How Would You Map Out Steem's Community in an Organizational UI/UX?
You might feel like you're on an alien planet when you first arrive on Steem, probably through Steemit. Heck, even I feel like I don't know what's on the network sometimes even after 18 months. The community has taken a life of its own since the beginning of this year. It was easier to navigate and get a sense of this place back in 2016.
For me, this calls for some kind of organizational user interface when the communities function rolls out. To do that, let's first inspect the structure of a traditional firm. In most companies, we'll find the following:-
- Production
- Research and Development
- Purchasing
- Sales and Marketing
- Human Resource Management
- Accounting and Finance
However, cryptocurrency communities like Steem are more than simple firms. They're all-encompassing entities, like countries of their own. It's like Reddit as a platform, including the company behind that operates the whole thing. This covers a wide spectrum of human activities. Here I'll expand on the previous list to make it more sensible with what we're observing in this space, especially on Steem:-
- Human Resource Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Research and Development
- Public Relations
- Accounting and Finance
- Information Technology / AI / Engineering
- Reception
- Security
- Purchasing
- Curation
- Investing
- Trading
- Education
- Sports
- Arts
- Science
- Entertainment
- Homesteading
- Cryptocurrencies
- Workshops
- Blogging
- Gaming
- Support Groups
- etc.
This is of course, a non-exhaustive list and probably not the best way to put it as well. In any case, I think it's fair to view Steem as a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Unlike traditional firms, anyone can choose to operate in various sub-communities (or departments) to their best interests and/or abilities instead of being stuck in one. In a world that might sometimes place too much emphasis on being a specialist, it would be wise to remember that we're all individual DAOs as well :P
A very visual UI/UX will help here for any visitors or even mainstays to get a lay of the land in order to be able to navigate effectively. Let's draw some inspiration from The Venus Project's circular city design.
Cybernated circular city designed by Jacque Fresco from @thevenusproject
So here's a simple layout of what I would personally like to see in the future as the core, front-facing application on Steem or any cryptocurrency communities out there:-
Of course, having a linear layout is fine as well. Just wanted to suggest that circular layouts could be better. It's also the easiest representation for VR in the future. For one, I'd be happy firing up a Steem app and have such a thing as the main menu. I think it helps with navigation and discoverability, encouraging users to be able to contribute to the best of their interests.
To complement such an organizational UI/UX, individuals could also specify their interests and subscribe to all the different communities. The system would also be able to recommend and find connections. In that sense, I think accounts should have meta-tags to describe themselves.
So when an investor-type checks Steem out (or any other currencies), they'd be able to navigate easily. Find out the info they need, interact with the community that's relevant, and all the good stuff. Same goes for any other kind of contributors looking in.
Encouraging participation and contribution will surely go a long way in forming a thriving community. So for all sustainable organizations, there definitely needs to be ways to retain newcomers and mainstays alike. This is why I think Steem's Proof-of-Brain and an organizational UI/UX will do wonders. Plus, we get to gauge the level of sub-community activities just by the level of capital generated in them.
Without Proof-of-Brain, a cryptocurrency may lose its potential over time as there are "core functions" like reception, market-making, sales and marketing, research and development, etc. that may be neglected. It'll be a waste of potential whenever any of cryptocurrencies get pumped in the markets when attention from newcomers are not retained.
What do you think? I'm especially interested in how crypto-communities can be structured to operate well into perpetuity. At the moment, there's plenty of disjointed channels and hidden passageways in most projects out there. It's time to unleash the potential of communities. The tough part is to have a balance between organizational simplicity and functionality.
Final word: Proof-of-Brain + Organizational UI/UX = Sustainable.
Resource on Proof-of-Brain
Steem's bluepaper: https://steem.io/steem-bluepaper.pdf
Smart Media Tokens website: https://smt.steem.io/
@kevinwong I agree with your points about some kind of organizational hierarchy UI/UX, because, like you, I remember in 2016 when one could easily scroll through the "new" tab, skim through all the content and curate fairly easily. Now it's more like a torrent of new voices and content flooding in.
