Web3 user experience sucks. Everyone who works in web3 knows it and is aware of the fact that until it improves, mass adoption will remain a pipe dream. As for why web3 UX hasn’t been improved sooner, well, it’s not for lack of effort or funding. It’s just that creating a radical blockchain-connected version of the web requires a lot of moving parts and cobbling them together in a way that abstracts all that complexity is hard.
User experience issues that prevent new users from getting into web3 include a lack of understanding of blockchain technology, a lack of user-friendly interfaces, and the complexity of setting up a wallet and purchasing cryptocurrency. It’s a challenge that no single project can solve. But collectively, through chipping away at it, web3 designers are getting closer to realizing the goal of user experience that is pleasurable rather than passable.
The following projects have done more than most to achieve this promise. Thanks to their efforts, web3 is getting better by the day.
MetaOne Wallet
Wallets are the first point of contact for anyone entering web3. They’re how authentication is undertaken and transactions are made. Creating a both easy-to-use and powerful web3 wallet is arguably the killer app web3 has been waiting for. Achieve that and everything else should fall into place. MetaOne Wallet can lay claim to being one of the most user-friendly wallets to grace web3 yet.
Designed for web3 beginners, it minimizes unnecessary points of friction, doing away with the much-maligned seed phrase altogether. It also requires no private key management or hardware wallet connection, stripping away surfeit features to focus on the stuff that matters to web3 novices. Stuff like their built-in AAG Academy where users can learn all about web3 and the Metaone Dapp Store that scans and approves all included dapps to ensure they are safe. The future of web3 wallets will look like MetaOne.
Ankr
Web3 user experience isn’t just about getting connected: it’s about what you can do once you’re connected. If blockchain interactions are sluggish and service disruptions persistent, it can seriously impair the user experience. Ankr fixes it by providing a geographically distributed and fundamentally decentralized node infrastructure that makes it easy for Web3 applications to deliver users a smooth experience.
Ankr provides robust multi-chain infrastructure that enables reliable, accurate communication and integration with multiple blockchain networks. It also supplies one-click staking solutions that enable users to start earning rewards with minimal effort. In addition, Ankr provides an SDK so developers can port Web2 games over to Web3 while maintaining optimal UX.
Tidefi
It’s no secret that the most popular use case for decentralized finance within web3 is trading. It’s also no secret that executing onchain trades is still suboptimal and fraught with risks, particularly for new users. Stories abound of users being tricked into signing malicious transactions that drain their wallet; succumbing to phishing attacks; and losing money through rug pulls and price discrepancies, such as when trading illiquid tokens.
The promise of DeFi is alluring: the reality, however, is often underwhelming. Tidefi is a decentralized finance project that’s intent on delivering a CEX trading experience within a DEX framework. All the benefits of onchain swapping, such as no custodial risks, coupled with a framework that is intuitive and easy to master. Tidefi’s decentralized exchange is one of the best implementations yet of a DEX: it’s fast, smooth, and forgiving to new users, who can find their way around with minimal instruction.
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Improving UX calls for developing user-friendly interfaces and simplifying the onboarding process through things such as seedless wallet creation and gas subsidies to cover initial network fees. There’s also a need for more intuitive and user-friendly dApps that can be used with web3, providing a login experience akin to web2 but with all the benefits of being blockchain connected.
The projects profiled here are leading the race to develop web3 products that are welcoming, responsive, and secure. Thanks to their efforts, the web3 space is already in a better place and the best is yet to come.
Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay
