diff --git a/giterated-daemon/src/backend/mod.rs b/giterated-daemon/src/backend/mod.rs
index 62275f4..93381c8 100644
--- a/giterated-daemon/src/backend/mod.rs
+++ b/giterated-daemon/src/backend/mod.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,6 @@ pub trait UserBackend: AuthBackend {
     async fn write_settings(
         &mut self,
         user: &User,
-        settings: &[(String, Value)],
+        settings: &[(String, String)],
     ) -> Result<(), Error>;
 }
diff --git a/giterated-daemon/src/backend/user.rs b/giterated-daemon/src/backend/user.rs
index 4010d86..ea5569a 100644
--- a/giterated-daemon/src/backend/user.rs
+++ b/giterated-daemon/src/backend/user.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use giterated_models::{
             UserDisplayNameRequest, UserDisplayNameResponse,
         },
     },
-    model::{instance::Instance, user::User},
+    model::{instance::Instance, user::User, settings::{UserBio, Setting, UserDisplayName}},
 };
 use rsa::{
     pkcs8::{EncodePrivateKey, EncodePublicKey},
@@ -58,18 +58,17 @@ impl UserBackend for UserAuth {
         &mut self,
         request: UserDisplayNameRequest,
     ) -> Result<UserDisplayNameResponse, Error> {
-        let db_row = sqlx::query_as!(
-            UserRow,
-            r#"SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = $1"#,
-            request.user.username
-        )
-        .fetch_one(&self.pg_pool.clone())
-        .await
-        .unwrap();
+        let settings = self.settings(&request.user).await?;
 
-        Ok(UserDisplayNameResponse {
-            display_name: db_row.display_name,
-        })
+        let name = settings.iter().find(|setting| &setting.0 == UserDisplayName::name());
+
+        if let Some((_, name)) = name {
+            let name: UserDisplayName = serde_json::from_value(name.clone()).unwrap();
+
+            Ok(UserDisplayNameResponse { display_name: Some(name.0) })
+        } else {
+            Ok(UserDisplayNameResponse { display_name: None })
+        }
     }
 
     async fn display_image(
@@ -91,15 +90,17 @@ impl UserBackend for UserAuth {
     }
 
     async fn bio(&mut self, request: UserBioRequest) -> Result<UserBioResponse, Error> {
-        let db_row = sqlx::query_as!(
-            UserRow,
-            r#"SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = $1"#,
-            request.user.username
-        )
-        .fetch_one(&self.pg_pool.clone())
-        .await?;
+        let settings = self.settings(&request.user).await?;
+
+        let bio = settings.iter().find(|setting| &setting.0 == UserBio::name());
+
+        if let Some((_, bio)) = bio {
+            let bio: UserBio = serde_json::from_value(bio.clone()).unwrap();
 
-        Ok(UserBioResponse { bio: db_row.bio })
+            Ok(UserBioResponse { bio: Some(bio.0)})
+        } else {
+            Ok(UserBioResponse { bio: None })
+        }
     }
 
     async fn exists(&mut self, user: &User) -> Result<bool, Error> {
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ impl UserBackend for UserAuth {
             }
         })
         .filter_map(|row| async move {
-            if let Ok(value) = serde_json::from_str(&row.value) {
+            if let Ok(value) = serde_json::from_str(&format!("\"{}\"", row.value)) {
                 Some((row.name, value))
             } else {
                 None
@@ -143,13 +144,11 @@ impl UserBackend for UserAuth {
     async fn write_settings(
         &mut self,
         user: &User,
-        settings: &[(String, Value)],
+        settings: &[(String, String)],
     ) -> Result<(), Error> {
         for (name, value) in settings {
-            let serialized = serde_json::to_string(value)?;
-
             sqlx::query!("INSERT INTO user_settings VALUES ($1, $2, $3) ON CONFLICT (username, name) DO UPDATE SET value = $3",
-                user.username, name, serialized)
+                user.username, name, value)
                 .execute(&self.pg_pool).await?;
         }
 
diff --git a/giterated-models/src/messages/user.rs b/giterated-models/src/messages/user.rs
index 070d936..5a5fe42 100644
--- a/giterated-models/src/messages/user.rs
+++ b/giterated-models/src/messages/user.rs
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ impl UserSettingsResponse {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct UserWriteSettingsRequest {
     pub user: User,
-    pub settings: Vec<(String, serde_json::Value)>,
+    pub settings: Vec<(String, String)>,
 }
 
 impl UserWriteSettingsRequest {
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ impl UserWriteSettingsRequest {
     pub fn set<S: Setting>(&mut self, setting: S) {
         self.settings.push((
             S::name().to_string(),
-            serde_json::to_value(setting).unwrap(),
+            serde_json::to_string(&setting).unwrap(),
         ));
     }
     pub fn try_get<S: Setting + DeserializeOwned>(&self) -> Option<S> {
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ impl UserWriteSettingsRequest {
             .filter(|(key, _)| key.as_str() == S::name())
             .next()?;
 
-        serde_json::from_value(setting_member.1.clone()).ok()
+        serde_json::from_str(&setting_member.1).ok()
     }
 }