As I’m attempting to reinstall due to a technical issue I’m having, I can’t help but notice it’s near impossible to actually download your software. Seriously, your (US) website is so unfriendly for a new user. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is not great at computers for a second (exactly the type of users you’re trying to encourage), and try to find where the heck to download your software from.
There’s plenty of links right at the top for shop, and Zwift hub, and events, my feed, support, etc. There’s an account button in the top right. No download button there. The big join Zwift button just takes you to the membership/billing page. The hamburger button on the top right doesn’t have a download button. Nor does the support page. Go back to the home page and scroll down a bit, where it says “get started on Zwift” and “download Zwift”. No links there.
It turns out you need to go to the homepage and scroll all the way to the bottom and there’s a bunch of tiny links in the footer for downloading.
Did you forget that software is your key product? Did everyone who works on usability get laid off? It’s such an un-intuitive website.
Long story short, and just as a fyi, if you’re reinstalling: you might have to delete “every single folder” of the previous installation: document folder, download folder, etc…
I have been using Zwift for years installed/uninstalled many times in many different equipments with no issue… but recently, I went crazy reinstalling it in a new rig where the first installation failed… all because, I missed deleting a folder in the download folder…
I mean, going to an external search page to find a download link for a software product is a bad answer even if that does work. I’ve also downloaded the software through Winget in the past, but that doesn’t mean that the website is not a problem.
Downloading the Zwift software is one of the most important steps for a new user, it should similarly be a prominent link on the site.
You’re right, the website and the apps are hard to navigate and it’s difficult to find the information you need. Everyone goes to 3rd party apps to find the information they need - Zwift Insider, ZwiftHacks, Google, ZwiftMap, ZwifterBikes, Facebook, etc.
It’s actually the best answer because it gets people the result - ie, the download. I work with websites all the time and this is my standard thing when the search doesn’t work, go to google or the page isn’t easy to find.
I suppose the web team at Zwift needs to work on the IA.
As an exercise I tried finding it on mobile, which was to click the hamburger menu then download.
Using a search engine, there’s always the risk of getting something unsafe pretending to be the thing you were looking for as the first hit and going there instead by accident…
There’s no hamburger menu on the desktop if you’re not logged in and even on the mobile there’s no download option when not logged in. There are download options on the front page in the footer, but that does take some searching. There’s not even a download link in the first step of “How to get started” which is “Download”.
So yes, there definitely should be a download link somewhere at the top of the page, whether you are logged in or not.