Issue #6: What is Blockchain and how design is being used in the space?
Blockchain is one of the most popular tech trends at the moment and design has become a big part of it 🖥.
Hi there! 👋
Welcome to the sixth issue of [Navigating] Design at Berkeley, Design at Berkeley’s newsletter, and blog about navigating design at UC Berkeley!
This issue covers:
What is Blockchain 🤨
How is design involved and its benefits? ➕
Why is this intersection important? ✨
Resources for you to learn more/get involved! 📚
But first, some quick announcements!
🌱 Figma Decal x Design @ Berkeley
Collaborating with the Figma Decal - Hosting Open Labs!
Want to learn how to design, iterate, and prototype efficiently? Design @ Berkeley and Figma Decal are collaborating to bring you a three-week open lab session where you can learn how to use the popular design software Figma! You will have the opportunity to learn the basics of frames, components, prototyping skills, and more! Whether you are just beginning or advanced in Figma, you will be able to walk away with new skills to develop projects for your portfolio or even just design things for fun!
Lab sessions will happen twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays so you can come to either. The first lab session will be on October 10th at Evans 7 from 5:30- 6:30 pm PST. Wednesday lab sessions will be at Dwinelle 87 from 4:00- 5:00 pm PST.
🖍 Design [Showcase] at Berkeley
Take a peek into some of the biggest design clubs on campus and the amazing stuff they work on at our event “Design [Showcase] at Berkeley”!
Design at Berkeley is hosting its very first Design Showcase where you will have the opportunity to learn about project processes of different design clubs on campus in their show-and-tell presentation! Mark your calendar for October 27th at 5 pm! Stay tuned for location details on our slack or instagram!
👩🏻🏫 Design Advisors
Design @ Berkeley free mentorship resource!
Looking to get mentorship in design? Check out our new advisor list here https://www.designatberkeley.com/resources/advisors. Read their bios for what specific skill sets and areas of expertise they’re willing to advise on and reach out to them!
What is Blockchain? 🗃
Blockchain is a shared digital ledger (record of all transactions a business has completed) or a version of a distributed database that helps with record keeping and is able to share digital information 📄. However, the data cannot be manipulated, deleted, or copied, so each piece of data has only one owner 👤.
What does it store?
Blockchain supports digital currencies 💸 (think of it as forms of money stored online) such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more. Plus, it stores blockchain cryptocurrency transaction data 🗂. For example, Bitcoin has a blockchain that keeps track of and stores Bitcoin transactions ❗️.
The majority of the time the transactions and tracking asset happens in a business network 👩💼. Vital aspects of blockchain include:
It is maintained by every user.
It is decentralized so that every user on the blockchain has access to the complete copy of the transactions 📁. This helps create full transparency!
How is design involved?
Most of the time when we think about blockchain the first thing that pops into our brains is technology, privacy, or security 🔑. Hence, design gets somehow taken out of the equation. However, there are various aspects to think about when discussing design in blockchain and the following three are vital to creating successful blockchain products ✏️.
UX and Product Design
As blockchain becomes the place for buying digital assets, peer-to-peer and decentralization features have increased the need for such platforms to be more and more user-centered 👥. Blockchain technology is at a point in time that in order to create a more user-friendly experience users should be able to provide their trust, feel like they have accessibility to such platforms, and ultimately increase wider adoption 📈.
Blockchain comes with a lot of jargon and the need to understand the fundamentals (which on their own are hard) is very important in order to navigate such platforms or products. And, if Blockchain is going to be a widespread concept and underly a lot of the systems and processes we will ultimately use— the way we communicate such concepts needs to be friendly to all levels of users 😇.
There are various aspects to take into consideration when thinking about a user-friendly experience in blockchain such as:
Information hierarchy and how users can navigate the platform or application in an easy way 🧑💻.
Familiar experiences = better experience. Using more non-technical terms and icons will help the user smoothly navigate through the experience ⚠️.
The experience needs to be more intuitive and communicative than ever because there are so many working parts to making transactions or conducting any activity on a blockchain platform and users will always want to stay in the loop and be guided through the experience in a step-by-step manner. As designers, we don’t want to leave them wondering or confused about what will happen next, and instead, we should let them know of their progress 🫡.
Without UX and product design involved in the blockchain space, the trust and stickiness in the blockchain applications and products wouldn’t exist. Of course, blockchain technology is what attracts users but given its complexity and its potential for being part of each and every human’s life at one point in time—the need for designers to make such experiences and technology easy to understand is required more than ever ❗️.
Branding
There are many competitive products on the market and without effective branding, standing out might be difficult 🫥.
Blockchain technology’s global market size is valued at around USD 4.8 billion in 2021 and it is on a rise and expected to increase to USD 69 billion by 2030 🤑. Especially in the blockchain technology market, it is vital to create the right image of yourself as a product, service, or platform in order to reach the right customers.
Some aspects to potentially focus on when thinking about branding and blockchain and what to communicate:
Creating a focus on trust and security when communicating your vision and values as a big part of the user base is still on the fence about blockchain technology 🔐.
Making the complicated simple is innovation. Focusing on creating a visual system that is easy to understand and can communicate complex blockchain ideas 📝.
The focus on branding needs in the blockchain space is needed more than ever, especially when it helps bring a human element or a story to the space.
Why is this intersection important 🔀?
Technology in today’s world is changing at a rapid pace and with such a pace we tend to skip out on thinking about the true human impact of our creation. Blockchain currently has the power to replace the inherent structure of apps and services we utilize from financial management systems to tracking our health. And when we think of these platforms and services our first tendency is to think about code and algorithms as the major tools, however, they are not. There are various elements in the space that require a designer’s attention✏️ from user experience to creating easy communication. Also, as blockchain becomes more and more part of our everyday life it will change the way we interact with one another—Therefore, it is vital for designers to be present in the process of creating blockchain technology as well especially when thinking about human impact ⚠️.
Thanks for reading!
Interested in learning more about blockchain and UX 🧐?
~ Check out this article: Artkai
Interested in learning more about blockchain and branding 🙋♀️?
~ Check out this article: Branding
Check out some web3 influencers’ work and their thought process in the web3 design world 🌎 :
Looking for more resources to learn about blockchain and design 📚?
Always feel free to reach out to the Design at Berkeley Community via Slack if you ever have questions about design opportunities and its intersection with the blockchain! 🥳
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