Verus: Thoughts on Future User Experience
Verus’ goal is for everyone to express their opinion in a safe and private environment. People around the world must be able and willing to use Verus no matter the biases we all have. A vital part to achieving this goal is user experience.
Importance of User Experience
First, I want to make clear why a good user experience is so important. Especially when considering the depth of Verus’ goals and potential implications.
If you are unfamiliar with what user experience exactly means, then Wikipedia explains it pretty well:
User Experience (UX) refers to a person’s emotions and attitudes about using a particular product, system or service. […] In the end, user experience is about how the user interacts with and experiences the product.
A user experience is not something that only starts by opening an application and stops when closing it. It is about the complete journey of users; from finding a service or product and using it, to telling all their friends and family about it. It will pay off to get that journey right.
“I really like to use Verus”, said everyone in the world.
To create good user experiences, empathy is the keyword. If we create with empathy, we are naturally curious to know:
- What users want
- What users need
- What makes users happy, sad, mad, etc.
- How to expect problems and solve them
The goal is to keep users happy when using services or products. Don’t give them the chance to feel frustrated, mad or sad.
It is worthwhile to think things through before we realize what we made is only interesting in our own bubble. Or we made users unhappy because colors have different meanings across cultures. Or was unusable for users with bad eyesight. There are many things that can go wrong and many variables to consider when delivering products in users’ hands.
That’s why a good user experience is so important. When creating services or products from scratch in a totally new environment, it is sometimes easy to forget who we are creating for. Keep in mind that this is a never ending process of learning, improving and just being curious.
What this means for Verus
I know we can’t expect applications on Verus any time soon. What we can do is to debate and establish common ground for future reference.
It is better to start thinking about user experience now and keep feeding it before we:
- Get the technology done and wonder where the people are
- See people trying to use Verus but they don’t like it and stop
Keep in mind that Verus is for people of all shapes and sizes. We don’t want to exclude anyone. Verus hovers above all parties, it is a service for truth, for the people and by the people. No matter your region, country, city, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, race, politics or disability. Everyone is to be empowered to speak truth.
Verus is neutral for everyone around the world. It has no bias.
Because Verus serves all people in the world, and they are all very different, we should strive for neutrality and accessibility. We don’t need to sell a product; the idea of Verus sells itself. People will need it and want it anyway. We should focus on making it accessible for everyone.
Strive for neutrality not to exclude anyone. The -not excluding anyone- part is the important one here. No one should feel hesitant to use a Verus application. Better yet; everyone likes to use Verus applications (best case scenario).
Make Verus accessible for everyone. It should not matter if users are color blind, have bad eye sight or have other disabilities that are limiting. We show empathy to include all.
Final thoughts
User experience plays a big role in the success of Verus. Maybe not right now, but the need to make thoughtful design choices will arise. We should get a head start on the subject before it is too costly to make necessary adjustments.
Verus is too important to make user experience an afterthought.
I advocate neutrality & accessibility in all interfaces and experiences surrounding Verus. What neutrality & accessibility for everyone exactly means is unclear. This needs to be researched.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this blog post.
Verus is a community effort so I encourage everyone with an opinion about the matter to speak up. Since I’m only speaking for myself, I would like to hear if you disagree, agree or have any other suggestions.
For more information about Verus check out their website.
Their amazing Vision Paper gave me the inspiration to write this piece.
