Focus on the User Experience or Lose Customers in Web3
Welcome to the Summer Series of Culture Factor. I’m Holly Shannon.
When I was speaking and interviewing at NFT NYC I noticed themes that almost every one of my conversations touched.
This new Web3 digital space is made up of artists, collectors and businesses and when we stopped to scratch the surface, these underlying themes all pointed toward our most basic, fundamental, evolutionary need: connection.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to break down the whys, not just the whats, of this new digital space we find ourselves in.
Hello Culture Factor Family, and welcome to the summer series.During my interviews at NFT NYC, a theme that revealed itself underneath the Web3 technology was the different kinds of user experience.
Technology accessibility, fiat (or, real cash money)vs. cryptocurrency, social media, personal expression, community, and education these are all facets of user experience that I’ve noticed directly affect people’s engagement in this space — both literally and metaphorically.
I’ll start with some examples. Let's talk about accessibility.
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Transcript
Holly Shannon
Welcome to the summer series of Culture Factor.
I'm Holly Shannon. When I was speaking in interviewing in New York, I noticed themes that almost every one of my conversations touched.
This new web three digital space is made up of artists, collectors, and businesses. And when we stop to scratch the surface, these underlying themes all pointed toward our most basic fundamental, evolutionary need connection. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to break down the whys not just the what's of this new digital space we find ourselves in.
Hello, Culture Factor family, and welcome to the summer series. During my interviews at NFT, NYC, a theme that revealed itself underneath the web three technology was the different kinds of user experience, technology accessibility, Fiat, or real cash money versus cryptocurrency, social media, personal expression, community, and education. These are all facets of user experience that I've noticed directly affect people's engagement in this space, both literally and metaphorically. I'll start with some examples. Let's talk about accessibility. First, Emily Drewery from voice was one such company and interview, let's listen in.
Emily Drewery 1:33
So our whole mission for existing as a platform is to make it easier for people to enter the NFT space, specifically artists. So we've taken away a lot of the barriers that largely revolve around the technology and kind of understanding and knowing what's happening in this space and made a platform that has all the benefits of what 3d technology and blockchain technology but without the confusing tech aspects, so you can sign up with an email address you can purchase with credit cards, and it feels very much like a familiar experience. So the hope is to onboard more people, and then they can learn as they go. So we also provide a lot of educational resources for people who are minting their first NF T's or collecting their first NF T's in order to welcome them into the space.
Holly Shannon 2:19
Emily makes some pretty good points. And it seems to be a common thing that businesses are thinking about how to get more users, it makes sense. If you are a business, you have to have a consumer base, right? When I spoke on stage, I actually covered the basic point that companies have to reduce this friction. If the user is aggravated from moment one using these emerging technologies, it's likely they will abort their mission. So let's listen in as we talk with Nico Nicolau of Moonwalk.
Nico Nicolau 2:52
So the two co founders Schiffman Dawn and Greg Consiglio, they started in the NFT space with another company called BlockParty. And through their experiences there and through the needs of just talking to customers, they say figured out this is where NF T's are moving, this is where it's coming. And we need to create a no code solution. So really democratize this and make it available to everybody. And even to this point, the company Moonwalk is about a year and a half old.
You know, just talking with clients at different levels and stages. We're listening to feedback, there's a lot of things that people come on board and say, Hey, we're looking for this. So it's an evolutionary process, there's been a lot of things that we've changed, we've actually had to remove a lot of our onboarding videos because the technology moves so fast, and we're building and adding so much. So, really just pay attention to the market, see where it's moving. And we're really trying to build tools that are for the masses. We're not not specific to just one one avenue.
Holly Shannon 3:49
I get this too, because it seems like this might make it easier to join in. being overwhelmed by tech and education is a great way to drive away interest. I had this conversation with Vladislav Ginsberg of Block Party and episodes 102 and 103. I'll add those in the show notes if you haven't listened yet. But what's interesting to learn is that's where the two companies separated. However, I love that they stayed committed to democratizing the user experience and removing as much friction as possible. They stayed in the game by listening to what people needed and wanted as they jumped into this new way of creating the voices of the people started coming together and growing stronger. The people who were entering the space were coincidentally looking for the same thing. They were seeking the support of each other, or the more popular theme community. I think Emily confirms their experience to next. Let's listen in again with Emily.
Emily Drewery 4:51
I think there's also like a lot of the conversations that we're having we were having last year in 2021 where people are saying, I don't I don't do NFT because I don't know how or because I don't get it. And so they hadn't even tried a lot of people, it was like this emotional barrier of entry. And then they once they got up the confidence to do it, they were hit with this technological or financial barrier of entry, right. And so we have to solve for all of those at once. It's going to be a, I think a long time before everyone universally understands the value of NF T's. So we have to, we have to be prepared for that. And we're really shepherding people through the process, it takes a long time. Because it's what you're doing is permanent, right. And artists like feel the weight of that. And so as much of that weight that we can lift and carry for them, the better the happier we are.
Holly Shannon 5:48
My next chat is with Will Pemble of Coaster Punks. He was literally my funniest interview today in Episode 107. And PS, I'll also put that in the show notes. I had the good luck to meet up with him in New York. So let's listen in.
