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Summary

None of the users had serious problems using the prototype, due to already having knowledge of what Liquity is about. This means that they trust the information being provided as long as it meets their mental model (i.e. based on their experience of the beta version of the site, and what they know about Liquity in general).

“It's pretty simple, it’s not too crazy in terms of workflow which is good” (User 5)

“It feels less risky because I don’t need to worry about interest rates moving up against me.” (User 1)

“It’s a way for a user to store stable assets without the fear of centralization or fear of confiscation. It’s very very useful.” (User 3)

However, almost all had questions at critical points in the flows which are points of friction for these users (they may leave the flow to find the information they need), or major stumbling blocks for new users who have no previous knowledge about Liquity.

For new users, trust will be low, and encountering new concepts at critical stages of the flow will mean that some users drop-off.

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LANDING PAGE AND CONNECTING

This is a useful place for education for new users. However more advanced DeFi users tend not to read, they will just click.
Consider aiming this page to support learning for new users, addressing some of the questions they will likely have further along the flow.
Multiple users mentioned that they knew there was a fee but that this wasn’t communicated on the landing page.
Connecting a wallet is basic knowledge for all defi users, and this page could be removed, with educational content moved to the landing page.

“See demo is kind of interesting. If it’s just a video, I’d rather see the video right here, not a CTA.” (User 1)

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DASHBOARD

The information provided on the dashboard works well for advanced users. It is felt to be sufficient, there was nothing significant missing.

“Okay I like it so far. I don’t have an obvious improvement” (User 2)

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DASHBOARD ISSUES

Users are unclear how the USD value of tokens in their balance has been calculated
It's not clear to the users what is data they need to act upon.

Users would benefit from better hand-holding, advising them on what action to take that best suits their holdings/position

Users want to know that other people are using the platform. Understanding that others are using it will build trust.
Users did not understand the various icons. They would likely click to discover what they are, but making these clear will increase confidence.

“I would learn by clicking.” (User 2)
However, it gets more serious when users click the ‘X’ thinking they are collapsing the information, and instead get taken to a ‘Close Trove’ path, which will make them hurriedly backtrack and lose confidence.

It was not always clear to users what information in the System Stats was important to them, what the numbers meant in terms of health of the system, or how the numbers relate to one another.
Some terminology was not understood, e.g. issuance fee. Users wondered if this is a fee to them.
Users didn’t understand what the percentage in brackets next to their rewards meant.
No one was able to guess what ‘Redeem LUSD to ETH’ would do if clicked.
Users will definitely hover/click on tool tips, so make sure these are communicating to users clearly.

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OPENING A TROVE

This journey was straightforward for users.

Some of the UI elements work well to help users feel informed

The 3-step progress bar
Seeing the address of their connected wallet

Multiple users felt that it made sense to have the deposit amount first, and the borrow amount below as this fits their mental model.
Similarly, users would like to know what constitutes high medium and low risk.

One user suggested being able to press a button to see what low risk with their deposited ether looks like. “Is there a way to have the risk bar with a marking so I could just hit Low and the fields would autofill?” (User 5)

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OPENING A TROVE SUMMARY

Users spent a lot of time thinking on all the summary pages they came across.

It’s important to remove friction on this page to help people complete the transactions and stop them abandoning the process.

Some terminology felt new to them, e.g. “1% of your draw”
Gas deposit. Most users stumbled on this.

“Interesting. I’d need an explainer what this means” (User 1)
“Gas deposit is something I don’t know about” (User 3)

When users get to the Terms, they have questions about normal mode vs recovery mode, and what redemptions are.

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STAKING FLOW

Percentage Staked and Your Share graphs will be helpful to users but we would need to retest with close-to-real data.
The return on investment bar was not well understood

“This return on investment bar is kind of confusing. Is it supposed to be a percentage or a health bar? Aave has a health factor.” (User 5)

For some users, it is not clear what their expected returns on staking will be. It’s called Fee Revenue, but this language does not resonate.

One user got to the end of the staking flow and thought they had missed all the information about staking rewards.

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STABILITY POOL FLOW

Users see Kickback for the first time here, and want more information about it and what the yellow indicates.
Expected rewards information is helpful.
Another language issue. Users associate liquidation as being a negative thing.

“Interesting there’s something about liquidations here, and I need an explainer why liquidations bring value to me, because it sounds scary, so why is it a good thing to see it here?” (User 1)

Again, users did not understand what the bars represent, and whether the colour of the bars has any meaning.

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HISTORY

Users really appreciate a way to view the history of their platform transactions.

However

Users felt the timeline working from recent to oldest did not make sense to them.
The graphical representation of the different actions along with the description of each action was hard to parse. It wasn’t clear to them what was good news or bad news, or what was coming in or going out.

“How do I gain and lose money at the same time by liquidations?” (User 4)

Users will need a way to download their history

“For tracking performance, benchmarking and taxes.” (User 5)

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POTENTIAL BLOCKERS TO USE

Gas fees
Trust. Users want to know the smart contract has been audited, or be able to view it themselves.

“The first thing I’m looking for is a sense of trust in the protocol… If I put money into one protocol, I need to be able to assess the risk and if the protocol is well established then it’s easier for me to gain trust. If not I have to manually look at the smart contract, and I’d rather an auditor do it. There are a lot of alternatives, so it’s easier to go to a protocol that gives me 1-2% less over the year but gives me less headaches.” (User 5)

Reassurance around liquidations and how this might affect them.
Having to have LQTY token beforehand.

“That adds an extra step. Having to get LQTY. I don't want to have to go out to find it on uniswap beforehand. (User 5)

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QUESTIONS FROM USERS

A couple of users wondered whether its possible to have multiple Troves open at the same time, for Barbell/yield farming strategies
Users were unclear why they had to spend LQTY to withdraw rewards
Users want to know how they can easily redeposit rewards into the stability pool, so that they are compounding their returns.

Other notes

One user noted that another project, Linear Finance, is using “LUSD”
Multiple users felt that they needed to try it longer to have a sense of whether this will work for them. How can we help users feel confident in potential outcomes before they commit their funds?

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