It was a quiet overcast Saturday morning. As I sipped my coffee and perused the Globe and Mail, I noticed I had a weekly roundup email from MacStories. One of the items was a teaser about a new feature in Unread, an RSS reader app I like:

Paul Stockton gave us a heads-up on a nice new feature coming to the RSS reader Unread .

I was intrigued. I saw that Reeder had just made a big splash this week with a new app release, so I wondered what my beloved Unread was up to.

  1. I click on the link in the email, but it takes me to the MacStories+ paywall. I find the small button to login, below the larger calls-to-action to sign up.
  2. I put in my email and wait 10 seconds for the Memberful magic login code email to arrive. Thankfully Apple has a feature where codes from these emails would automatically pop-up to be auto-filled in. It used to be that these “magic logins” required me to spelunk in my email app and find out which folder SaneBox sorted it in. I hate email-based magic logins. At least with this Apple feature to fill in the code for me they’re tolerable.
  3. I’m logged into MacStories+ on my iPhone, but I’m left at the homepage, no sign of my Unread content yet! I go back to the email and click the original link about the mysterious Unread feature again.
  4. Now I’m dumped at another MacStories+ club page, this time asking me whether I want to visit Discord via the web or via an app. The mention of Discord increases my pessimism about a speedy resolution, but I press the “web” button.
  5. I now have to log into Discord. In my first attempt I fumble because 1Password autofilled my Discord user name as my email. So I put in my email and try again.
  6. Discord is suspicious of this new login from someone who never really uses Discord. They have me check my email to approve the new login.
  7. Over in my Mail app, I find Discord’s email and approve it. I’m sent to a new Safari tab, which tell me I’m legitimate, but I need to find the original Safari tab to continue my journey into Discord.
  8. Over in Discord, where I’m now logged in, I try to find the MacStories channel. On the way, I’m shown a buch of bizzare views about Discord study clubs and exclusive themes. These views are a bit janky, likely because I’m viewing it on the web in mobile Safari and no one remembers to test Discord this way. At some point I realize I’m not a member of the MacStories Discord channel.
  9. I go back to the MacStories+ account pages and find the FAQ about Discord. There’s a link to join the Discord. I click it. I have to read a code of conduct and accept it, which I do. Then there’s directions to go into the Discord channel, find #rules and thumbs-up some message. Back in Discord on the mobile web and the layout continues to be broken with things overflowing and content unreadable. I give up and download the Discord app from the App store.
  10. I log into Discord on the Discord app. The 1Password login doesn’t initially show in the mobile keyboard, but once I enter my email it does. I hit sign in and confirm I’m a human. I’m told my login or password are invalid, which is odd because I’d just logged into Discord with those credentials. I realize it’s again because 1Password autofilled my username instead of my email address in the “login” field.
  11. A new login location detected! please check your email! This rodeo is familiar. I wonder if this is because of iCloud’s secure VPN feature? Anyways, I find the email and then I’m dumped into a new Safari tab. I’m left on my own wits to find the Discord app again.
  12. Discord is excited to see me. It wants me to choose a custom app icon. It also really wants me to turn on notifications.
  13. Brushing those Discord pop-ups aside, I find the MacStories+ channel. Whew. I tap on that. I get some welcoming text and I’m let to fill out a three-part questionnaire. At last this brings me to the #rules. I read and accept all the community rules. Ok, I think we’re finally set up.
  14. I find that original email again and tap on the link about the new feature in Unread.
  15. At last, I’m linked to the exact message in Discord! It works!
  16. I find out the feature is related to an integration with an app I don’t use.

Fair enough.

In one light, this was annoying because the teaser in the MacStories email could have given me just a tiny bit more context to tell me whether the next 20 minutes of account wrangling would be worth it.

It also don’t hold MacStories to blame for wasting my time. For them, and their readers who already have the Memberful login cookie in their browser and have already signed up for the Discord, that link really would have been a split-second content load rather than a hilarious quest.

But it does serve as a good reminder for platform operators (of which I count myself through my day job that not all of your users are super fans and that if they just want to get a tiny thing done, making them do a lot of set up isn’t necessarily reasonable. Making account sign ups, logins, and set ups as seamless as possible is incredibly important. No one wants to think about choosing a custom Discord app icon when all they really wanted to do was follow a link in a newsletter.