Simplifying things but protecting the user

In an effort to make the user experience eastouching-mobile-phoneier and faster, all websites and apps are continuously simplifying things: less confirmations, less data to give, less steps and buttons to click to activate an option, subscribe to a newsletter or join an online meeting. FXStreet is of course following this trend – and is working hard to implement these principles even more with our 3.0 version to be released next year – to be in tune with the needs of the users.

But we believe there are borders not to be crossed. You can not drive the users to make, in just one click, irreversible and massive actions by mistake or ignoring all the consequences. That’s what happened to our COO and Partner, Setxi Fernandez last night on LinkedIn app. Here is the story, that he published in a post on LinkedIn this morning.

We share it with you to make you aware of the risks of some apps, not only LinkedIn, and clicks you might regret. We also share it to denounce such a questionable way to make things (probably also with the hidden goal to increase users database). But we also share it with you in this blog to make a public statement that FXStreet will never cross this border: we believe some actions need no confirmation, while others definitely need, as it is the case of Setxi’s click in that more than unfortunate experience.

 

“Every single company says that they care about privacy and keep our data safe. But it is not only about standards and security checks. It is about having things well done and ask ourselves if every message sent on behalf of the user is needed. Care about if another message loop with this mate can bother enough to finally disconnect.

I’m pretty sure that this “invite all your contacts” button has been seen as a big success inside Linkedin. It probably has been gathering millions of new connections skyrocketing these KPI’s charts shown in every big guys meeting. Unfortunately there are no charts for quality in those reports. I feel as a simple % for the company. If there was a user anger chart beside every users growth one, I’m sure that there will be a nice correlation between them.

Linkedin was the place to find and curate professional relationships, but now my timeline is full of notifications I don’t care about, messages from parents of my kid’s school, new jobs and endorsements from people that I don’t even remember in companies that I never heard before.

And this “invite all your contacts” bulk button will make it worse.

Those that have received my last night message, my apologies. If you really think that our connection will be useful I will be happy to be in contact with you. I you don’t, probably you’re right.”

Setxi Fernandez, COO at FXStreet

in a post on LinkedIn

 

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