Let's learn about UX and Web3

Hey! Happy Friday! A lot of talk about web3 and crypto has been going on all over social media, blogs, and youtube. Some content says it’s a scam, others say it’s going to change the web as we know it, others say it’s terrible for the environment, and others are neutral about it. I won’t be trying to persuade you in any direction. I think we should learn more about new concepts and then form our own opinion on it. I will preface this with, I don’t know everything about web3 but I do understand blockchain and web3 concepts from working in previous startups that focused on using it for their tokens. I want to keep this simple and expand on it over time.

If I had to explain the concept of web 3 and blockchain in a simple way is this:

Web 3.0 allows us as users of the internet to own our data. Instead of platforms like social media and sites , owning our data whenever we interact with their platform and them being able to sell it to third parties for them to be able to show us targeted ads etc. Web3 will allow us the opportunity to have more of a say in it.

Blockchain is a network (a group of computers that connect and communicate with one another) that allows for information regarding any transactions made to be recorded and shared across it. The information can not be changed or edited. The transactions are enforced by smart contracts. Smart contracts are basically like automatic rules that pertain to a certain transaction. Think of them like if/ then statements. Once the network executes the smart contract, the action is stored as a block. Anytime there is another transaction made, a block is formed after the previously recorded one. All of the blocks are connected to the ones made before and after it.

Why are these 2 concepts being tied together? It’s because it makes the web and your data decentralized. Meaning platforms like a social media or e-commerce monopoly have sole ownership of your information and make the decisions about what it is used for. The main driving concept of this is to basically cut out the middle man (in this case the monopoly) and use DAOs ( Decentralized Autonomous Organization). Think of a DAO as a bunch of smart contracts that enact code and run day to day operations of a business that are voted upon by shareholders. Shareholders are typically those who own tokens/ crypto associated with the DAO. The idea is that this will lead to everyone having a say in what companies use their data for, have ownership of it, take information/ data down , and even get paid for the data they helped create.

Now, how does UX fit into this? From my experience doing user research, most apps and platforms involving crypto have a high barrier to entry. Not only in the sense of financially getting into it as a user but to actually navigate these crypto platforms. Most of what is currently being built for Web3 is mostly engineering/ code driven because the transactions and smart contracts are being ran “behind the scenes”. This leads to the design of the platforms being confusing in regards to how payments work, the purpose of and storing mnemonic phrases, how to transfer money, public keys vs private keys for your average user which causes large scaling the adoption of web3 and blockchain to have a major challenge. That is to remove all the “mystique” and “big brain” from it while making sure what is being built is actually needed.

Here are few things I think need to be considered when designing for it:

-Onboarding in a way that easily explains what the platform does and is for. Right now, the average non tech enthusiast isn’t interested in the jargon and potential possibilities of web3 and blockchain in the way that tech enthusiasts are. They want to know how it fits into their lives and can be beneficial right now.

-Instilling a sense of trustworthiness involving digital currency. While you may have had crypto ever since Satoshi created bitcoin and wrote a whitepaper for it’s purpose, most people haven’t. The idea of having digital currency beyond gaming purposes and that isn’t protected or backed by any government entities fully is an area of concern for many people. Some view it as them using their hard earned money to buy digital money, that can possibly lose its value, while also not being able to be used everywhere currently, and it doesn’t have any government protection for them in the event the purpose of the token fails. Even if they have not heard about some early startups blockchain “failures” and people having their money stolen from ICOs, they see risks that they may not recover from. Not the potential of the technology. They want to know their money is safe.

-Crafting online experiences that actually enhance and integrate with offline ones. The concept of the metaverse isn’t new. Having an online world that you can dress up in, interact with anyone from anywhere, have classes, work , purchase items etc has been referenced since the 90s. In fact there was a series called Spicy City that has some of the tech we’re working on now. Here is one that kinda relates to this idea in it’s very early stages from the perspective of dating but check it out and some of the tech that they’re using. If you remember SecondLife, it’s another concept that was/is similar to the metaverse. Most of the technology we have now bridges a gap between offline and online. From what I’ve been learning, one of the main issues people having with metaverse concepts, NFTS etc is that it needs to integrate into daily lives in a way that is actually better than physically doing it or at least enhances the way of physically completing a task. For example, online shopping apps already exist. They are already easy to use for most people and it has shown that while some people may like physically picking up items, it’s not really mandatory. One thing I think we as designers will be tasked with will more than likely have to be making a shopping experience that is more than just putting on a headset, walking through aisles, and picking up items with a sales associate. We will be challenged to strive to make it better than what you can already experience if you just go inside a store.

-Understanding what owning your data really means and how it will affect what people will be able to see in the larger scheme of businesses. Let’s be honest, while the concept of web3, blockchain, and crypto is to be decentralized, established large enterprise level companies are going to be hesitant when it comes to adapting to this idea. Yes, there is GDPR that companies have to abide by but as decentralization is explored more, there may be laws or practices put into place about how someone will be able to actually use the platform. What will they be? I’m not sure but even in tech, with change also comes red tape.

So how we will solve these? What are the solutions? What are the best practices for it? Honestly, I’m still figuring it out. While I have designed a few apps and crypto wallets to solve the onboarding issues a bit, nothing is ever perfect, especially when it comes to technology that is fairly new. However, what I can say is that whatever we design for web3 platforms, we need to make sure there are some valid use cases for it and take the average user into consideration.

I’m going to keep learning more about web3 and how we can start crafting some solutions to some of the problems. As I read more and test out designs, I’ll share what I’m learning. Think of this blog post as a kickoff to it. Hope this helped a bit.

Until next time and happy wireframing,

Nita