2022 is already my best year.
One of the reasons is Web3. I’ve entirely ventured into Web3 ever since the beginning of the year and have been on it since.
Tokens, blockchain, smart contracts, NFTs, Defi, Decentralization, and DAOs. Bring it on! At first, they can be really intimidating, but that’s okay. All you have to do is to read, study, and repeat. Ensure your knowledge is solid and powerful. Once your understanding increases, so as your excitement for the space.
I’m now designing products and platforms directed towards the Web3 ecosystem and I’m excited more than ever. Suddenly, thinking of working on Web2 products seem boring to me. Am I alone?
One of the projects I recently worked on is a product that helps crypto companies and DAOs run their books and payments. See below for a screenshot.
Now, I’m working on a new exciting project that I can’t wait to share with y’all when it’s the right time. In the meantime, let me share my learnings and experiences working on Web3 so far this 2022.
Imagine you’re working at Facebook in its early days at Harvard or at Apple when Steve Jobs was envisioning the future of personal computing. Working in Web3 feels a lot similar to that, which is why a lot of people are excited to be in the space. However, there’s also a lot of noise, chaos, and uncertainty.
Sure, working in novel Web2 ideas and products does make you feel in a similar way, but the difference is that in Web3, there’s a lot of relatively new technology and technical terms.
The use of blockchain, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies for instance. There’s a lot you don’t know, which is why it’s important to know what you don’t know, so you can learn it. When you’re working in Web3, you have to embrace the chaos and uncertainty. It is also what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur!
One thing that makes Web3 exciting is its technology and how it can be applied to mass adoption and solve a mass problem. We’ve already seen it with the power of cryptocurrencies and it’s only the tip of the huge huge iceberg.
This is what I’ve recently read. Courtesy by the Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy. Access here.
You will have to read a lot of materials to actually better understand the ecosystem and how it all fits together like a puzzle. Reading the original Bitcoin whitepaper or Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum documentation already helps.
Regardless of whether you’re technical or not, understanding the technology from an inside perspective is the key to designing Web3 products people need and want.
It’s widely discussed by folks around the web that UX or user experience in Web3 is lacking. That is true for a number of reasons. Have a look at these tweets:
Twitter post by Kat @petrichorate
Twitter post by Jude @JudeDias
We’re like in the early days of the internet in the 1990s where everyone is just focused on showcasing the technology and so much of it is built by developers understood by developers with little care to product-thinking or human-centric design.
That is totally fine. It’s part of the technology evolution. However, we’re now crossing the bridge where the technology has now found its real-life use-cases. As a result, designers who can crack the code for crafting great UX in Web3 products will not only set the standard for a singular product or company but for the entire industry.
So much of this opportunity can be found in the connection between Web2 and Web3 products and how can we make Web3 feel like Web2.
Despite the apparent chaos, uncertainty, challenges, people are quitting their jobs at Facebook, Google, or Tesla for a reason. Web3 presents a lot of game-changing opportunities for everyone. It’s a space that is extremely exciting and fun to be in. The people you will work with are amazing.
There are no boundaries or restrictions, all you need is a curious mind, a computer, and an optimistic outlook on the future of technology.
Previously, I mentioned that reading and studying source materials about Web3 help you succeed more in the space. Well, the reason is understanding the technology from a technical perspective gives you an edge over other people that don’t.
That doesn’t mean you need to get a degree in computer science, but it means you have to read, study, and practice a lot.
Working as a designer in Web3 already involves a lot of technical thinking and jargon, so having an understanding of coding, networking, algorithms can surely give you an edge.
Steve Jobs once said that Apple was all about creating products that they want to use themselves and it’s because part of what makes designers craft amazing products is if they’d use the products themselves.
In Web3, you have to be both the user and the designer to feel the spirit of the product you’re designing. Generally, it’s hard to imagine how can you drastically improve the product’s experience if you’re not willing to be a user yourself.
What I mean about being a user is actually using the product regularly and not just being a user for the entire duration of a project which is common in Web2.
You can start with crypto wallet for instance. I’ve realized that Metamask, despite being one of the biggest names in cryptocurrency wallets, has a subpar user experience on their browser extension. I had things to say as a user first, then as a designer. Therefore I know exactly what to work on if I will ever work on their design team.
There’s a growing trend of products and platforms that aim to connect existing web2 tooling to web3. The project I recently worked on is a fine example of a web2 product that is building web3 infrastructure.
Another example is Utopia Labs, which basically is a Zenefits (Payments and Payroll), but for Web3 native companies. These can be DAOs or decentralized autonomous organizations or companies that transact in crypto in general.
Yes, as a designer, you will eventually want to work on your own Web3 idea! It’s so early in the space that there are so many ideas to work on. Plus, the beauty of Web3 is that it enables anyone in any part of the world to get involved in the ecosystem.
Being involved in the community certainly helps and interacting with people on Twitter is a game-changer. I get 2–3 ideas per day that I can work on Web3!
According to Moralis.io,
Using technical terms in your dApp’s language or copy alienates your market. Remember, you don’t want to add more complexity to your UI.
Read more here about crafting great UI for Web3.
Part of enhancing the user experience of Web3 platforms is copy, be that UX writing or copywriting for marketing. So much of what we have today as Web3 products are filled with complicated jargon and bad copy.
Sure, if you’re an extremely technical person or you’re the developer yourself, you would have no problem understanding it, but it defeats the whole purpose of copywriting and communication design. You should never ignore this aspect of your product.
The lesson is if we want to bring more Web3 products into mass adoption, we need to start by limiting the jargon, crafting better messaging, and highlighting the benefits of the product to the user.
If there aren’t any benefits for the user—anything that can help their lives better in any way possible, maybe nobody needs it?
In Web3, communication is crucial. Just like software engineers and developers—designers, copywriters, marketers are also a crucial part of the next iteration of the web.
Whenever I design something, a question always pops up in my mind.
What would Apple do if they were to design this?
Apple has become an industry standard for design-thinking and sets of design practices oriented towards the human. What’s more impressive is their inclusivity and accessibility design practices, which are admired and adopted by a lot of massive tech companies.
Take a look below at a screenshot taken from an inclusive design learning session by Apple.
This is why it’s important to ask the question, what would Apple do if they were to design this? When you do ask this big question, everything will start falling into place.
Okay, I’ve only been in the Web3 for the past couple of months and honestly, I am already annoyed by the Web3 lingo. Am I the only one? I go to Discord and I see is a set of 100 ‘GM’ messages. That’s only one channel!
By the way, this isn’t a rant and I for sure love the energy, optimism, and candor of the community, but the culture needs more development and auditing.
You just can’t say GM or ser to people who are new to Web3? First, that’s unprofessional, second that’s bad communication, third, it’s weird.
I’ve learned so much about Web3 in the past couple of months from different forms of content like podcasts, white papers, blogs, Youtube videos, and courses.
However, what I also found out is that surrounding yourself with people that are on the same journey as you are also. crazy important. You will learn a lot faster as you tend to exchange information that either of you doesn’t know.
If we’re going to use one word, to sum up, the Web3 in the past couple of years especially talking about NFTs or crypto is hype. The space is absolutely overhyped, but there are good reasons why.
There are a lot of smart people that actually understand what’s going on, ranging from computer scientists, engineers, investors, creators, and designers. However, there are also a lot of people that don’t understand what’s going on and just follow the noise.
So, my recommendation is to understand both sides. Web3 itself isn’t invented in the past couple of years, it has been a constant technological advancement happening for decades and now we have the technology and power to make it happen.
My advice: get into Web3 as soon as possible in any way possible! wagmi ✌🏻