listing them in some what the order i encountered them (not order of importance), and much from the pov of a new user:
STUCK IN CREATION: i’m a new user. i hit “Create”, then “Save Now”, “Sign up with FB” (or “Sign Up” then “Sign up with FB”).
once logged in, tho, it still says “Sign Up” and “Login” on up-right, w/ no “Back to Profile” or User links. so i’m stuck, no way to get to my settings, profile, logout. see screenshot, the story was saved, so i’m logged in, but the top button still wants me to “Login ”
DRAFTS: once you’ve signed up and come back to the site, the first thing a user might want to do is work on Draft(s). but via site pages have no obvious link to the users stories. the top-right User select-menu lists has “Settings”, “Subscriptions”, etc. but not “Profile”. that’s b/c the menu itself (the username/gravatar) is the link to “Profile”.
generally, tho, while a select menu can have links, it isn’t itself a link. so it’s a discoverability issue. and your Edit screen User select-menu is just the opposite: the username is NOT hot and the options DO list a Profile link.
PROFILE: in fact the user “profile” page is not named “profile” anywhere. there is no link on the text “Profile” anywhere (except Edit). the Settings page has “Settings” heading text and a “/settings” URL, but a user’s profile has no indication “profile” is the term for that page.
a side terminology note, in the Feedback section, you often refer to Settings->Profile. this implies a relationship that doesn’t exist, ie, the “Settings” page does not have a subset/child Settings->”Profile” page. (more…)