I think my anecdotal experience with getting casual users to switch to Element might be helpful to you:
I am a member of a social group that varies widly in age and technical experience. When I tried switching two of our members over to Element, I noticed them quickly growing upset with the app because the found it to be missing key features they expected like easily recording audio messages or the visual seperation of messages that are more than a few minutes apart.
From my personal experience with switching people from one chat app to another, people expect a replacement app to:
1. have 1:1 feature parity with the app it's replacing,
2. display all the information they've grown to rely upon,
3. and both feel and work like the app it's replacing. (even cosmetic things like text bubbles and larger font sizes)
Failing the first two points lead to the immediate dismissal of the app. Failing the last point is seen as a deficiency in the new app. Inversely, succeeding in all three leads to smooth adoption. It is why all my group is using telegram right now instead of whatsapp.
I'll have another go at switching my group to Element when/if the app gains the ability to send audio messages, but without Element looking and feeling similar its compition, I'm skeptical of my chances to succeed.
By the way, I really like Matrix and appreciate the hard work and care you're putting into this project. Thank you and keep up the good work.
I am a member of a social group that varies widly in age and technical experience. When I tried switching two of our members over to Element, I noticed them quickly growing upset with the app because the found it to be missing key features they expected like easily recording audio messages or the visual seperation of messages that are more than a few minutes apart.
From my personal experience with switching people from one chat app to another, people expect a replacement app to:
1. have 1:1 feature parity with the app it's replacing, 2. display all the information they've grown to rely upon, 3. and both feel and work like the app it's replacing. (even cosmetic things like text bubbles and larger font sizes)
Failing the first two points lead to the immediate dismissal of the app. Failing the last point is seen as a deficiency in the new app. Inversely, succeeding in all three leads to smooth adoption. It is why all my group is using telegram right now instead of whatsapp.
I'll have another go at switching my group to Element when/if the app gains the ability to send audio messages, but without Element looking and feeling similar its compition, I'm skeptical of my chances to succeed.
By the way, I really like Matrix and appreciate the hard work and care you're putting into this project. Thank you and keep up the good work.