software-store-developers team mailing list archive

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Hi folks

At David Pitkin's request, this week I reviewed the Ubuntu Software
Center purchase process, and found many things that could be fixed to
help people buy software more easily, or make the process more
trustworthy.

Some of these bugs had been reported already. Some are in USC itself.
Some in the Canonical SSO Provider. Some in the payment service. And a
couple in Debconf and PolicyKit.

(The timestamps are for a screencast I made of the purchase.
Unfortunately I can't publish that, because I don't know of any
convenient way on Ubuntu to black out my credit card details, which
moved around as I scrolled through the payment interface.)

0:24 List view doesn't show price
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/917220

0:30 Purchasable item doesn't show version
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/833877

0:31 Purchasable item doesn't show total size
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/911215

0:38 Spinner doesn't show above "Connecting to payment service..."
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/917235

0:42 Single sign on page doesn't look secure
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/637649

0:42 Sign-on page looks a bit like it requires a Launchpad account
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/844879

0:42 "or go back to Ubuntu Software Center" doesn't make sense
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920106

0:42 "Are you new?" is not visible with small windows
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/917243

0:42 "New account" looks insensitive
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920046

0:46 All SSO pages are badly aligned
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920056

0:46 "Create an Ubuntu Single Sign On account" page has a broken image
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920067

1:00 Password unhelpfully requires an upper case letter
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920087

1:14 Buying software requires entering a captcha
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/903762

1:22 "Type the two words" is repeated
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920100

1:40 Form error text is formatted identically to link text
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920102

2:25 SSO/purchase UI text is selectable inside USC
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920098

3:39 "Continue" without confirmation code asks for your e-mail address
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920105

4:05 "Select your preferred payment method" is oddly laid out
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920108

4:11 Needless clicks from separate payment method and purchase forms
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920111

4:11 Payment form looks like a Web page
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/637451

4:11 "Current payment information" heading seems unnecessary
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920117

4:11 "Quantity" and "Total" shown when only one item can be purchased
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920114

4:20 "Review Payment" is clickable when you've entered no details
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920122

4:21 "The operation could not be performed" message is stuffy
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/833940

4:22 Initial error message isn't horizontally aligned
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920125

4:34 "This field is required" is vertically misaligned for menus
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920147

5:04 "Country" menu can't be closed with the keyboard
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920152

- -:-- Obviously invalid card number isn't flagged until "Review Payment"
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920155

5:52 "CCV number" isn't explained
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/634311

6:43 "Processing your request" and "Information received" are disturbing
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920164

6:54 PolicyKit in guest session asks for "the super user"
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920174

7:00 Button still says "Buy..." after cancelling purchase installation
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920168

7:33 Software item screen and "Installed" hang after purchase
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/917116

8:14 Purchase can be blocked on Debconf window behind USC window
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/652874

8:16 Debconf window is ugly
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920186

8:16 Debconf window asks a question with a checkbox
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/177819

8:18 Debconf explains too late that a purchase installation is cancelled
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/920189

11:20 USC doesn't launch for a non-admin if there are any private PPAs
     http://launchpad.net/bugs/852003

Substantial things I didn't try:
- -   paying by Paypal
- -   all the Cancel-type links (e.g. <http://launchpad.net/bugs/916066>)
- -   all the header/footer links on the sign-in/pay pages.

Cheers
- -- 
mpt
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