Day 45: Polish Day
Easter weekend, family time, low-energy days. The kind of day where you don't ship a big feature, but you fix all the small things that have been bugging you for weeks.
The Insecure Mode Banner
Most of today was finishing the security branch I've been working on — the warning banner I designed back on Day 36 to address my stomach ache about weakened security defaults during first-time setup. The technical work was done a few days ago. Today was about getting the words right.
"Without HTTPS" became "not secured." Technical accuracy traded for user comprehension. Most people don't know what HTTPS is, but everyone understands "not secured."
"Configure TLS" became "Encrypt traffic." Same idea. Tell users what they get, not what the technology is called.
And in Smithers' personality file, I removed all the HSTS references. It was confusing — Smithers shouldn't lecture users in jargon they don't recognize. If the UI says "not secured," Smithers should too.
Information Architecture
Moved the Security settings tab to the end of the settings list. Sounds trivial, but it's the right call: security setup is one-time work. You configure it once, lock the domain, and never touch it again. It doesn't belong next to Profile and Provider, which are daily-use settings.
This is the kind of detail nobody asks for in user research, but everybody notices when it's wrong.
Domain Lock UX
Also added the auto-restart and loading overlay flow for the domain lock feature. When you lock Pinchy to a specific domain, the server needs to restart to enforce it. Instead of leaving the user staring at a frozen page, there's now a loading overlay with a clear "restarting, please wait" state. And on unlock, the same flow with a restart notice — because if you change your domain or move servers, you need a smooth way out.
Day 45
Easter weekend. Polish work. The small details that don't make headlines but make the product feel right. Sometimes that's exactly what a low-energy day needs.