Some random things I'm thinking about while I'm still "taking time off":
The follow action on Mastodon needs to be sped up. I think there's room for some optimization server-side, but also just removing the loading bar and adding "lag compensation". Similarly, it might help to remove the global loading bar for a profile's toots, and display a local loading indicator there instead. Opening a profile feels too slow to me. Emphasis on feels, it's about impressions, not actual timing.
I'm also thinking about a new user's path. We require e-mail confirmation before you can login. That's necessary to prevent spam and trolls. But what if you would immediately be logged in after sign up, but couldn't post or follow before confirming the e-mail? Perhaps that would be better?
The "welcome" screen looks like a modal window, and a lot of people seem to skip it instinctively. What if it was actually a full page? Also, the contents of it really need to be revised.
Trying to figure anything out about the welcome screen is frustrating. From feedback, most new people actually just fully skip it. And while "no tracking" is sweet in terms of ethics and privacy, it means there's no way for me to know how people interact with that screen, especially people who do not stick around and therefore would not even respond to a toot like this.
The current welcome screen goes over these things in this order:
1. Hi, here is what your username is with the domain part
2. This is what the compose part is, and what options you generally have
3. These are the different timelines you can see
4. Here is who your admin is
And while that's kind of useful information (varying degrees of) it feels like it's missing a narrative in some way, something like "how do I make this place useful for myself"
