User Experience in the Blockchain World
Written by Alix Gallardo, Head of User Experience at Siglo
Blockchain technology is spreading all over the world and is accompanied by a huge wave of innovative projects amongst them are decentralized applications, created to solve more of the problems/needs of consumers. Many projects are focused on the developed world, but today I would like to talk about projects with specific proposals for rapid growth in emerging economies.
Before diving into the subject we must take into account the existing gaps or divides. These gaps make the understanding of the Blockchain world limited or complex.
Challenges
1. Digital divide: the gap between people who have access to information, communication and collaboration technologies, and those who can not access them due to geographic, cultural, economic, and other issues.
The report of the International Telecommunication Union 2017, indicates that two out of every three inhabitants on the planet live in an area with mobile broadband coverage (3G or higher) and similarly states that some 3.9 billion people can not use Internet, which would mean that 53% of the total population is in that digital gap. The fact that so many live where the technology is available, but can’t afford it leads us to the next point.
2. Financial divide: Refers to the lack of basic financial services we need to protect ourselves from adversity and invest in our future.
According to the Global Index Report 2017, 30 percent of adults without an account at a financial institution said that they do not need one, making this the second most common reason cited. In challenge is to provide value to these users and that in the same way they find it for their daily lives.
3. Gender gap: It is the difference between male and female rates in the category of one variable; The smaller the gap, the closer we get to equality. The same Global Findex study indicates that women predominate among unbanked adults with 56%. This behavior persists in developing economies.
The digital gap, the gender gap, and financial gap together create a social gap, in which many people do not have the same opportunities. There is a division. Some key elements that lead us to this gap are privatization, distribution, and corruption.
It is important to know these scenarios because they indicate where we are standing and where we have to start.
The question is: What can we do from our side?
Opportunity: Financial Inclusion
According to the Global Index 2017 report, worldwide, although there are 1.7 billion adults who are not yet banked (31% of the world), two thirds of them have a cell phone that could help them access financial services. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 55% of adults have a cell phone and Internet access, this speaks to the potential that a crypto wallet can generate as a means of saving or investing and also leaves in view of all the great window that the companies / organizations / government to take advantage of the cellular platform as the main means of communication to be able to complete salary and / or service payments.
On the other hand, according to the database of Global Findex 2017, a report that is made of 140 economies, the mobile money services that allow users to store and transfer funds through a mobile phone can help to improve the income of people and thus reduce poverty. A study in Kenya found that access to mobile money services allowed 185,000 women to develop commercial or retail activities and helped reduce extreme poverty among households headed by women by 22 percent.
Blockchain, a world without intermediaries
Low commissions, distributed system and decentralized transactions.
Crypto vs financial education: Because it is a relatively new technology, it’s a great opportunity to introduce it in contrast to other financial systems. If we think of banks, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind are long lines, fixed and high fees and a lot of confusion between interest rates. Crypto has a clean slate.
In the world of cryptocurrencies there are only 6–11 million active wallets. This may be low due to how complex it is to use blockchain products and the little-to-no education that exists to interact with applications such as a wallet.
Transparency: All identities that carry out a transaction such as sending or receiving money are cryptographically protected, but still provide transparency throughout the transaction process.
Considerations for Blockchain Education in Emerging Markets
User context: We introduce a product to solve the existing problem: how can it be a better solution than what I am currently using? What pain points are we avoiding or are we helping to reduce pain? Who is familiar with this technology?, what past experiences have they had (if they exist)? Knowing and confirming the user’s intentions in our interaction flow to know that their expectation is the same as our solution, is a key piece.
According to a study by the University of Cambridge, just over 3–6 million people have cryptocurrency. So, if we start to visualize the segment of people in the unbanked world and analyze in detail the reasons why they do not have a bank account: “they have little or no money”, “they must travel long distances to reach a bank branch “,” cost of maintaining the account is high “is when we realize that a mobile wallet like Siglo’s can play a key role in fighting this challenge.
Concepts: We have to start from 0 and we can’t assume the user already knows crypto terms. For example, we can’t start talking about decentralized applications, if we do not even understand what an application is, or if we still do not know how the internet works ?. All these concepts are related, but you have to establish a base “item 1,2,3 …” and a goal “concept”, in this case it would be the subject: How does the Internet work? and the concept as a goal would be What is a blockchain? .
Processes: What is happening behind the screen? The user needs to be informed and know exactly what step to take after a previous one. The user interaction process is key. We have to take the user by the hand, guiding them in each process so that they feels accompanied and confident in what they are doing at each step to avoid mistakes or misunderstandings between the user and the application.
Time: How long does a transaction take and why? How much should I wait? Why do prices change from one second to the next? Establish a clear communication about the time, such a content titled The logic of a crypto transaction the user will be able to understand the complete process, but above all it will understand that it takes a certain time to complete an action within the chain of blocks.
Our proposal: Designing the User Experience in Siglo Wallet
Clear concepts: ETH address? Better use your email address as a reference in-app. In UX, do not try to be “correct” because that can make us “complex”, better think of the user and the way it’s easier to use a product and understand the “why” of each action. In Siglo Wallet app, each user uses their email as a public key. In other apps, there’s a lot confusion between private key and public key, causing users to lose their cryptocurrencies because of the confusing and delicate nature of these two concepts. Therefore, in Siglo Wallet app by default you use your email address and a private key, that is easier to remember and to prioritize.
Long alphanumeric set? Better use a QR code! We don’t want our users to be memorizing long strings of numbers and letters or having to write down that number somewhere they can forget. We all have drafts and annotations everywhere, there are many texts, on the other hand something more visual is something more memorable. In order to facilitate the LOGIN of our users we have generated a QR for each of the accounts that will allow them to enter their wallet app.
Content: We had the great advantage of having a very large user base with Pig.gi, approximately 50 thousand users read our content every month. For this reason, we generate content based on the “Concepts” strategy (previously mentioned in “Challenges”) where we educate our users in this transition of very different products and applications, both in processes and purposes. We take into account user factors such as emotions, context and expectations.
We create content categories such as: Internet, Crypto Trends and Cryptographic Education, all this so that our user has a better experience in his first interaction with Siglo Wallet. This helps users to avoid problems due to confusion of concepts, understand transaction times. They need to know what is happening on the other side while they click on the button “send” or “receive” Siglos and wait as an expectation what they have understood about the process.
It should be clear that it is not about positioning a product but listening, understanding and testing. This is the best way to communicate and create a usable product and a good user experience.
To be honest, it’s been challenging but a very satisfactory experience to venture into the blockchain education, not only with our users but with all those people who want to use a blockchain product in an easier and more pleasant way.
In conclusion can I suggest that if you don’t think about the user, you have anything! Maybe you can raiser $100M or be the darling of the tech and blockchain press… but this doesn’t mean that users are finding that product useful or that is meeting some of their needs.
What we want to have is a product that is solving a real problem and fulfilling our initial proposal. We are interested in having active users and generate value in their day to day with something different and useful.
