Mining3: Mining for Web 3.0
Landing page & profit center dashboard design for a new crypto mining service dedicated to blockchain advancement
Client:
ABC Blockchain Community
Timeline:
10 weeks; Dec 21 - Feb 2022
Highlight:
Competitive Analysis
Data Visualization
OVERVIEW
01 Domain Knowledge —
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A cryptocurrency, or crypto is a collection of binary data which is designed to work as a medium of exchange. Individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger, which is a computerized database using strong cryptography to secure transaction records, control the creation of additional coins, and verify the transfer of coin ownership.
1. Centralized Wallet: Simple buy and sell via third parties such as Coinbase, Novi, and Binance.
2. dApps: known for decentralized apps, are digital applications or programs that exist and run on a blockchain or peer-to-peer (P2P) network of computers instead of a single computer. It enables users to engage in transactions directly with one another as opposed to relying on a central authority.
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Blockchain is a distributed, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. It’s totally decentralized and can record information about cryptocurrency transactions, NFT ownership, or DeFi smart contracts.
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Coins:
1. Operate on blockchain
2. Act like money
3. Can be mined
Tokens:
1. stands for assets or deeds
2. normally bought with coins
3. relies on smart contract
4. could be fungible or non-fungible(NFT ⇒ non-fungible tokens)
The first usage is to describe all cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin and Ethereum (even though they are technically also tokens). The second usage is to describe certain digital assets that run on top of other cryptocurrencies’ blockchains, as many decentralized finance (or DeFi) tokens do.
Why Tokens:
Tokens are built on Smart Contract, which brings
- More capability - build complicated logic to build a better financial product
- More flexibility - liquidize digital assets across different chains
So called DeFi.
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- Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a system by which financial products become available on a public decentralized blockchain network. It offers financial instruments without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks.
- Faster to earn interest, borrow, lend, buy insurance, trade derivatives, trade assets, and more. Peer-to-peer (P2P) financial transactions are one of the core premises behind DeFi.
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Definition: Web3 (also known as Web 3.0) is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics
- Web1.0:read
- Web2.0:read/write
- Web3.0:read/write/own
Social Network as an Example
- Web2.0: Your data is not your data, it’s Facebook/Wechat’s data
- Web3.0: 1) Data is owned by users. Users can bring their data and switch to different platforms with one click. 2) Platforms can filter user’s data and choose to display or not, but they cannot delete users’ data.
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- Where do BitCoin and Ethereum come from? Crypto Mining
- Traditional Industry similar to data center building
- Capital intensive, long ROI period, higher barrier
- Steps
- Buy mining machines, like S19Pro for bitcoin
- Ship it to some mining farm and set it up
- Join one mining pool
- Running the machines to mine your cryptocurrencies
- Cryptocurrencies mined will be paid to your wallet
02 About Our Client —
ABC Blockchain Community
ABC (ABC Blockchain Community) is a technology community dedicated to blockchain advancement. It was founded by a group of Google engineers in 2018 and soon evolved into a technical community for engineers, researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, and other blockchain enthusiasts.
ABC has hosted more than 50 events during pre-pandemic years. These events include meetups to discuss cutting-edge solutions to blockchain challenges, white paper journal club, hands-on coding sessions on popular public chains, and blockchain hackathons.
Current Plan: Our client has decided to change the name to Mining3, which stands for mining for Web3.0, and plans to start the one-stop-shop managed mining services in the near future.
MVP Requirement
Our client wants to build a website that clearly delivers the value of their business.
Our client wants to design a profit center that helps users track the status of their investments.
It’s an exploration stage. We aim to provide our clients with design inspiration.
In the future: Our client plans to start a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO); also, they will issue their own token to be used in future transactions. We also need to take them into consideration.
Design Process —
1.0 LANDING PAGE
Competitive Analysis
Stakeholder Interviews
User Persona
MVP Deliverables
Competitive Analysis
Stakeholder Interviews
Lofi & Hifi Exploration
Usability Testing
LANDING PAGE
01 Overview —
During the kickoff meeting, clients emphasized that they had their ideas but didn’t want to limit us in terms of what content to put on the landing page. We started by conducting competitive research to get familiar with the industry, generate design ideas and then prioritize features through weekly stakeholder interviews.
For the landing page, we mainly consider our client’s needs and preferences. Therefore, usability testing with target users was not considered at this stage.
Competitive Analysis
User Persona:
The target group of our client’s website is more towards the younger generation, which is a little different from their service's main target customers.
Young professionals working in tech companies
have basic knowledge of blockchain and trust cryptocurrency
have money for investment
Synthesized Brief:
Header: About / Why Us / Our Product / Contact Us / Community
Content: Introduction / Value Proposition / Steps / Products / Mining Farm / Testimonials / Q&A
Style: Modern / Young / Neutral / Simple
02 MVP Deliverable —
Design Process —
2.0 PROFIT CENTER
Competitive Analysis
Stakeholder Interviews
User Persona
MVP Deliverables
Competitive Analysis
Stakeholder Interviews
Lofi & Hifi Exploration
Usability Testing
PROFIT CENTER
01 Overview —
Competitive Analysis
Target Users’ Needs
Keep real-time track of daily earnings
Have a clear view of hash rates’ and earnings’ ups and downs as well as machines’ working status.
A manageable platform, especially wallet-related activities (e.g. deposit and withdraw)
Client’s Request
Show data, charts, and indexes in a simple, clear, straightforward, and hierarchical way to help target users quickly extract useful and meaningful information
Build trust & a good relationship with users by showing how we help them earn more
Keep users posted about our client’s future plan (DAO) by joining Discording Discord
02 Lo-fi Exploration —
Based on research findings and stakeholders’ requests, our team proposed several versions of low-fidelity wireframes. Then we conducted 2 usability testings and synthesized all key insights for our client’s review.
Synthesized Design Plan
After syncing with our client, we finalized a dashboard layout and specified must-have features in each section. Then, we filled in the details through regular meetings. Below is the summarized plan at a high level:
03 MVP Deliverable —
Overview Page
My Order Page
04 Future Steps —
After the high-fidelity wireframe, we also conducted usability testing with target users and collected some useful feedback that will be considered in future iterations. For instance, we are thinking about inserting a calculator to allow users quickly project future rewards, income, and profit by month and year.
Since it’s a 0-1 project, our team’s main goal is to provide an MVP version for our client to get a sense of what their future product would be like. Big thanks to our project lead and my teammates, as well as the client’s cooperation, for making it together.
REFLECTION
01 Takeaway —
Effective Communication with Stakeholders
Understanding clients’ needs and their technical limitations is important when designing real-world products. Also, they are not design experts, so it will add value if our designers can explain more design possibilities to our clients. Regular and effective communication is essential to push ideas and solutions forward.
UX & Business Value
A good UX will help improve customer loyalty and retention, increase user engagement and boost conversion rates. Also, it will help promote better word-of-mouth marketing and build a stronger brand reputation. Therefore, focusing on UX is also an important strategy to increase business value.