

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

There is often a tradeoff between honesty and simplicity.<p>For example, in an iPhone puzzle app, you might tell the user that you are sending their score to the server.<p>But maybe you are doing more:  the server may not trust the app and require a solution -- not just the score.<p>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.<p>Explaining all this to the user is probably too much.<p>So what would you do in a situation like this?<p>Just say something that is close to the truth that is easy to understand?
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noodle
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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sharpn
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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mooders
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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Tichy
Couldn't you say "send the result to the server", and it could mean both
things without sounding too scary?

