#65 Every Bitcoin Story Matters

Why the future of financial freedom needs UX designers in every country

Sitting in a room full of people a man named Evan stands before us and shares how he peacefully fought for his freedom in his country. Around him sat a diverse group of people ranging from builders to activists. He shared how he was imprisoned for a peaceful non-violent protest which he led. Evan was fighting for freedom not only for himself but for his country. One thing he said stood out:

“What you are building is not technology, it is not software, you are building hope”.

However this is just one story, there are many unheard stories of local people, of activists that we are not aware of. When we all have knowledge of these stories only then can we build products with insight.

The below 2 visions came from identifying a need in the bitcoin ecosystem to build knowledge and share it openly with builders:

Vision 1: A Global Bitcoin UX Knowledge Base

Imagine a database where bitcoin UX designers from all over the world are conducting on the ground research and identifying user needs and friction points. This could split into 2 directions user needs; which are demographically specific and user needs for activists. Then imagine them pooling this into one open database which is open for every builder to use. Any one could dive in, present a search term or use the data to build for a very specific target audience. The result? Less generic onchain and lightning wallets, more wallets that are built based on stories.

Vision 2: A Bitcoin UX designer in every country

The Africa Bitcoin UX Bootcamp is well underway in terms of planning and organization. It’s a first step toward this vision. Its been a packed few weeks, so much of collaboration and so many enthusiastic UX designers from Africa wanting to make a dent in the ecosystem, and they will, we have no doubt about it.

Educational Foundation

• The Bitcoin Design Guide will be used as a resource in every single bootcamp, making sure that designers are educated with the fundamentals of how and why the tech works the way it does, as well as good design principles.

• Next to that the UX research toolkit will shine. We must understand who we are building for and what their UX needs are. The new generation of UX designers will appreciate that research is not secondary but will see it as an essential part of the building process.

A Roadmap from local research to global impact

Phase 1: Education & Training

• Launch the first ever Bitcoin UX bootcamp in Africa helping local UX designers to build on their skill sets

• Teach them foundational UX research skills using the UX Research Toolkit

Phase 2: Local Research & Testing

• Identify local bitcoin wallets for usability testing & build relationships with developers

• Conduct usability tests at the conference or at local meetups

• Document user friction points and needs from a specific demographic, for example African users or activists

Phase 3: Builder Engagement

• Share research findings with wallet developers

• Host public problem-solving sessions in the Bitcoin Design Community

  • Encourage UX designers to work in public with wallet builders to solve the UX challenges together.

Phase 4: Knowledge Sorting

• Analyze patterns and common user challenges

• Prioritize UX features, either by region or user group (activists)

• Create actionable UX insights for builders that lead directly into UX solutions

Phase 5: Open Knowledge Network

• Create a centralized database for findings which is accessible to all builders

• Ensure the insights on the database are searchable and that builders can prioritize features based on the data shown to them

The above describes a spiderweb approach and it will ensure that local insights feed into a global knowledge data base. Builders will then have knowledge and insight to build more targeted wallet solutions based on real user stories.

Feel free to drop comments on this version here and figma mind map here, both still in a very basic form where ideas are forming.

Lessons learnt & Progress

Lessons learnt

• Share your product vision with many people, some will tell you your visions are impossible → this is good it will push you to re-invision it.

• Communicate and tell stories → Communicate often and tell stories. Many of us work remotely and those ideas that live in our heads can be heard by no one unless we share them. This invites those we shared with to problem solve with us and creates an environment or working in public.

Progress

Everything that we've been working on in the last 3 weeks are all leading towards the 2 visions mentioned above:

• Joining Open Design Guide calls

• Creating a video on the Open Knowledge network vision and sharing it with others.

• Africa Bitcoin UX Bootcamp:

  • Much time spent screening and communicating with applicants

  • Kicking off a Bitcoin UX Bootcamp plan with Christoph in terms of the structure of activities for the 2 days.

Looking Forward

These visions will take a while to build, they will be a challenge both professionally and from a technical standpoint. Fellow Bitcoiners reading this, I’d like to encourage the power of collaboration. It’s not only fun but will result in robust solutions being built which will support everyone.

There is no me or I there is only WE.

We will build together

Call to Action

If any of the above interests you or you have ideas, I warmly welcome them.

Totally open to improving on these visions with your ideas. My virtual office “door” is always open, and I'm excited to hear your thoughts. 🙏🏽

Mo.