We have previously introduced IPFS's research on mobile design. As Protocol Labs clearly knows, IPFS, as a content-addressed, versioned, peer-to-peer hypermedia transmission protocol, focuses on desktop and server-level hardware, but mobile devices have made important contributions to the booming development of the Internet over the past decade. Therefore, research on IPFS mobile design began as early as November 2019. Click on the image to see the research on IPFS mobile design Today, we will mainly look at the results of the IPFS mobile design research. For IPFS to be successful, it has to be where people are using it, and for the vast majority of people around the world who use smartphones. In the introductory post, we laid out the purpose of the project to provide the foundation for successful IPFS applications by understanding how people build, use, and think about P2P and IPFS on mobile devices today, and then publishing tools to guide the next wave of successful mobile app builders. In the first phase of our work, we conducted preliminary research and analysis, including qualitative interviews, technical and interaction method investigations. We are now ready to publish the results of that research! Below is a brief summary of the survey results. You can read the full survey results and detailed research on the IPFS Mobile Design Guidelines website. We surveyed the two most commonly used mobile browsers, Chrome for Android and Safari for iOS. Neither browser has native P2P functionality, but we surveyed them to understand where mobile users go first on the Internet and how they think about sharing with the Internet.
Sharing files on mobile is a very common activity for all range of users, but the type of files shared varies from desktop to desktop. We chose sharing photos as an interaction method to study on Android and iOS. This is to get a clear picture of how mobile users get files from their phone to another device. We then tested a variety of publicly released mobile P2P applications. This was to understand previous approaches to designing and developing mobile P2P applications. The applications explored in the survey were spread across three main usage areas: messaging, publishing, and community boards. From this we learned what features, interface components, and design patterns are currently used in mobile P2P designs to provide a basis for future designs of IPFS. After a thorough review, we found some interesting approaches covering several shared core areas: Apps vary widely in how they handle onboarding and user education. Users are generally made aware of the impact of sharing on privacy and connectivity. Identity and account management vary, ranging from typical email logins and passwords to key and seed phrase recovery. We found that status and notifications about connection, syncing, and downloading status were missing. We found many cases where users could also connect to others and send files without confirmation. Generally, there is no consistent method of sharing. The main sharing methods are through torrent applications or through messaging, directly to users or community boards. Anonymous file-sharing web applications better handle privacy issues using links and QR codes. To find other chat users, features range from public discovery to a vague invite method.
User research starts with creating hypotheses. We gather this information by talking to IPFS stakeholders and conducting workshops. These hypotheses form interviews with experts, early adopters, or potential users. In the interviews, the experts expressed concerns about many potential user issues, such as battery life and signal. They did not yet have widespread user feedback to validate this, and spoke of the need to expand the user base. Identity was particularly emphasized as essential for both users and developers. There was also an assumption that users concerned about privacy and security would find P2P useful. We also found that offline-first is an important trend, but difficult to drive. Design was also mentioned in the interviews, pointing out that Dropbox and AirDrop are the gold standards for file sharing. Finally, they highlighted status and notifications as areas that need consideration and further work. Early adopters believe that users should always know what's going on. The app will provide notifications to users, but notifications shouldn't be overwhelming. Early adopters believe that privacy and security are critical, but overall, navigating privacy and security options is difficult even for advanced users. They emphasize that file management, security, permissions, and backups are critical. It's less important who owns the final or original file of interest. Most mentioned single sign-on (SSO) as a good thing but complicated to manage. Finally, most mentioned cloud services, like Dropbox, are easy to use but not trustworthy. Potential users show great diversity in the types of media files they use and share. They all understand P2P as a concept, but are not aware of its applications. Battery and signal strength are important issues, but only when they are lacking. Many ignore identity management, thinking it is something they should do. All the cloud services (such as Dropbox and Google Drive) are considered stable and reliable. People are concerned about their longevity and their true intentions in the business model. In the next phase, we will develop and publish tools for designers, implementers, and builders, including design advice for implementing and using IPFS on mobile devices. This will take the form of use cases, interaction design patterns, and interface component designs. All of this will be published for the community to use and inform the next wave of application builders using IPFS or other P2P protocols. As IPFS usage grows and expands beyond desktop and server computers, this knowledge will also be used to inform our core protocol design. As IPFS matures and the community grows, we need to take a hard look at how to engage users. The IPFS Mobile Design Guide will bridge the gap between core developer user needs and the many builders of applications and services. The design guide will unify ideas and best practices, providing the necessary component, interaction, and interface design frameworks, and look forward to our next article, which will be released soon. For more information about IPFS and Filecoin, and for friends who want to participate in Filecoin mining, you can add Kuangge on WeChat (WeChat ID: kuangge2018). |
