You're not alone Black Arrow. The concerns over wallet usability have been raised more times than I care to count.
It is clear to me looking back over the progress of this project that the dev team is much more focused on the backend than the frontend. Collectively their passion is in the infrastructure not the user interface. Sure, they have a few devs like cass and jcalfee that are highly talented UI developers, but it's just not enough.
Moreover, the dev team leadership has not balanced resources for infrastructure vs. UI development, nor have they sought external resources to help balance the need for deeper engineering of the user interface.
It's easy to sit here and criticize the management decisions based on outcome, but to be fair none of us have all of the facts that contributed to where we are now. However, no matter what feedback is provided, it doesn't appear to me to result in a significant change to the management approach taken. This will hopefully change once CNX releases its grip on decisions when 2.0 is operational and decisions are based on public consensus. But I don't expect that will shift overnight, it is a process and will take some time to transition. It may happen overnight on paper in in practical reality most if not all of the initial guardians (delegates / workers / witnesses) will be CNX staff or heavily influenced by CNX staff. I don't see that as a problem generally (at least initially), but the longer CNX is perceived as decision makers and not the community BitShares won't truly be self directing based on consensus.
This is why I hope the community will continue to express their feedback - the stronger the better - to help guide the public consensus.
to you Black Arrow for coming out of the shadows to do so, even at this late date.
Who knows, if we all shout loud enough in unison perhaps CNX will really turn up the heat and focus on the UI by shifting resources into UI development, including bringing in additional UI developers to refine the UX and accelerate mainstream adoption. I myself would love to see a healthy partnership between BitShares and Taulant's team on the Moonstone project, who have demonstrated their abilities not only in the quality of their user interfaces, but also in the area of project management.
Another thing to consider is the CNX business model. I don't think this has been discussed very much with the community, it seems to be shared only with a few "insiders". From what I gather, the focus of CNX is on exchanges, banks, big business, corporate interests first, individuals second. They're focused on the top layers of the pyramid hierarchy, not the base of the pyramid or end users. Viewed with that perspective the CNX approach to management and design makes sense. It is also a bit scary for hard core crypto-currency enthusiasts that want a safe, secure and private alternative to the mainstream financial system. There are conflicts in the model. It's like building a skyscraper with controlled demolition built in so that one day it will be easier to collapse the building to make way for something else, the "ultimate" planned obsolescence if you will. I have seen others express similar perspectives, tho not nearly as strongly. It remains to be seen whether a BitShares "house" will be able to stand or if it will be divided by the conflicting interests of privacy and regulation. In my view one or the other will become dominant and push the other out.
If CNX's view were closer to the individual, more effort on the UI / UX would have been given. Even privacy concerns were less important than transaction rate until very recently, where Bytemaster announced there would be infrastructure in place at the initial launch of 2.0 (blinded balances and stealth transactions),
but without UI support. I see this as a good change, although it would be better if UI support were included. Bytemaster now has realized how fundamentally important privacy is and is correcting the earlier (bad) decision to launch without concern for privacy. He realized that without provision for privacy, all account balances would become public at the launch of 2.0. I don't know if that was a factor in reversing the decision to implement privacy after the launch of 2.0, but if not just goes to show how many aspects of the entire 2.0 push have not been thoroughly thought through. It also shows how agile the CNX team can be, if necessary.
Topic: Bitshares needs robust stable wallet software that works!! (Read 6382 times)
