While I have talked about user interfaces in the past, I have failed to describe something that perhaps is infinitely more important than the interface itself. The product that you deliver to the customer actually isn't important at all. What is important is the way that product makes them feel.
I haven't felt this way in awhile
The user experience is the most important area of focus that a developer should be considering during the creation of some product. Because at the end of day, a product's success is determined by whether or not people use it and enjoy their experience with it enough to continue returning. When you hear things like "X has a user retention problem", then there is an issue with the user experience.
While interfaces are very important in crafting this experience, underlying mechanics also shape how the user is connected to the product they are using. But what matters more than either of these things is that users "feel good" when they engage with the information or process that they interact with.
I enjoy doing hard things and getting little reward for it. I also enjoy writing down my ideas and exploring these ideas through text. In high school, I wrote ideas down with no intention of anyone reading them or getting money from it or gaining influence. Given the current ecosystem, it makes sense why I'm attracted to a platform like Steem.
However, I'm a quirky individual and have a bit of a contrarian streak when it comes to doing things. Things actually don't need to be that engaging or interesting to give me a good user experience. But a large majority of people don't seek to create their experiences, but want them delivered to them on a silver platter.
That doesn't mean that they don't have to work towards something within the experience itself. It just means that the builder of such an application needs to focus on creating an experience that is fulfilling in it of itself.
Unfortunately, we're clearly not even remotely close in this realm of thinking. While money can factor into these sorts of things (because who doesn't like money?), it is certainly is not the most important thing. It's the feeling that come from a particular experience that means the most to people. There's a reason people pay for these sorts of things.
But upvote services and fancier versions of Steemit don't really provide a valuable enough experience to the novel user. Sure, it may "feel good" to make easy money, but at the end of the day, most users don't feel that this particular experience is worthy of the time and effort that they need to put into it for it to work.
This doesn't necessarily mean that they are lazy. It means that they would rather spend their time searching for more valuable experiences for themselves. Even if they have to pay for them. As much as I hate collectible card games, Steem Monsters is at least focusing on some aspect of this. This is the direction that developers need to move in.
Fancy algorithms and distribution schemes mean very little to the common man who is simply looking for an experience that is worthy of their time. Instead of pretending that everyone is an investor or even a content creator (or even content consumer), we need to focus on the user experience.
Because apparently the user experience is rather garbage to non-masochists like myself. If it wasn't people wouldn't be leaving. They would be bringing their friends and coming back for more.