UX design aims to provide meaningful experiences and interactions between the user and the product. With the changing landscape of the web, it is essential to keep evolving the design principles with the evolving user needs.
Currently, we are in the middle of the web 3 revolution. So in this issue, I will discuss some design principles to keep in mind while designing web 3 products.
💬 A quick intro to Web 3
The internet has undergone a significant evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 3.0. In the past, Web 1.0 was simply a collection of links and a select group of people who created content. Users were mainly consumers of the content created by this group. With the advent of Web 2.0, anyone can create content on the platform. This platform is facilitated by centralized organizations that control all the content. Popular names such as Facebook and Google are examples of Web 2.0.
However, the future of the internet is in Web 3.0, which features a fully decentralized internet. Users' data is anonymized, and the internet runs on the blockchain. This means that Web 3.0 is a more secure and transparent platform where users can have more control over their data. Irrespective of whether you are in web1, web2 or web3, the user is the same. Now let’s understand the key design principles to keep in mind when working on web 3 products.
🧐 Develop with the user in mind
Assume that the user is not aware of web 3 at all. So it is the job of the designer to create a suitable journey so that the user is intimated every step of the way in a jargon-free and intuitive manner. The best way to approach this is to bring forward the best practices of web 2 and seamlessly transition to web 3. In other words, the user must not see any apparent difference between web 2 and web 3.
An example: For sign in options asking the users to connect their wallet, give an option to sign in via email also. Educate users through intuitive copy as to what a wallet is.
🤝 Develop trust with the user
Web 3 is in a moment of flux. With the FTX debacle and other controversies and lack of clarity regarding regulation, there is fear and a lack of trust among the stakeholders. The designer needs to establish trust with the user.
Some of the ways to establish trust with the user are:
- Tell the user how secure the site or product is. If there are any risks, highlight them.
- A robust backend with quick loading makes the site appear more legit. Have light illustrations that will make the site load quickly.
- Minimalist design with light copy is shown to build trust with the users.
- Embed testimonials of your users to show social proof. Direct embeds of tweets can inspire more confidence with the user.
🤔 Transparency with the user
One of the main problems of web 3 is the lack of transparency and the education of users in this space. A lot of the UX work must be invested in adequately educating the user until web3 becomes mainstream.
A few ways to establish transparency and educate the user are:
- Show the complete breakdown of every transaction done in web 3. Help user understand the hidden costs like gas fees with tool tips to educate the users.
- Show the transaction value in real money terms like dollar or rupee based on the country of the user.
- Account recovery, which is quite easy in web 2 due to its centralized nature is not so straightforward for web 3. Provide clarity to the user upfront through ux design and copy.
- Imagine the most possible errors or risky moves that a user can make in their journey, and alert the users about the consequences.
Don’t treat the web 3 user too differently from a web 2 user. Build trust and transparency with the user to develop pleasing and engaging web 3 products and apps.
Tool of the day
Fontpair
This website has a collection of very good fonts and also suggests font pairings that go well with each other. As a designer, if you are thinking about the right font pairings, this is the right website to check.
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