I'm still on the fence about communities, because I'm not convinced it will help increase discovery and engagement more than it would create ever increasing walled gardens reinforcing the opposite behavior. From a relative standpoint, the Steemit community is still small, the retention of new users remains a very relevant problem and user engagement (for a social network) is significantly lower than users on competing platforms.
On the subject of the UI/UX, I'd love to see some Introduction to Steemit tutorials and videos and some clean and clear marketplace to introduce new users to the DAPPS built on the STEEM blockchain (Busy, BBChain, Zappl, DTube, etc) on the user dashboard. I think one major component to the retention problem is how easily (or not) it is for the new user to understand how Steemit works without having to perform a million searches or stumble through the dark. Just look at the angst each new user has around understanding rewards payouts, then see how it translates to vote weighting and so on.
Let's get a Steemit UI/UX which makes adoption and understanding easier.
I think the opposite will happen lol.. I would think it'll be easier to make sense of the community and easier for curation as well.
This is gonna be Steemconnect v2 i think, it'll be like a dashboard with permission apps. Not too sure if it'll be a discovery tool though.
I would put the witnesses at Steem's core. Whatever Steemit Inc would like to roll out in the Steem blockchain gets decided by the witnesses.
In my view Steemit Inc is not at Steem's core. If Steemit Inc ceases operation today, Steem can still continue.
Although I certainly hope that Steemit Inc will continue to dedicate their developments, support and resources to build and grow this platform. Look at what it is today, they are doing a tremendous job!
Yeah that's the whole point of proof-of-brain in the future when Steemit Inc's put everything in place :) you're right, witnesses should discuss and debate about any rollouts, like they've been doing.
It would certainly be super interesting if communities form around the functions currently performed by Steemit, Inc. And if the layout clarifies the structure of the DAO, i.e. which community performs which function. I don't know if and how much the global culture has matured to be able to create a real DAO (most people have been taught to complain or wait for someone else to take initiative), but how exciting it would be to see large groups of people chip in a little bit to fulfill at least some of the functions Steemit, Inc. fulfills currently! I hadn't thought of this before and I take it as the major part of your suggestion, hidden behind what initially seems to be just a UI/UX idea. :P
As for the pure layout aspect, it's a bit difficult to put myself in a newcomer's shoes and see what might be intuitive (although the circular layout you sketched seems intriguing to me). But one way of arriving at a visual presentation is through something known as design sprints. This methodology could be utilized to determine the design of the front page of the steemit.com website, showcasing its ecosystem of communities.
@kevinwong- As an executive who has handled and set up from scratch some companies/ projects from the ground up, I totally appreciate the important point that you bring up. In the real world, most of the promoters and stake holders in the companies initially focus purely on the product and core functions like quality and manufacturing that help them get their product made. Soon, however, they realize that merely the product does nothing unless all the auxiliary support functions like finance, logistics, sales, HR etc. are set up. I have been closely involved with that. In the real world, setting up company structures (both internal and client facing aspects) is fairly easy because employees are mostly not autonomous. They follow a hierarchical structure, mostly defined by norms set over decades related to various management practices. As you correctly pointed out, in a crypto DAO, though creativity will about aplenty, control may become an issue and most of the growth sometimes happens in a very unstructured manner because each individual behaves in a very individualistic manner. In such settings, management by objectives (thinking of the overall objective and defining the roles of sub-communities and then of self) is not possible unless such training is provided right at the beginning. Therefore, as we set up a structure as envisioned by you, I would imagine having a mandatory 'trainee' period where new member are trained in a virtual training center on various aspects of operating in the Steemit environment as well as are made familiar with their own responsibilities to the community.
I really would love to get involved if a UI project is taken up. I am fairly savvy technically but found it very difficult initially to grasp most of the aspects of Steemit. As you point out, after almost 15-16 months after Steemit launch, many of the things going on in the community are not perhaps monitored to the fullest extent to ensure that the primary objectives of Steemit platform are not compromised.
I can not perhaps help with coding but can certainly offer my management related skillsets for evolving a structure.
Thanks for this thought provoking post. Kudos on the idea. Upvoted full
Regards,
@vm2904
Thanks @vm2904. Not too sure about the trainee period thing, but the thing that I wanted to emphasise was an easy way for anyone to contribute to Steem's core functions (for improving the platform like how a company would) in a casual or professional manner. I think it's a good thing there's no clear objective or hardrules atm since we get to discover structures that otherwise wouldn't have a chance to emerge. But yeah at some point in time, some organisation could really elevate this network.
