Combining Web2 & Web3
The tools we need to make Web3 take off
What will make Web3 take off? It’s a question that everyone within the cryptosphere has been asking for some time now, and we think we have the answer.
The central problem obstructing Web3 from infiltrating the mainstream is usability. It’s a fact: Web3 is not user-friendly. Absolutely everything — from onboarding to actually using the decentralized Web — is difficult, annoying, and off-putting for the majority of the world’s population.
As a result of these difficulties, many people outside of the crypto community do not understand how Web3 can actually benefit the world, generate revenue, and make life easier. Today, Web3 seems to have no use cases other than trading; many newcomers perceive the entire decentralized sphere as a digital playground that’s useful only to a very small population of traders.
Usability can change this perception.
So how do we get there? How does Web3 actually achieve the usability it needs?
The current payment platforms, DAOs, NFT marketplaces, and other decentralized entities have made great strides in laying the foundation for Web3. However, we have yet to see the arrival of an effective user toolset that makes Web3 usable for everyone. We need a set of tools that simplifies the current workflows in the decentralized world and that facilitates new workflows, so that Web3 is no longer limited to trading, but actually able to cover all situations and needs for all types of users (from crypto-savvy to crypto-newbie to I-don’t-care-about-crypto-at-all). We need a set of tools that finally allows the Web3 space to flourish.
We believe that we have found the most effective approach to accomplish this goal:
1. We must look at existing Web2 software tools.
Web3 can learn much from the smooth interfaces and the user-friendly designs of the Web2 tools that are being used by millions of people every day. Getting inspired by Web2 will be a great way (and probably the only way) to create a much more user-friendly version of the Web3 tools we know today.
2. We must look at existing Web2 software categories.
Not only do we need a better version of the current Web3 tools. We also need a lot of additional Web3 tools, so that we can multiply the number of use cases for decentralized software. Web2 has countless use cases, which Web3 is currently lacking. That is why Web2 can serve as a source of inspiration in this regard as well.
Therefore, we need to expand Web3 to represent both the proven Web2 categories — like CRM, ERP, CMS, and many more — and the unique categories that were invented specifically for Web3 — like NFTs, DAOs, and DeFi.
Most importantly, we need to build the tools to cover all these use cases in an easy-to-use and easy-to-love sort of way. If we create a decentralized, composable version of all the Web2 tools that people are now using every day, we will have found a way to push Web3 into the mainstream.
This combination is what will make Web3 finally take off.
This is the first in a series of articles around Web3. Stay tuned for future installments.
Interested to learn more about Web3 and Cardstack?
Check out the resources below:
Making Web3 Usable
Beyond NFTs as Collectibles
Combining Cloud and Blockchain Tech
