Original title:The Levels of Web3 User Experience
Author: Jon Crabb
Original compilation: ChinaDeFi
Original compilation: ChinaDeFi
This article attempts to create a larger framework for Web3 UX.
We need to improve all these layers to create a good user experience.
How to visualize the different layers of the Web3 user experience
first level title
The user journey is a long and winding road
Consider a standard application. Not Web3, just popular apps on the smartphones we use all the time. The app's actual UI is just the last element in a long chain of experiences that begins in the real world, travels through countless physical spaces, enters digital interaction, and passes through a whole host of different hardware and software, before finally finding your thumb resting on the on buttons designed by others.
We might have an idea like "play music" or "see directions" or "buy clothes" that is influenced by something in our physical environment.
This is an underappreciated point when researching Web3, so to test this point, let's take an example.
first level title
International Money Transfer
One is the "user experience" of sending money to residents of other countries, and the other is the "user experience" of the specific application we use.
Sending stablecoins on the blockchain is already better than sending currency. It's almost instant and the fees are low. In the case of sending currency, it can take several days, and there are fees charged for each step. Some money transfer apps are doing a good job these days. Understanding the process of such an application is much easier than understanding cryptocurrencies. Most people have smartphones and some local currency. But most people do not have exchange accounts, wallets and cryptocurrencies.
Part of the user experience is better than current standards. But many other steps are worse than current standards.
In my estimation, cryptocurrency failed because it wasn't as easily accessible and didn't integrate well with the rest of the "system".
If we really want to understand the Web3 user experience, we need to look at the big picture and see which layers need attention.
The Nelson-Norman model has three levels:
interact
journey
relation
relation
These three cover the entire user experience from the real world to the digital world. This framework is often used in CX design (customer experience) and service design. In most cases, users have already made many decisions before visiting our application or website.
Annoying_shit_irl --> thing/app_that_might_help --> the_actual_UI
If we further zoom in on a successful company, we will find that this company is usually solving a core problem. In real life, this is often a vexing problem, and this product has innovated ways to ameliorate this deep frustration.
Pioneers have the greatest impact on people's lives because they solve the original problem. But doing so is actually much harder and often requires major shifts in technology, policy or society.
The most classic example is a coined quote from Henry Ford:
"If I asked people what they wanted, they would say faster horses."
What people really want is to "get to their destination faster." A car will do it. But this solution will only really take off if awareness is raised, a better road ecosystem is created, the entire manufacturing industry is overhauled, and proper laws are passed.
See the link here?
The final design of the car is obviously also important, but for this new form of transportation to ultimately succeed, its benefits must be demonstrated to everyone, and there must be a host of infrastructure, process, regulation and related technology improvements.
In both cases, "user experience" includes a lot more than we think.
first level title
In the Web3 example, I propose four different layers. Each presents specific user experience challenges.
image description
A simple framework for visualizing the different layers to be processed
The layers are stacked together. The bottom layer is the most important, but also the hardest to influence, as it is most related to the technical limitations of any blockchain being used. The topmost layer is the visual layer, which can be easily modified - of course, what we put there depends entirely on the layers below it.
technical layer
speed
speed
cost
Stablize
access layer
wallet
wallet
Mnemonics and Security
Interoperability
Interoperability
network extension
fluidity
trade
fluidity
Liquidity mining
Liquidity mining
User ID
governance
governance
token type
Web3 login
Show NFT
Ownership of in-game assets
Send information across layers or across chains
visual layer
visual design
information hierarchy
navigation
help and guidance
decomposition analysis
secondary title
technical layer
When looking at the actual technical layer, I think the UX on DeFi is already better. Large remittances often involve waiting times, fees and, in some cases, security checks by intermediary banks. On the blockchain, it's fast to send, cheap (though not always), and verifiable by anyone.
The UX challenges at this level are:
Increased speed to match or exceed VISA network (tps)
Improve blockchain stability and security
Fees reduced to less than Western Union or Wise
make transactions verifiable
These kinds of things become even more important when considering non-deterministic things like on-chain identities.
secondary title
access layer
Let's say the year is 1995 and you hear about this wonderful new thing called the Internet. First, you'll need a PC with a modem, which you'll need to connect to a phone line. Once you "dial up" and "go online", you can no longer answer the phone. To actually do something, you have to set up an "email address", maybe "pop3" or "imap", use a "browser", and if you want to be a pro, learn "telnet" and "ftp". Once you manage, things will never be the same again.
The UX challenges at this level are:
Make a wallet as easy to use as a banking app and/or browser
Create Web3 single sign-on
Smooth currency channel
Unify chains or create "layer x" without manual bridging
Human-readable addresses (ENS is a step in that direction)
Educate people on self-regulation and privacy
Going Beyond the Current Internet Browser Paradigm
secondary title
functional layer
When we talk about web3 user experience. One thing to consider is that something is bound to be weird because it's brand new. New features always seem to be hard to get started. A few years ago, no one had heard of NFTs or AMMs. Now that we have them, we need to figure out how to best use them.
The UX challenges at this level are:
make transactions intuitive
abstract complex strategy
Simplify operations (e.g. using zappers, wrapping tokens automatically)
Create flexibility in the system (sending tokens to the wrong network)
Make participation in governance easy and rewarding
Make NFTs meaningful and useful
Create more “killer apps” beyond finance
Transfer ownership of in-game assets to the user, not the manufacturer
Increase the way NFTs are shared and displayed
There is an important caveat at this layer, and some unmanaged cryptographic applications have partially addressed some of the above issues. The downside is that in most cases we are trading some decentralization for a better user experience. Crypto.com allows us to send tokens to other Crypto.com users for free. Most exchanges will let us choose which network to withdraw on (mainnet or Polygon, etc), Binance will give us tokens and give us some interest, but we have no control over their strategy. Celsius does the same thing, but not quite as well.
secondary title
visual layer
Are we using consistent design patterns based on user research? Is the term too technical? Does everything look fine on the phone?
The UX challenges at this level are:
Follow accessibility best practices
Reduce the use of jargon
highlight important content
hide irrelevant things
Create easy-to-follow instructions
promote inclusivity
Means 'friendly' and 'welcoming', not 'scary' and 'xenophobic'
aesthetic
Preserve individuality while building for the masses
This is my first serious attempt at creating a larger framework for Web3 UX, which I plan to build upon.