Will Pemble:
I've got people whose whose parents I've met and spoken to who are in high school, building the virtual reality version of the Coaster Punks ride. And I've got, you know, really old guys who've been like building physical models and doing artwork for companies like Disney for decades and decades and decades. And it's really fun to see them start to connect and communicate. Because you know, Phil over there doesn't know, dinky do about how to render roller coaster track in, you know, some VR tool. And Griffin, who knows how to do all of that stuff, has never touched an exacto knife in his entire existence. And so it's really cool to see how those two compare the tools. Because it's only the tools that are different. It's not the inspiration, it's not the imagination, it's not even the vision, they see the same stuff, it's just the tools they use, have changed a little bit. And that's a really, really neat thing to see a, you know, a 60 year old and a 15 year old understand each other.
Holly Shannon 7:09
So Will found community through his work in this space. But most importantly, his community bridges generations, it's what I think will be the most wonderful and powerful fallout of the pandemic. But also so exciting that communities are finding ways to communicate with a variety of tech with the same goal in mind. I get really excited when you have the perfect example of diversity of voice, all age, gender, and race melt away if we do this right. Next up is Tyler Caffey of Bullieverse. We met the first night in New York and he gave me a VIP ticket to a yacht cruise. We had some fun together. And I promise you, we didn't cause too much trouble. Tyler is the community leader at believers. So he lands squarely in the middle of this theme. So let's listen in.
Tyler Caffey:
Yeah, we basically want to look to create experiences for web to brands, you know, sports teams, clothing companies, you know, TV shows, it's all the same, right? So whatever it is, whether it's an NFT collection that wants to be brought to life, or whether it's something like a sports team where we can in our Metaverse build a stadium for them, where their fans from all around the world can come together, watch maybe their games, access a merch store for them that they can buy, you know, like physical items that are Metaverse, wearables, as well as physical items that they can be shipped to their house, whatever it may be, you know, that's what we want to do is we want to build the bridge, from Web 2 to Web 3. And, like, it's hard to put into words just because there's really, like, there's so much that you can do with it. And we just want everybody to be included, everyone to feel like this is a great place for them to hang out in the metaverse with great people, and experiences tailored to really whatever they want. So, you know, I was working in corporate America fell out of love with that very quickly as I started to, you know, get more immersed in web three. And what really drawn me in was the community aspect. So I look for projects that have strong communities, because at the end of the day, that's what is the foundation for a lot of them. So the ones that will ask are the ones that treat their communities, right. And you know, just, it's more of just building those connections for me, and that's what I love.
Holly Shannon 9:34
Next up is Tori Madison. Her story is from a place of heartbreak, and yet she worked her way through it. And guess what she found? Yep, you guessed it. That's right. community. So I grew up in one particular worldview and one particular faith which was the Christian faith and I lost a sibling when I was 23 years old. He passed away from a heroin overdose and
Tori Madison 10:00
That was about nine, nine years ago or so. And so that kind of led me down a path of seeking why are we here is God for real, it's happened for real, where's my brother, I really miss him. But then it also led me and to, you know, wanting to understand our minds and get to the root of drug addiction and why, and why we take drugs for whatever reason in order to heal, which led me down a path of more holistic healing, and like finding more natural ways to heal the body, from pain and trauma and emotional distress. And so, really, like, I went down this religious path, and I became a missionary, I lived in Nepal, for three months. And it was it was a really interesting experience. It taught me a lot about being present and taught me a lot about community, and how much I love and enjoy community. But ultimately, it led me to Tableau. And that is where I was working remotely. I was working for the public finance company in public finance, I was in sales. And so I started doing my research and studying these different cities throughout the US, because those are my clients, I sold a platform to help cities get out of debt. And that being said, I then met, the mayor didn't meet the mayor, but I started reading about the mayor of Miami, and how he's very forward thinking and very progressive is very tech centric. And he actually developed the Miami coin. And it was through this coin, that the city of Miami actually generated $5.25 million dollars in January, when the market first dipped. And they were able to use that money to fund the city projects to create affordable housing to lower taxes for these things that might not have been included in their regular budget. So it was a combination of both my own personal spiritual journey. But also, you know, being in the public finance space, studying finance, and then realizing that wow, like, you know, there's a Miami coin. Well, the country of El Salvador is creating this as legal tender, which caused me to do more research and I just was fascinated. And so I started going to the to limb crypto club, and it was really just in January that I got involved in the space. And then there's also a project called the more women in crypto we meet every Tuesday night and it's just about getting more women into the space. teaching people how to set up wallets teaching people if they're want to, you know, buy cryptocurrency, or if they're want to create an NF t how do they do that. And so it's really just community building.
Holly Shannon 12:41
Our common theme is community and it drew Tyler and Tori to the space. They are creating community for others as well. We'll found a way to bridge the generational divide and show people how community can exist minus the barriers. And everyone you heard from today is in one way or another trying to make this world accessible for everyone. So I ask you to share with me your story of community. I'm on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and you'll find all of my social tags in the notes. And wherever you leave me a message know that I will engage with you because you are my Culture Factor family and others will as well and I may even share it on the show. So I hope we can continue this conversation because clearly it's an important one. This summer is coming in hot right? Please share this episode of Culture Factor now and listen with your friends. I think it's so fun to share these conversations. And I will be delivering a couple episodes a week throughout the summer. And I hope you will join me and share in my community thanks.
Season Four of Culture Factor is produced by Pale Blue Studios