Roadmap Planning

rachel · October 7, 2019, 10:01am

Core team:

Please use this post to put forward your thoughts on features, bugs, tech debt or chores that we should prioritize post-v1 release.

We’ll discuss items synchronously during our planning meeting next week, on the 15th.

Reminders, for context:

An overview of the current v1 backlog is here.
As our differentiating feature, chat will receive most emphasis.
Our goal is to ramp up user traction after v1. We’ll use unique Peer IDs as a proxy for active users. (TK: public dash, retention curves)
Another longer-term goal is to be sharding ready.

Many issues related to chat are already logged and labeled ‘chat’ or ‘group-chat’ in status-react.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll determine the agenda for our planning call based on the response this post receives.

cc @andrey @maciej @hester @yenda @vitaliy @cammellos @pedro @adam @Tetiana @sergii

maciej · October 7, 2019, 10:39am

Cool beans! Here’s my chat themed list, very roughly prioritised from the top

Images Github • Figma

Mentions GitHub • Figma

A proper Mark as read / unread counter. GitHub

Message reactions /w SNT reactions GitHub • Framer prototype

Introduce a dedicated Notifications view, in-app notifications Figma

Editing messages Figma

Forwarding messages Figma

Friend-to-friend content discovery Discuss

Saving messages you compose as ‘Drafts’ GitHub

Revisit the UI for creating a new Private, Public chat

Update the message styling Figma

Redesign the Commands CLI to a GUI Figma

Update the group chat system messages, maybe personalise their copy similar to Discuss for added sass. Figma

Update the Group Chat profiles Figma

Update unread badge counters to increase the cap from one digit to three

Animate sending messages GitHub

Add more sounds to chat?

Improvements to code formatting, inline quotes?

Self destructing private messages, are these possible at all with the current protocol?

also

…Tribute to Talk?

hester · October 8, 2019, 3:27am

Some additions to these awesome features by @maciej, especially regarding onboarding users.

Improve on the profile sharing experience and inviting friends. The current web2 accessible page is ok, not great and can be expanded. As a non-Status user, having the first intro be the Whisper ID can be intimidating. Would also be great to have a ‘find me on Status’ signifier aka twitter handle or WeChat ID.
Next to that I’m hopeful there’s a way to pass on more invite information post-download to easily connect to the person who sent you the invite.

Related to this:

Contact requests that could also trigger a push notification. It’s too easy to miss new people starting a chat as notifications rely on being in one’s trusted contact list. Afaik.
Account ‘gifting’ something like sending a contact request with a key, locking a gift in an escrow and only an account that has access to the key sent in the contact request can release the funds.
Any investigation into managing multiple chains and identities. Basically what would a window in window based navigation could connect to and if there are opportunities for a gradual transition in the current navigation.

Ideally we also include a ‘buffer feature’ to manage strong requests emerging from user feedback post V1 release.

andmironov · October 8, 2019, 10:29am

Heya, great stuff @maciej. Looking forward to SNT message reactions in particular
Here are some of my thoughts on what should be added and improved.

Better send transaction flow

Video: Dropbox - address.mov - Simplify your life

WIP in Figma https://www.figma.com/file/XUehMnhyD1FGcWzvGz6SXqvh/Mobile-wallet?node-id=3158%3A32526

Better transaction overview

Figma https://www.figma.com/file/XUehMnhyD1FGcWzvGz6SXqvh/Mobile-wallet?node-id=3869%3A36442

Better settings

Figma https://www.figma.com/file/bPS9GrvMr7LnH7vnkmuveQfd/Settings?node-id=576%3A0

Simple account switching

Better seed phrase backup and confirmation

Video: Dropbox - backup.mov - Simplify your life

Simple transaction signing for smaller amounts of SNT/ETH
To enable great features like SNT message reactions and other powerful SNT utility use-cases we have to make it really easy to send up to ~100SNT.

Fix navigation issues
Sometimes right edge-swipe does not do the same thing as tapping on “<” which leads to bad UX not matter how good the featureas are made. Github: Redesign Back, swipe-to-the-left and hardware device Back buttons to align the behavior · Issue #8940 · status-im/status-mobile · GitHub
Here’s one more nav issue: Tap on “inner” screen icon to go back to the “main” screen or scroll to top Github: Tap on "inner" screen icon to go back to the "main" screen or scroll to top · Issue #8885 · status-im/status-mobile · GitHub

hester · October 8, 2019, 12:04pm

+1! Configuring account contracts. Thanks for adding that one @andmironov🙏

rachel · October 11, 2019, 8:34am

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies, @maciej @hester and @andmironov.

