I didn't plan to write again in Communities Feedback but something I read earlier today changed my mind.
This isn't 100% feedback for communities, but it is related since changes to the profile will be made with the occasion of Hive communities launch (moving profile settings back to steemit.com from steemitwallet.com).
It is also a valuable piece of feedback from a new user on Steem attempting to do a simple operation like adding his profile picture. His train of thoughts and problems (real or not) he identified during the process (coming from the outside), can be useful in improving the initial experience for new users and guiding them in communities, and outside of them. The shared feelings are likewise important. I'm tagging @roadscape here, you may find his feedback useful:
/steemit/@bruce-pendragon/okay-so-does-this-site-even-work
Now my own feedback. I don't know about the profile picture, but I did ran into issues with the cover image for my new community accounts.
My fault, because I didn't check the recommended size for the image, but the FAQ says this:
The cover image will be resized/scaled depending on the device being used. Therefore it is recommend to use an image that will still look good when cropped or resized. A 2048x512 image is the optimal size to work for most devices.
I didn't use an image as big as recommended above (especially the height is much smaller), but before I added a cover image that actually worked I made several unsuccessful attempts with smaller versions.
On the interface itself, when uploading the new image, there is no mention of a recommended, minimum or maximum sizes, or aspect ratio. Should it? Because the same image is pulled by different dapps, and resized to their cover image dimensions.
However, with the wrong dimensions (in my case I believe the width was too small in my first attempts, but I thought it would still be resized anyway, according the the FAQ), the cover image can be uploaded but not displayed, and you are left wondering what happened or if you need to wait longer for the cover image to be updated on the profile. It wasn't displayed on steemit.com. It wasn't displayed on SteemPeak.com. So it wasn't an issue only for one interface.
In retrospect, it was clearly my fault for uploading an image too small, but at no point was it a warning. Not when uploading the image. Not on the account's profile, after the image was uploaded, but not displayed by the interface(s).
I can handle it and troubleshoot my way out of these situations, but new users like bruce-pendragon up there may seek the ease of use primarily.
That's why we need Communities and quick iterations afterwards. That's why we need something like OpenSeed as an intermediary level between blockchain and the masses.