[tor-project] sajolida's report, September 2024

Hi,

September was again more busy than average to respect the timeline of Project 101 (Tor VPN) and Tails releases.

Tor VPN

···

=======

- I analyzed the usability test of Tor VPN 0.6.2 that I did in August.

   Usability testing of Tor VPN pre-alpha (#69) · Issues · The Tor Project / UX / Research · GitLab

   In short, the usability of Tor VPN 0.6.2 is decent when people don't
   need to use a bridge, but very bad when Tor is blocked. None of the
   participant managed to use a bridge on their own.

   The main issues are unclear system status and confusing network model.

   Quotes:

   “Tor is like a bridge.“ — P5

   “I'm looking for bridges that make it like if I were in
   Switzerland.“ — P4

   “It should say: You are being blocked! With Tor you can bypass
   this censorship using a bridge.“ ­— P6

   Summary of findings:

https://gitlab.torproject.org/-/project/92/uploads/1fba8220a110622d852bf4486c139538/P101_Usability_testing_of_Tor_VPN_0.6.2.pdf

   List of all issues:

   https://nc.torproject.net/s/fXbRYw76pTXJZym

   Video clips:

   Login – Nextcloud

- I created GitLab issues to document the most severe issues:

   Improve feedback while "Connecting"
   Improve feedback while "Connecting" (#181) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Clarify connection status on all screens
   Clarify connection status on all screens (#182) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Allow changing exit location from Configure menu
   Allow changing exit location from Configure menu (#185) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Improve discoverability of the list of countries
   Improve discoverability of the list of countries (#186) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Clarify what can be tapped in the Bridges screen
   Clarify what can be tapped in the Bridges screen (#187) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Remove the need to press Enter when entering a bridge line
   Remove the need to press Enter when entering a bridge line (#188) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Clarify which bridge is being used (eg. after Bridge Bot)
   Clarify which bridge is being used (eg. after Bridge Bot) (#189) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Improve discoverability of the circuit view
   Improve discoverability of the circuit view (#190) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Allow configuring only a single bridge
   Allow configuring only a single bridge (#193) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Rethink how the different relays are named
   Rethink how the different relays are named (#194) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Clarify just enough about the network model
   Clarify just enough about the network model (#195) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Don't allow changing exit location unless already connected
   Don't allow changing exit location unless already connected (#196) · Issues · The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab

   Report loss of connectivity to the Tor network
   Report loss of connectivity to the Tor network (eg. when changing network) (#110) · Issues · The Tor Project / Core / onionmasq · GitLab

- I started brainstorming solutions to all of these issues with Duncan
   and the rest of the UX team.

Tails

I wrote some documentation to help users with recent issues:

- Shim SBAT verification error (#20471)

   Tails - Tails 6.7

- Provide fsck from Welcome Screen when the file system of the
   Persistent Storage is corrupted (#15451)

   Draft: Support repairing Persistent Storage filesystem (!1586) · Merge requests · tails / tails · GitLab

   This one was a LOT of work to figure out which data forensics path we
   should recommend to users and document the main ones step-by-step.

--
sajolida
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