Workflows and Experimental Installers
Reducing barriers to entry with jpackage and UX research
I2P is testing new experimental installers for Windows and Mac users. Thanks to jpackage, there is now the ability to package everything needed to download and run the I2P software in one place.
The download/ install process is a very big pain point for people for many reasons. The obvious one is how many steps it requires. The others are trust and familiarity. At the moment, the process is about 30 clicks when including downloading Java, stepping through the installer, and then the set up wizard, and then setting up a browser to access the I2P network. Expectations for common or familiar download and install processes cannot be met.
The other issue is trust. Having to send a person away from the I2P site to download Java is a high risk move for retention. Downloading anything is a trust relationship, and asking a person to extend their threat surface is probably not going to lead to the adoption a project like I2P would like to have.
I tried the new experimental Mac installer, and it has reduced the amount of clicks from download to starting the router dramatically. It is also finally a familiar workflow. For reference, here is the entire process starting at the website. This is the process now:
Both experimental installers can be found here. At the moment the ability to handle updates is still being worked on. Stay up to date with dev discussions on r/i2p, zzz’s forum and watch for updates on I2P social platforms.
User Research
The download process on the project website has been reviewed and tested over the past month. The feedback has been very helpful to help further clarify the language and consider other ways to present information. The site still struggles with presenting unfamiliar terms and at times an overwhelming amount of information.
Here is a very good example. The word “dependency” itself in this context has a dependency on assuming that a person will understand that we are asking them to play privacy lego. Instead, we should say “ See the I2P Install Guide for support with setting up your router and browser.”
The download page itself is also confusing. Here is the Mac example:
It is very common to see just one button to click for a download. But here, it looks like there are many options. It is very confusing. Some of this may not have a solution yet, but we are working on a new UX to make this less overwhelming.
Next is the “Post Install Work” page that appears after choosing the download.
The biggest issue here is telling people to adjust their NAT/firewall if they can. The other is more unfamiliar language and asking for more configuration and time from the person to set up I2P.
The feedback included:
“what if I cannot do this and do not understand what this means?”
“will this have a negative affect on my ability to access the I2P network?”
“maybe this is not for me, and I will stop here”
“this is too much after the trouble of trying to navigate the language and all of the work so far. This might not be something that is not made for me to use”
“ I feel that this is doing things to my computer that I do not understand”
It is important to see these responses. We see how processes and language can alienate people. The changes being proposed over the next few weeks will focus on solving as many of the issues that have been raised as we can in order to make accessing and using I2P better for more people. The introduction of the new installer option will go a long way to make this process better, so help test that if you can and watch for updates for our workflows and guides!
