Web 3 with a Web 2 Sign Up Model
It's plain to see that our Hive onboarding process, which tries to replicate the web 2 model of the "sign up page" is absolutely not working.
With fear of Twitter breaking down, a social network called #hive is trending on Twitter. But it's not our Hive, it's a Twitter clone from 2018 that was barely noticeable for years. Today it's taking off and it has already taken over the #hive hashtag that is usually dominated by our users.
Meanwhile, we're not even getting a bump in new user registrations. We're not even getting accidental sign ups when people are looking for Hive Social.
@lordbutterfly has posted about this before when he did a marketing campaign - our model of "account creation services" leads to almost everyone not making it through to the point of making an account, even when they are highly interested.
This is just too confusing and weird, and that's just the first step of a long process.
Vouchers As An Alternative
Everyone is familiar with vouchers. We use them at the grocery store for discounts, you can use them to buy and download a game on Steam.
With vouchers we can turn onboarding into a very simple and familiar process.
- Download and install Hive Keychain (as an example, or any supporting app) from app store
- Scan voucher QR code
- Choose Username
- Account created - you are ready to go in the same app - no need to import keys
How would this be done technically?
A voucher is simply a private key, perhaps with some metadata, embedded in a QR code or text string.
Vouchers are created by a new Hive transaction - createaccountvoucher (or similar). The transaction publishes a public key, which corresponds to the private key on the voucher. Using this transaction will consume an account creation token and an appropriate amount of RC's.
There would also need to be a new createaccountfromvoucher transaction, which would need to be possible to create without having an account already, signed by the private key that corresponds to the public key in the createaccountvoucher transaction.
Vouchers can be shared by any medium, as QR codes on images, printed on paper, or shared over Whatsapp etc. etc. There is no need for anything fancy, as they are not so valuable that you will generally worry about them being intercepted and stolen.
The sign up pages eventually can adopt this model too, instead of each having their own process to help a user create and manage their keys etc, they will just send the user a voucher QR code and direct them to download Keychain or another Hive app of their choosing. Apps can also have their own sign up pages, where they give out a voucher code after some verification steps (as they deem necessary, based on how many vouchers they can get access to themselves).
Benefits:
- Sign up process becomes way simpler and more familiar
- A gentler learning curve. Users do not need to learn about keys, how to manage them safely etc. right at the beginning. They can learn these things further on in their Hive journey, when they're ready to.
- Not exposing users to crypto right away will prevent people from being turned off by crypto stigma, which has certainly become a thing in wider social media discourse lately.
This! I believe general population is going to see crypto space as scamy and not trustworthy. Blockchain is going to be a toxic word. The sooner we'll abandon this narrative, the better.
I love this entire idea with vouchers!
Sounds like a good idea on paper, would love to see it played out in the wider Hive. Main issue would be resource credits for creating these accounts, someones gotta cover it.
Loads of larger accounts are already collecting account creation tokens, but lack any means to actually distribute new accounts to new users.
This model would allow people who are already creating account tokens to turn them into vouchers, and distribute them on Discord, Telegram, or to friends and family in person, without it being an overly complicated process.
Yes, sounds like a great option! I wonder if its something we could build. Having recently started an outpost here, with token and all the frills, we're looking at this issue of onboarding new users.
Let's see if we can work out a way to make this a reality!
I think this needs to happen at the core protocol level. I don't see the friction being removed with the account creation transactions which we have available now. The current model requires you to be in communication with an account creation service at the point of creating an account, and that's what creates the friction in the process.
Would require some form of centralised system to create and safely store the keys until users are ready to get them...sort of like the splinterlands process? I wonder if they could be done on a decentralised storage system that can auto recover their accounts when they're ready to get the keys.
No, there is absolutely no need for that. Keys can be created in-app on sign up.
I think that new users get discouraged when trying to understand everything at once in a single day or only with what someone they know can explain. In my experience I have gone little by little, learning new things and connecting the dots. It's like learning a new language. The idea then could be to invite new people to join Hive and explore that they give themselves the opportunity to learn little by little.
I understand what you are saying.
At the same time: Once they get over that barrier of signup, they will then get stuck at the next best thing.
Our Hive just isn't web 2.0 stuff like twitter.
It's more complicated.
Even if they understood technically- Most people are uncomfortable with handling their own money, reading uncurated content or... well... thinking for themselves.
I just don't believe mass adoption will ever be a thing.
It doesn't have to; We can occupy a niche, forever. That is ok.
There are plenty of people who need this product, want this product and will put the time or the 3$ in to get an account.
I'm afraid they will never hear of our Hive though, because the name was chosen so incredibly poorly.
I mostly agree about the name, but it might be a mistake to change it now. Could dilute the small amount of brand recognition that's been cultivated. Besides, the front-end names are many and fairly unique, and that's probably how most new people come to sign-up, besides Splinterlands.
What would you have chosen instead of Hive, out of curiosity?
I could not come up with a name worse than Hive, that's for sure.
There even is a NASDAQ listed company called 'Hive blockchain solutions'
The incredible incompetence this took makes me cringe.
...I would have called it: Alyce and Bob's blockchain.
There's a music festival called Hive too
Alyce with a 'Y'... I like it :]
Catspace
Elbowbook
Flipper
Squeddit
LongTube
Keychain does make the whole Hive experience easier. Humans should not have to deal directly with keys, but they need to be aware how important it is to keep them secure. They need a backup. Being able to do it all on mobile is essential.
I agree, but it shouldn't be made a hurdle for account creation in the first place.
An app could always, for example, prompt people to create a backup after first 1-2 days of use. Or after there is a certain value built up on the account.
It's a shame to see. Thought we'd get a few Twitter refugees. Still, early days
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Perhaps we should be open to KYC and accept frivolous content without hating on them. The proposed sign-up process is kind off easier without lots of technicalities being flooded on the face of the newbie. Nevertheless, people are much more inclined to use emails and simple passwords for signups. Maybe we should add a sort of feature that directly allows this to happen. Blockchain.info app simply allows this and onboarding is quite familiar process
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