unique digital key will be created and securely stored only in this browser.
You are the only one who has access to it.
Your account identity will be connected to this domain, but you can easily link it to other domains and devices later.
Once you have created the comment the only way to access you account is at the bottom of the screen in the footer and there is no immediate sign that you have signed in or created an account other then the comment you left. (See designs)
In the case that new users are very interested in the work made by this site, they will most likely want to subscribe. When they do, an email address will be asked of them so they can receive notifications about the sites activity so they can stay up to date with the content they liked.
There is no prompt asking if users would like to create an account in this step, and after you do subscribe the button does not change. You can click it again a place a different email. This makes no sense at all. This button should change to reflect that you have subscribed. and if clicked again it should let you change the subscribe settings.
In another case, if the user has created an account and has also subscribed, when they go to edit profile, you are not shown anything in regards to your subscription which is quite confusing.
In the case that users encounters Seed Hypermedia though the site they will be prompted initially to download the computer app. Nonetheless, user will also be able to browse though seed's resources and encountered web identities just as mentioned above.
New Users on the App
When users download the app for the first time they will be prompted to create an site. assign a name, logo, icon and save the secret phrase. If the user has an existing account on the web they will not be able to understand that site and account are currently the same thing so they will create a new site in the app instead of linking the already existing web account.
After creating a site the user will be prompted to choose a templet and when they do they will be able to start editing their site.
There should be some tips along the way where so users can understand what is happening and what they can do like (1) they are currently editing there home page. (2) They need to publish there home page so it can be live with the latest changes. (3) they can create documents inside the site with the create button on the navigation side bar. (4) In the library they will find node connections and (5) the account picker at the bottom will let them link there account form other devices and they can also create new accounts.
This is not obvious information and it can be helpful for people that have just downloaded the app.
As the user was not prompted in the onboarding about linking account, they will have to go to the key symbol in the account picker to link there web account to there desktop app account. This is the pop up that shows up.
It says "Link new signing key" but on the web it was mentioned that you would be linking identities or accounts. As I mentioned before, "keys" mean nothing to most people and even if users know what you are talking about it important to maintain consistency with the language. "Linking sessions" is also a new terminology that wasn't used before and may cause confusion.
I would recommend a change of wording to the following:
Link Existing Account Identity
Session Label
*This label cannot be changed later. It's just for your convenience to distinguish different devices and domains. E.g. you can use the name or the domain of the device you are linking with.
Button: Link Account Identity
User on Mobile
The experience on web that have been described above are currently the same as the ones in mobile, and they should also be addressed as mentioned above.