Understood. Perhaps the Steem developers team can release a latest vision statement about core functions, worked out by developers in consultation with Senior Steemians - then everyone who has appropriate skill sets can contribute.
yes I do feel like an alien on steem and its odd feeeling. Hope oneday soon it will turn into something maybe we will have VR using steem to meet people? that be a amazing
Getting great UI/UX will be incredibly important for the future success Steemit. As a new user to Steemit I did not understand that once a part of Steem you now have access to many different Apps. It would be great if there was an explanation/list of all commonly used services. DTube, Steepshot, Steemd, Busy.org - I only found out about these by reading a bunch of random posts and comments. I also think services should make it clear what % they take.
understanding voting power % was also never really explained I only understood this after seeing it clearly on steemnow/steemd.
I'm the type of person who enjoys searching out information but most users won't do this. I'm still not sure I understand why we have Steem Dollars and Steem.
I have not read up on the communities feature but I would like to see the ability to make lists/groups of my interests. I follow people in Crypto, platform developments, Travel, Photography, self-development etc before you know it your feed is too full to be useful.
I certainly agree that the structure here won't be anything like a traditional organization. I think a circular visualization is helpful but not quite accurate. The important thing is that this thing and all its parts are alive (organic).
I visualize it as a group amoeba with #hivemind. Each amoeba growing in size and power based on interaction and development but the entire cluster prospering due to the link. Each amoeba reproducing and further contributing to the whole.
There can be no real centralized UI/UX as most individuals view the cluster from a single point that suits them, though they benefit from the whole unknowingly.
Thanks for the post.
Keep Steeming!
I feel, as a newcomer- that the structure should be like an on no - with core and layer. The core is to be a steemit and busy etc. - a simple place when on be can access content, publish it as BFF get some basic info about his stats. The layers are to be additions that are more advanced, sophisticated and complicated. Say communities of art, poetry, programming and so on, a marketplace honoring steem and trading real world stuff.
That way a newcomer will be able to feel safe at first when he accesses the core of steem, and advance father when he feels ready for it.
@kevinwong As a UX designer myself, I definitely agree that the decentralized platforms need to start integrating UX and UI into their platforms. UX in the sense that they know who their users are (or rather they know the users they want to attract) and they design for them – making it easier to navigate to the content they would be most interested in and encouraging them to contribute to the community through likes, comments, posts, and curation. And UI (user interface) in the sense that the interfaces should reflect that.
Like you, I disagree with @lpfaust. The communities feature will definitely help with discoverability at scale. When there were a few people on here posting little content, a basic four nav approach works fine. However, in order to entice more users, the experience has to be customized and communities is a great step toward this.
This place is in need of a rapid prototyping community for apps & UI/UX. Not an expert here, just an idea writer every now and then.. check this old one out: https://steemit.com/idea/@kevinwong/blocksurf-your-gateway-into-the-new-world-economy
Is there something like a rapid mock-up ui/ux community out there?
I've never thought of looking at steem and cryptocurrency in general from the perspective of UI/UX. Now it occures to me that it is probably the mistake most of the failing shitcoins and ICO suffers from.
You made a point that Proof-of-Brain being the way of keeping it growing - it seems obvious in the beginning, giving that it's the basics of steem, and yet very ingenious, when you combine it with the Organizational UI/UX. It gives me plenty to think of, thank you!
I really think crypto projects out there need to use SMTs to complement their project, keep the wheels turning. Thanks for dropping by. Lemme know if you've any ideas about this or come across any good structures in online communities!
Bagus sekali
Hey Kevin, cranking out another good post I see. . I can appreciate the effort you put in to discussing some UI/UX ideas, but IMHO, some basics still need to be addressed in regards to UI and that is platform speed. Last time I checked we are slower than 90% of websites. . . We need more power Doc Brown!! Just my 2 cents. If we can increase speed and apply added structure/layers I’m all for it!
Pretty sure the dev team's working on it :). They're an awesome bunch, check out their talks during steemfest2.