https://thomashallgren.com/edenoneos-dac-voting-app-fractally
EdenOnEOS is a blockchain-based community voting application inspired by Dan Larimer's book "More Equal Animals." The project aims to enhance democratic processes through user-friendly design, focusing on user research, pain points, and personas. Key features include playoff-style voting, a consensus-o-meter, and real-time feedback mechanisms. Despite challenges in technology and user experience, the application successfully facilitated community voting, achieving high completion rates and positive user feedback, while also identifying areas for improvement in future iterations.
Description
Building a community voting solution based on Dan Larimer’s book, “More Equal Animals”
Project background
EdenOnEOS is a pioneering project aimed at revolutionizing democratic processes through the use of blockchain technology. As the lead UX Designer, I significantly contributed to the UX/UI research and design of the product. This tool harnesses the power of the EOS blockchain to foster a new generation of Digital Autonomous Communities (DACs), community builders, and influencers.
Project details
The objective is to develop a community application that incorporates the solution proposed in Dan Larimer's book, "More Equal Animals".
Deliverables
- User Research
- User flows
- Wireframes
- Lo-fi Prototype
- User Testing
- Mockup Prototypes
- Style Guide
- Hi-fidelity designs
My roles & responsibilities
As the Product Design Lead for this project, I was responsible for:
- Conducting research
- Performing user testing
- Wireframes, Mockups, Prototypes
- Designing UX / UI
- Developing brand design
The technology team
The technology team served as the core leadership for the project. My role was to create a user interface for the application that delighted users while adhering to the technology leadership's intentions. All members of the team were well versed in the underlying technology and the intent of the proeuct.
Understanding the user
- User research
- Personas
- Problem statements
User research
Meeting with the community was important to the process. We were contemplating user flows outlined in Dan Larimer's DAC plan. Preparing the community early to participate in the process was headed by other members of our team. Being in the meetings and being able to hear the cancers helped identify pain points.
Community meetings →
Five-six-member meetings
User research: Summary
To gain a deeper understanding of user needs, I interviewed members who participated previously in DAOs or on community associations, or boards.
User research pain points
Pain Points | |
Technology | "I'm concerned about the limitations of current technology and want to explore innovative solutions." |
Effectiveness | "I need to find ways to efficiently mobilize my community." |
Being Ready | "I see a problem that most people don’t want to talk about in Sweden, and I’m looking for a technology solution to be ready when things fall apart." |
Integrity | "Community technology is run by corporations that hinder honesty and integrity.” |
Personas
Persona 1 | Adult male looking to unite his community |
Age: 34, Education: Masters in Computer Science, Home town: Rapid, MI, Family: Married with 2 children, Occupation: Software Engineer | |
Problem statement | James, a software engineer specializing in blockchain, is eager to contribute to the development of cutting-edge technology inspired by Dan Larimer's book, More Equal Animals. |
Pain Point | "I'm concerned about the limitations of current technology and want to explore innovative solutions." |
Persona 1 | Adult female community activist |
Age: 29, Education: Masters in Community Development, Home town: Berkley, CA, Family: Married, Occupation: Community Activist | |
Problem statement | Jane, a community activist and mother, is eager to unite her community to promote sustainable living, especially among mothers in rural areas. Inspired by Dan Larimer's book, 'More Equal Animals', she believes in harnessing technology to achieve this. |
Pain Point | "I need to find ways to efficiently mobilize my community." |
Persona | Retired Swedish Man Interested in Government Reform |
Age: 70, Education: Masters in Political Science, Home town: Stockholm, Sweden, Family: Widower with 3 grown children, Occupation: Retired Civil Servant | |
Problem statement | Lars, a retired civil servant and political activist, is passionate about reforming the democratic process in Sweden. He sees potential in utilizing blockchain technology to build a transparent and accountable coalition government. Inspired by Dan Larimer's book, 'More Equal Animals', he is eager to adapt these principles to Swedish society. |
Pain Point | "I see a problem that most people don’t want to talk about in Sweden, and I’m looking for a technology solution to be ready when things fall apart." |
Persona | Russian Male, Passionate about Government Transparency |
Age: 24, Education: Bachelor's in Social Sciences, Home town: Moscow, Russia, Family: Single, Occupation: Professional Networker | |
Problem statement | Nikolai, a professional networker and social activist, is passionate about promoting transparency in the Russian government. He sees potential in using blockchain technology to facilitate a more transparent and accountable governance system. Inspired by Dan Larimer's book, 'More Equal Animals', he is eager to adapt these principles to Russian society. |
Pain Point | "Community technology is run by corporations that hinder honesty and integrity.” |
Product Problem Statement
Our users, varying from software engineers to community activists to retired civil servants and professional networkers, are seeking a blockchain-based solution that enables efficient community mobilization, fosters government transparency, and provides innovative solutions to current technological limitations. They are passionate about utilizing technology to revolutionize democratic processes and community building and are in search of an intuitive, user-friendly application that can help them achieve these goals.
Challenges
The design of the EdenOS app presented unique challenges. These included enabling member onboarding and voting via Zoom video meetings, and incorporating playoff-style election processes. This is all very new so the the complexity of these features was amplified by the absence of similar models. This was compounded by the inherent usability challenges of the EOSIO blockchain technology. Despite these immense technology hurdles, the goal was to develop an effective, user-friendly application. This was achieved through collaboration with the most skilled front-end and EOS blockchain team on the planet - literally (no other development team could have delivered this project, or in anywhere near our timeframe).
User Flows
The user flows were designed in accordance with Dan Larimer's plan for the Digital Autonomous Community (DAC), incorporating extensive input from the entire technology team. These flows identified a significant number of potential issues at the early stages.
Development of the application information architecture
I crated the following user information architecture diagrams with the development team to confirm our understanding of how our users would navigate to key features in the application. These included:
- Membership
- Community
- Treasury
- Elections for voting
2. Voting
The voting user flow also contained several significant "pain points" related to voting percentages, time allotment, blockchain signing, and video capture and upload. Our technology team was aware of these challenges and collaborated with me through numerous iterations to simplify this essential process for the user.
Key Feature Designs
The following designs present the final product outcome. These results provide insight into the complexity encountered during the design and early development stages of the app, as shown below.
Playoff-Style Small Group Voting
The playoff-style elections allowed any member to advance to the next level in the community through persuasion. In a group of five or six, a member had to persuade at least 2/3+1 members of the group (including voting for oneself) to vote for one member to progress. This required notable leadership, purpose, and persuasion skills from each member. If a member didn't receive the required votes, they wouldn't advance, and that group would not have a representative to communicate with upper levels.
