It says a lot about the state of the Polkadot user interface when I say that I have been really putting off the claiming of all the crowdloan tokens that I have waiting around for me for supporting various parachain auctions on Polkadot. I know that the tokens are there waiting to be claimed... but I just can't bring myself to sit down and spend time doing it. Why is that? Because the interface is poop... and there isn't a single clear method for doing it if you contributed via the Polkadot substrate frontend.... each project seems to have their own way of doing it, and none of it seems to be linked out or documented easily from the main substrate front end! ARRHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!!!
For instance, to claim the Efinity (EFI) tokens, you have to somehow find your way to console.enjin.io via some blog post or twitter link... and there are so many scams these days, it is really hard to know what to trust! I only got around to it, as Efinity was going to be migrating to the Enjin blockchain... so, the project is effecting dumping the concept of parachains on the Polkadot ecosystem... so, I guess that isn't really a vote of confidence in the Polkadot vision!
More annoyingly, I had to hunt down a small mention in the Clover documentation that referred to the apps-ivy.clover.finance frontend for interacting with and receiving Clover tokens. Yep, again... not really an obvious place to find things. Well, perhaps a logical place... but on the other hand, something clear and obvious on their website would have been more handy!
So, I'm all for decentralisation and all of that... but there is a point when it is just lack of care. Most people interacting with Polkadot would be most familiar with the Substrate and Polkadot.js frontend... and frankly horrified by the lack of user consideration in presenting raw data and actions.
When projects are competing for a parachain slot in an auction, there is always a link to their homepage... however, when the parachain slot is won... there is no information at all! Not even a link to their webpage... or more handily, a link to their substrate frontend! This would be the logical and most trustworthy place to put that sort of critical information.
Or at the very least, when using the parachain switcher... to switch to the right bloody thing... and not something that doesn't seem to have any link to the project version of their parachain! It is also quite possible that I'm doing something wrong... but I'm a relatively technical user and sort of familiar with crypto/blockchain... and if I'm struggling to figure this out in a decent amount of time and with a good deal of frustration... then this is not going to bode well for mass adoption.
Anyway, I do have to chase up at least another 10 parachain tokens... I'm really really hoping that the rest are not going to be as painful as these last two... but I'm really not holding out much hope for that being true.
I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x
Handy Crypto Tools
Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
WooX: The centralised version of WooFi. Stake WOO for fee-free trades and free withdrawals!
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
KuCoin: I still use this exchange to take part in the Spotlight and Burning Drop launches.
