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0 pointsduxup5y ago0 comments

I think the problem is that once you want to be found, like for a grocery shopping app, most folks think you search and just find them and when it doesn't work....they don't know to go find some settings and figure it out.

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IggleSniggle5y ago

Yeah but I dont want to be found. That's why I don't share my email. If I want to share with someone, I don't want the use that app to establish a link between us, because I don't want the app to know anything about us except what it must to do it's job.

"Go find some setting and figure it out" is a UX fail. When I share eg a Dropbox link or a Google Photos link, you can get to it whether you have an established account or not. If there's something special about an app that requires an account before interaction is possible, then you can still make it a one-time share.

Yes, it does make user support more complicated. Yes, that's what I want and expect. I hope when I come asking for help, you can't help me because you have no clue who I am and have no way to get in touch with me because I used some email obscuring service. That's on me.

duxupOP5y ago

I get your use case.

But in this case the company is someone who claims to be "The best way to create and share a grocery shopping list and organize your recipes."

Sharing is part of the deal with them and a sign in process that from the start complicates it is understandably a no go / introduces all sorts of complications that they detail in the article.

IggleSniggle5y ago

I get that sharing is a core thing for this app. I just don't think sharing should have anything to do with my identity. It can be a hash that is shared across any communications platform (even by meat-space, vocally!).

If the goal for the app is for itself to be a tool for identity management, then knowing my email is especially not needed...after all, all identity context is already in the app!

UX should center around ease of sharing some hash value across some other medium, not "searching by identity."

I do honestly empathize with the app creators. But anybody choosing an obscuring email by definition does not want to be identified by email.

fomine35y ago

My anecdote: About 4 years ago, I looked a shared google spreadsheet with logged with my account. I thought that my account isn't shown to document owner but it seems not. I don't know whether I clicked something like share-account button.

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IggleSniggle5y ago

duxupOP5y ago

I get your use case.

But in this case the company is someone who claims to be "The best way to create and share a grocery shopping list and organize your recipes."

Sharing is part of the deal with them and a sign in process that from the start complicates it is understandably a no go / introduces all sorts of complications that they detail in the article.

IggleSniggle5y ago

If the goal for the app is for itself to be a tool for identity management, then knowing my email is especially not needed...after all, all identity context is already in the app!

UX should center around ease of sharing some hash value across some other medium, not "searching by identity."

I do honestly empathize with the app creators. But anybody choosing an obscuring email by definition does not want to be identified by email.

fomine35y ago

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