User Trust and Upgradeability
Thinking aloud about user communication and version control in on-chain systems.
Note:
I’m not currently building anything that end users interact with on-chain.
My time is spent elsewhere right now, but these are conceptual notes — things I want to keep in mind for when I eventually build production-facing programs.
1. The Core Question
How do we change or extend on-chain logic without breaking user trust?
Once a program is live, users implicitly assume:
- their deposits and state behave as promised,
- upgrades won’t alter past behavior, and
- any new logic is opt-in, not forced.
Trust lives at the interface boundary, not inside the opcode.
2. Engineering Patterns
| Pattern | What It Does | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
Versioned programs (Escrow_v1, v2, v3) | Deploy new binaries under new IDs. | Makes change explicit; preserves immutability of prior versions. |
| Upgrade authority / multisig | Keep upgrades under controlled keys at first. | Enables rapid iteration while still auditable. |
| Opt-in migrations | Users sign a “migrate” instruction to move state to the new program. | Ensures agency; no silent state changes. |
| Immutable legacy contracts | Freeze old programs once funds are withdrawn. | Guarantees that previous logic cannot mutate retroactively. |
| Schema adapters | Small functions that read old account data and re-serialize for new schema. | Smooths transitions without manual user work. |
3. Communication Patterns
| UX Practice | Description | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Plain-language release notes | Summarize what changed and why. | Reduce perceived risk of upgrade. |
| In-app prompts | “A new version is available — migrate now or stay on v1.” | Give clear, binary choices. |
| Audit or diff summary | Hash or short human-readable diff of logic changes. | Transparency for power users. |
| Grace periods / opt-out windows | Keep old logic running alongside new for a set time. | Avoid coercing upgrades; build reputation. |
| Visual version badges | UI element showing “Program v2 (deployed Nov 2025).” | Constantly signals stability and recency. |
4. Why This Matters
Users don’t read Rust.
They trust predictability and choice, not technical decentralization.
When teams handle upgrades this way, they:
- maintain confidence even while evolving fast,
- avoid over-engineering DAO governance, and
- create smoother UX than most Web2 apps changing APIs.
5. Working Principle
Decentralization is optional. Predictability is mandatory.
A well-communicated, opt-in upgrade path often achieves 80 % of what DAOs promise —
with none of the overhead.
6. Future Direction
When I eventually build real user-facing contracts, I plan to:
- Start with upgradeable multisigs for agility.
- Keep explicit versioning in both code and UX.
- Publish changelogs and migration prompts as if they were product releases.
- Only move to DAO-style governance if genuine decentralization becomes a necessity.