Here’s what’s on my mind in terms of broad objectives, with a few points to illustrate. I’d like to:

Make chat more friendly and engaging

Onboard new users warmly

Consider the user’s first experience of Status: diversify the public chat selection & build community within, funnel users into a welcome chat, etc. (can prob update for v1)
Revive chat commands for grassroots SNT distribution (possibly also v1)
Pull last N number of messages for public chats, rather than last 24 hours, so that chats are more likely to be populated

Bring chat to life, make it enjoyable

Image sending
Notifications overhaul
Mentions
In a parallel universe with one more UI engineer…more picks from @maciej’s list

Communicate effectively how Status works and what makes it unique

Full copy review
More opportunities for education within the app (education or FAQ chat? links to web copy? info tooltips? onboarding video?)

Remove blocks & barriers

Bandaid for bandwidth

Research into resource consumption & bandwidth—how violently averse will people be, what’s the source of the problem, how can we fix it for now?

Fix annoying UI

Check into syncing UI, esp on low connectivity
Control the sequence of pop-ups and warnings, e.g. mobile network syncing, notifications settings, etc., so they don’t feel so assaulting
Review fetching messages behavior
General UI clean up

Make user feedback collection a habit

Monitor usage via whisper analytics + install data
App store reviews
Quick & dirty observational studies for UI
Revive voting DApp for feature polling?

Improve development process through better test coverage

See notes here and here

Set community developers up for success (and ourselves for sanity) with docs

Use RFCs
Map logic
Diagram architecture
Continue with code documentation

Prepare for future tech changes: multichain readiness, Nimbus

See status-nim project

On a slightly longer timeline, I’d like to…

Help users build community within Status

Similar to @hester’s suggestion of gifting accounts…perhaps we create a set of Status-specific NFTs. You can gift one to a friend outside the app, and they redeem it on account creation. We could literally illustrate keys or tokens, something that communicates our uniqueness and says “you’re joining the privacy revolution.” Ricardo has some ideas about how to do this on our terms.

Improve identity

Universal login
Profile privacy controls

Clean up loose ends, “complete” existing features

Fixes to group chat
Additional account types for multiaccount - import watch only, import from seed, etc.

Make chat even greater

Creator side of sticker marketplace
Anti-spam/Tribute to Talk

Review EIP implementations

Use Ricardo’s doc to guide us

On an even longer timeline: gas abstraction, privacy enhancements (multi-chat, send via mixer, burner wallet for each DApp, etc.), Keycard POS integration, extensions revival, etc.

There’s so much more that I’m not mentioning, but user feedback will help us to determine what’s important.

Above all, I’d like to select the smallest and most manageable chunks of work from the top of our list, ship quickly, and collect feedback constantly.

rachel · October 11, 2019, 8:35am

Oh, and another thing I love is SNT reactions—that’s another great way to grassroots spread the distribution of SNT and welcome people in. Would like to better understand the work involved (thank you Andrei for including the simple transaction signing item).

hester · October 11, 2019, 11:13am

Fyi: Enigma is looking for wallets to integrate their mixer ‘Salad’. Could be an option to include it with limited effort. Does anyone have thoughts on whether close to what we’d need?

https://blog.enigma.co/salad-coin-mixing-with-enigma-1c565adee79c

andrey · October 15, 2019, 7:54am

my top 5 list

edited: bonus 0) Redesign the Commands CLI to a GUI Figma and Better send transaction flow WIP in Figma

passwordless accounts, using pincode or biometric for signing transactions
signing small (max amount is set in the settings) transaction without authentication
import/create keycard account into multiaccount
import accounts using seed, json file
separate accounts for dapps tabs

cammellos · October 15, 2019, 8:05am

I agree mostly with @maciej, especially because we will be launching v1 soon, I think we should focus on things that matter most for the users, and I have a feel that images, mentions (to a much lesser extent code highlighting, but I am biased), will be fairly important for user acquisition and retention, so I’d like them to see prioritized (likely post v1 I suppose)

oskarth · October 15, 2019, 8:45am

Performance:
Performance=UX. Vital for retention of users.

Bandwidth usage way too high for limited data plan · Issue #9081 · status-im/status-mobile · GitHub - TG ballpark
Message fetching after being offline takes way too long · Issue #9185 · status-im/status-mobile · GitHub - TG ballpark
ensure user/user-usage-bound, not network bound (i.e. can absorb order of magnitude or three user increase with similar perf)

Basic onboarding
Get people into public chats with a warm welcome asap

can be high touch
get people to add contacts as soon as possible (vital for retention, see various IM/social network studies)

Measure active users and retention curves

Set as weekly growth goal, feedback into 2 and outside-app experience
- make it crystal clear and failable, i.e. this week we made usage go up or not
then fix bottlenecks based on specific user feedback
high touch, talk to users and isolate number 1 or 2 prio
- bounty everything non-essential, i.e. not prio 1 or 2 from user feedback
- aim for short feedback cycles

rachel · October 15, 2019, 10:18am

It sounds like we have a good amount of alignment in here.

