Ask HN: Honesty vs simplicity: how honest should you be to your users?

Posted by amichail on Friday June 26, 2009 @02:56PM
from the ask-hn dept.

There is often a tradeoff between honesty and simplicity.

For example, in an iPhone puzzle app, you might tell the user that you are sending their score to the server.

But maybe you are doing more: the server may not trust the app and require a solution -- not just the score.

Telling the user that you are sending the solution to the server is also misleading, as the server may not store the solution (other than temporarily in a log perhaps) -- but use it only to check the score.

Explaining all this to the user is probably too much.

So what would you do in a situation like this?

Just say something that is close to the truth that is easy to understand?

( 5 comments | 3 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Honesty vs simplicity: how honest should you be... by noodle on Friday June 26, 2009 @02:58PM (#675895)

in my opinion, i'd give them multiple levels of information. give them a simple notice that they're submitting score information, and provide an option to view more detailed information if they wish.

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Re:Ask HN: Honesty vs simplicity: how honest should you be... by sharpn on Friday June 26, 2009 @03:59PM (#675991)

I agree, I'd suggest with Terms & Conditions there are: 1) people who don't read/skim them (the majority) 2) people who want all the details (a vocal minority) So if your T&C's state something like 'we may send puzzle data to our server, where it might be stored' & you also have an FAQ on your website with the full details that should satisfy both.

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Re:Ask HN: Honesty vs simplicity: how honest should you be... by TallGuyShort on Friday June 26, 2009 @03:56PM (#675985)

I would second this opinion. Anyone who cares about the detailed information surely understands the need for simplicity, and will only be annoyed if you're intentionally misleading.

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Re:Ask HN: Honesty vs simplicity: how honest should you be... by mooders on Friday June 26, 2009 @03:22PM (#675931)

What does the user care about? In your example, I guess they care about bandwidth usage and personal data. So in that light, I would inform them that a small amount of game-specific, non-personal info needs to be sent to the website (server is jargon, so should be avoided) to record the score.

My point is that as much info as the user cares about should be provided in a clear, accessible manner.

Where personal data and/or legal disclosure laws apply, then more transparency and info is better.

Unfortunately, it is not unnecessary to point out that all information of all types at all times should always be rigorously honest. If you're going to tell your users something, be truthful.

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Re:Ask HN: Honesty vs simplicity: how honest should you be... by Tichy on Friday June 26, 2009 @04:24PM (#676044)

Couldn't you say "send the result to the server", and it could mean both things without sounding too scary?

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