Vitalik Buterin Discusses How Ethereum Could Enhance User Experience

Ethereum has been facing a host of challenges lately, with the network experiencing issues such as high transaction fees, payment delays, and a poor user interface. According to Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, the solution to these problems lies in improving the user experience.

In a recent blog post, Buterin recounted his personal experience with the Ethereum network, which was less than satisfactory.

He highlighted the difficulties he faced when trying to pay for tea in Argentina in 2021, where the minimum deposit was higher than the value of the tea. Despite his attempt to complete the transaction with a higher amount, he ended up overpaying for the product three times.

Even in 2022, Buterin’s troubles continued as he faced long transaction delays and high gas fees, which made it difficult to process transactions. He noted that most users do not understand the gas limits required for their transactions, which results in frequent errors and a poor user experience.

To improve the Ethereum network’s user experience, Buterin suggested implementing simple-and-robust user interfaces rather than fancy-and-sleek ones. He also advocated for default values for gas limits to be improved, making it easier for users to process transactions without errors.

Furthermore, Buterin discussed the issue of payment delays, which can be frustrating for many users. Despite efforts to improve the situation through the EIP-1559 update, the risk of rejection of many transactions due to spikes in fees remains a challenge.

He noted that even expert users can experience significant losses due to this problem, as wallet UIs are not optimized for showing such information.

The Brave wallet team listened to Buterin’s suggestions and increased the maximum base fee, resulting in an improved user interface and experience.

However, he highlighted the need for more improvements to be made, especially in southern countries, where many people still choose centralized solutions instead of decentralized alternatives.