Nostr Web Client

I don't think this is exactly what you're asking for, but I will say it anyway.

Mostly, being told to fuck off in various ways when I point out a bug, practice, or UX design choice I think is bad from a user perspective. I've mostly given up. If it gets bad enough, I just won't use any of it. That's where I'm at as a highly ideological and technical user (tester). Average people aren't going to deal with the things people like me do, and even I'm hanging by a thread at this point. Just being honest. People can take it or leave it.

One specific example would be annoying bugs in the text editors in both Primal and Amethyst (which I've made known). The issues still exist (using multiple keyboards and devices), yet more features continue to be added. It's hard to get excited when such basic features aren't complete. One dev told me to just use a specific keyboard. Cool, but that is a workaround, not a real solution. I haven't had problems with any other apps, and installing some random keyboard for Nostr clients is not going to cut it if we want this to be widely adopted.

I've had similar issues with connecting wallets. I never figured out how to get Mutiny to actually connect after clicking the button in Primal. I've had lots of little issues that I feel should be fixed before all the other stuff is added on top.

A feature should be complete if it's going to get pushed to users. I used to use Amethyst and expressed concern regarding pushing the draft feature before anyone could turn it off and not telling users that their unshared thoughts were actually being shared and broadcasted. Adding the option to disable in the future doesn't negate the violation that some of us felt. Ignored. So I fucked off.

It's just getting exhausting. I don't get paid for testing this stuff and actually send sats to developers. I'm okay with that! But I'm not okay with being treated less than simply because I haven't contributed some arbitrary amount of code to some project. I'm just wondering who this stuff is being built for, because from a user/tester perspective, I'm left feeling like a house is being built around me on a half-finished foundation most of the time when I try this stuff out.

Any opinion is usually met with "what are you building?" or something similar. I can just shut the fuck up, say thanks, and eventually stop using this stuff and funding devs (to the best of my ability - I'm not pretending to be an important VC here), but who benefits from that?

These are my main problems.

Matt 1y ago

I like to offer alternatives when I can. Here are some speed thoughts regarding the topic of feedback/testing for Nostr software:

I'm imagining a project of sorts (team, or whatever you want to call it), let's call it Nostr Testers, that has people who focus on testing Nostr software and communicating with developers. This is something that would need input from everyone involved, and people who are willing to contribute to Nostr as testers.

I envision a well organized, mutually respectful process where testers are able to communicate issues, opinions, etc with developers without being asked what they are building, or some other dismissive comment. Testers would also need to be empathetic and respectful (myself included). This could act as a sort of buffer between developers and general users if done well. I think most people would like to have a central location where they can express concerns, bugs, etc. Such a setup could take that off the plates of developers. Many devs currently do all of that alone or on the fly.

I'm willing to contribute to something like this. Maybe I test Amethyst, Primal, or whatever client and focus mostly on that, for example.

This can only work if there is a mutual respect between developers and testers. My time isn't free (just as with devs) and I do think that testing/sharing feedback and concerns matters. Developers who disagree can part ways and do whatever they want. Developers who value testers can contribute and work with them.

This obviously requires implementation work and I don't have an answer to every potential issue right now. But I do think we need to be better organized and more respectful with each other. I think something like a git repo could even be used to implement this as an actual Nostr project that's dedicated to this type of contribution. I also think it's worthy of funding and community support/respect. I really don't like just pointing out problems in a way developers don't think are helpful. Let's create an organized way to improve the process for everyone. I'm willing to contribute as much as I can given my schedule right now. I will contribute even more after school ends next year. I want to be part of the solution, and I think others do too. Plus, some of us actually have some experience as developers, even if we don't do it as a career anymore or for Nostr.

I don't know what I don't know, so I'm open to discussing this idea or alternatives that may work better. Either way, I'd like to see change in this area.

Reply to this note

Discussion