Warm, friendly welcome via smooth onboarding. Better, more engaging chat experience. Reduction of significant blockers like bandwidth consumption. These are some themes I’m hearing across many of these posts.

Additionally: polish specific UI elements, build on privacy as our main feature with increased settings and control, more robust account management…

And measurement/strong feedback mechanisms are a must in my book. Luckily I can shoulder much of that with relatively little dev time.

I’ll surface these objectives in the call later today. Thanks team!

bumerang007 · October 16, 2019, 3:47am

Hi, maybe I’m off topic, but there is a function that I like very much and very convenient: the setting to automatically delete messages in chat rooms 1: 1, for example, after 1 day, 3 days, 14 days and never delete. If possible, please add this feature.

ceri · October 16, 2019, 9:24am

Welcome @bumerang007!

rachel · October 16, 2019, 10:32am

The roadmap planning session is up on YouTube.

On the call, we discussed goals for the application after launch and went over potential objectives for the near future, which I extracted from this Discuss thread.

We spent some time discussing our personal drivers and blockers to using Status. This surfaced several more potential objectives, which we added to the list.

We then dot voted, as a group, on which objectives should receive the most focus after launch. Each core contributor was given 3 votes to allocate. 1 point = 1 vote from a contributor.

We’re now inviting other SNT holders and community members to give us their feedback on the objectives ranked by contributors on the call.

Give us a or to let us know how you feel about this order of priorities for v1.

1 - Make chat more enjoyable to use. This is about implementing standard chat features, such as image sending, notifications, or @ mentions. (11 points)

2 - Fix significant blockers to use. This requires us to improve on issues like network consumption, battery drainage, etc., as well aggravating UI issues. (5 points)

2 - Polish the UI. This is about improving UI responsiveness, as well as polishing specific features, e.g. seedphrase recovery. (5 points)

3 - Enable smoother transactions. This is about improving the Tx flow to be more in line with Andrei’s post, and could also apply to Tx history improvements. (4 points)

4 - Offer more robust account management. Completing multiaccount features such as ability to import from seed phrase. (3 points)

5 - Make it easier to build community in Status. Account gifting, easier profile sharing, etc. (3 points)

6 - Enhance user privacy through advanced controls. Ability to switch DApps per browser tab, etc. (2 points)

7 - Better desktop support. (2 points)

8 - Welcome new users warmly with smooth onboarding. (1 point)

9 - Build SNT utility. (1 point—worth mentioning that features laddering up to the above objectives can do this)

10 - Bring in additional functionality via extensions. (1 point)

11 - Make uniquness of Status understood. (0 points)

12 - Faster, more iterative release process. (0 points)

Given our team’s bandwidth, we will focus in on the top 3 objectives for now: make chat enjoyable to use, reduce significant blockers to use, and polish UI.

We’ll follow up with in-depth planning sessions to discuss the features & fixes that will drive these objectives in the next few weeks.

If you have specific features or improvements in mind that you would like to see considered, drop us a line!

jonathan · October 16, 2019, 10:46am

V1 is an incredible achievement all around. Messages send, transactions are secure, and browsing is simple.

To me, the most important next step, is obtaining basic feature parity with other messaging applications to make a genuine case for people to switch over to Status. Therefore, the top three items listed above seem like the logical order of priorities.

alexcg1 · October 17, 2019, 5:06am

Very much agreed on point one! Though re notifications, which provider would you use? I heard in the Town Hall that you might skip PNs for v1

alexcg1 · October 17, 2019, 7:30am

I like this from a privacy point of view. Having your phone searched at airports and having ALL your data be scraped is decidedly sub-optimal. Maybe a nuke all button too?

ceri · October 17, 2019, 8:56am

Welcome to discuss.status.im @alexcg1!

rachel · November 20, 2019, 4:44pm

Hello everyone. The core team’s votes are in for order of priority in what to ship after v1.

The top 5 items to make chat more enjoyable are:

@ mentions
Images in chat
Awesome push notifications for Android
A proper mark as read feature w/ unread message counter
Make Status a share target from other apps, e.g. web browser

For fixing significant blockers to use, our focus is in:

Optimizing battery consumption
Reducing network data consumption
Improving wallet fetching Tx history
UI performance, specifically on older Android devices, which can be laggy

We’re now in the process of working on written specs for each item above and welcome any feedback.

My wish is for the team to define the simplest MVP version of each feature, ship, and then iterate based on user feedback—before branching out to more new features.

I’d like for us to balance our time between these new features, and critical bugs/blockers (which will always take precedent). On Tuesday of next week, @Tetiana @sergii @andre and I will be discussing our post v1 release cadence and how often we’ll intend to ship.