The Blockchain UX
What is a Blockchain?
“A blockchain can serve as an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between 2 parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks.
Starting with a strong focus on financial applications, blockchain technology is extending to activities including decentralized applications and collaborative organizations that eliminate a middleman.”
– Wikipedia
Blockchain technology is going to change the way we transact across systems, whether it is banking, digital identity, smart contracts, digital voting and many more. New applications that utilise the decentralised nature of a blockchain are being developed as we speak. These apps are called Dapps, which is short for ‘Decentralised Applications’.
Some Apps that are already out there are
EthNotary (enter link)
A notary service that allows multiple parties to sign documents privately.
AuditDog (enter link)
An immutable repository of software security audits
How does this technology concern a UX designer?
One of the critical features of Blockchain is complete transparency for the user. There is a way that we can represent this added element of transparency for the user.
Wouldn’t we welcome the idea of our digital identities being completely secure? Wouldn’t we want more transparency in our governments and voting process?
When we try to answer these questions in the context of the Blockchain there is an opportunity to engage users by highlighting the various touch-points where the backend blockchain processes are making sure their data is secure.
In order to present these backend touch-points to the average user, designers need to understand what is going on behind the scenes. It helps create the layer of abstraction required for the average user if the designer speaks the same language as the developers and becomes part of the conversation around Blockchain at a granular level.
How do you offer a user all the information they need? How do you abstract out the information they do not need? while still maintaining a seamless intuitive experience?
The average user would not understand the underlying blockchain protocol any more than they understand the HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) when on the web.
The aim is to not make people understand the underlying technology. Instead, to get people to trust a technology that is not dependent on trust. The user needs to be able to understand the ways in which blockchain based apps differ from the apps they are so accustomed to using.
Who is the user?
As blockchain apps reach critical mass and widespread adoption, designers need to consider that transitional phase for the user. Early adopters of any technology are more technical users who like to ‘tinker under the hood’, newcomers to a manifesting technology are generally the everyday average users who would benefit from an abstraction of the granular technical details, on-boarding, simple cues and prompts and very few options to go down UX flows that may make them feel lost.
Trust!Trust!Trust!
When designing to get the user to feel comfortable and trust the system some of the best practices include consistency and constant feedback when a user takes any action. Clear iconography that leverages past experience standards, jargon-free terminology that does not obfuscate the message and simply and directly communicates with the user. These aspects can help a user feel at ease and augment the adoption and learning of the Blockchain technology.
Motion animations help give the user a sense of context and helps them understand what is happening relative to their inputs. Screens presented to the user would do well to contain elements that do one, couple or all in terms of being elements that are either actionable, trust-building or educational. It is better to have an abundance of feedback for the user than to fall short even marginally. The user expects and demands to always know what is happening now, what just happened and what will happen next.
Blockchain ≠ Loader
The average blockchain transaction takes much longer than what the average user is used to. The transaction on a decentralised blockchain takes a substantially longer time than it does on a centralised network. The user needs feedback on the status of their transaction and progress during this time. To go from loading times of a few milliseconds to a few seconds or even minutes is not something that seems like a step forward. There is an opportunity to come up with more robust and engaging feedback loops that leverage the transparency of the Blockchain to show users what is going on, with the right level of abstraction to keep it relevant and interesting.
One way ticket (Immutability)
The irreversible nature of Blockchain transactions is something users need to get used to, we are accustomed to the Undo button being a standard feature. The blockchain does not allow for reversal of a transaction. Designers need to create friction at points where the user is going to take an action that cannot be reversed.
Forgotten Password (Keys)
The blockchain system assigns each user a private key along with a name and public key. These work in tandem to allow the user to access their account on the blockchain. If a user forgets or misplaces his/her private key there is no option to generate a new private key to access the account. This a UX pattern breaker in that users are accustomed to hitting the ‘Forgot Password?’ button to recover forgotten or lost passwords and almost bank on this feature. User needs to be presented with educational on-boarding flows that run the user through this new UX pattern. Here is also an opportunity to forge trust with the user in making sure the directions are clear and the recommendation helpful to ensure the user takes appropriate action to make sure he/she can always access the account.
The Future of Blockchain UX
These ideas scratch the surface of what UX principles the Blockchain brings about to help the average user benefit from this new technology.
Through a seamless and intuitive UX we need to give the user enough reasons to not use the centralised internet and to digitally be on a decentralised network that is transparent and protects the digital assets, transactions and identity of every single person.
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