Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
The customer is always rightâŠ
Isnât that the mantra of every business (except Bank of America)? Customer-centered design is everything these days. UX/UI is make or break for a business, at least in consumer.
Think about itâââwhen was the last time you downloaded an app? It has probably been a while. As consumers we have been so inundated with technology and companies fighting for our attention that we become numb to it.
In a world of saturation where scarcity is dead, customer experience is king.
GAFA
Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple dominate the world for a reasonâââthey built the best customer experience. Google search is unparalleled, both in usage and performance. The same is true of Amazon (both for buyers and sellers), and Facebook has the best social graphs, Apple the hardware/software experienceâŠ
The Gods of Valley (check out my new book on the topic if you havenât) have monopolized the future with customer-centric business flywheels. The more data, the most users, the more sites⊠the better. This is Ben Thompsonâs aggregation theory in practiceâââthe dominant players just keep getting stronger.
And unfortunately governments cannot do much (more on this below).
Network Effects, Unstoppable Monopolies and The End of Innovation
GAFA are customer friendlyâââit is the best experience possible (thanks to tons of data, optimization and machine learning) and it is almost all free. Who is harmed here? Certainly not the consumersâŠ
What about privacy?
Bingo. That is the one and only critique that sticks. By giving up personal information, companies know way too much about you.
Unfortunately for the majority this is an acceptable trade, hence our current environment. If customers cared they would leave GAFA in droves, but they donât.
When was the last time you read the terms of service?
What about censorship?
Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple can crush your business (or voice) in a heartbeat. It takes no effort and is probably automated. The algorithm sees something it doesnât like, flags it and suddenly your channel/business/site is goneâŠ
This happens everyday (I experienced this threaten every day while building my business on Amazon, here is more on platforms and playing with fireâŠ).
Facebookâs Mantra âJoin us or we will copy you: âPlatforms, Marketplaces and Playing with Fire
This is something blockchains are perfect for.
But really, do average Americans care? Is ANYONE outside of the tech/crypto sphere really talking about this? If so, then barely.
The truth is, the majority are perfectly happy handing over their data and control to centralized companies. Most blockchain enthusiasts just donât get that.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST, YOU ARE NOT IN THE MAJORITYâââdonât assume that you are.
To change the world you need to change lives.
To change lives you need to change habits.
To change habits you need a damn good reasonâŠ
User experience
In business the tried and true means to move the needle is a combination of great product and great marketing.
Bad products fail, poor marketing prevents things from ever getting started.
Today I see two things in the blockchain community as a whole: bad products and bad marketing.
The marketing isnât the problem. Todayâs blockchain systems are not remotely ready for mass adoption.
Forgetting scalability concerns, the user experience getting started with blockchains is comparable to the mainframe era of computing. It is bad, it is hard. Even educated folks struggle, get their money hacked and donât understand the point: âitâs all about speculating/making money, right?â (which to be honest it is at this point).
There good news
This is how technology works. It takes time and effort, hype and investment. We are right on track. The excitement and rags to riches success of many crypto enthusiasts has got the worldâs attention and attracted a sea of talent. We are moving in the right directionâŠ
But letâs not delude ourselves into thinking a crypto future is right around the corner.
The big problem
Outside of the millions of things wrong with the usability of all major blockchain systems today, there is a more systemic problem that Iâd like to address:Â unity.
Prior to January 1st, 1999 every European country had its own currencyâââit was a nightmare. Currency exchange is a drain on the system: financially and in terms of efficiency. It was a pain to travel and extra expensive because of it.
And regardless of your political leanings, it would be impossible to argue that the Euro didnât made transacting across European borders simpler.
Take things a step further: bartering. Trading eggs for sheep or wood or cloth is even worse, imagine a world without moneyâŠ
That world is more or less what many ICOs are actively trying to build. If every app and every ecosystem requires its own unique tokens to participate, what the hell is the point. It is cumbersome and inefficient and going backwards as a society.
The issue of course is incentives. Developers are more incentivized to start/ICO their own project/token than build on existing protocols, further fragmenting the system. If I need 100 different tokens to use a 100 different apps, my wallet (and head) gets complicated pretty fast.
From a user adoption perspective this is a no go. Simply having to use crypto is bad enough. If using an app is like walking through a grocery store and wondering which tokens you need to buy, then this experiment might as well end nowâŠ
Closing thoughts
Greed is blinding folks to the self-destructive path we are headed down. Average Joeâs arenât going to do atomic swaps and manage a portfolio of dozens, 100s or 1000s of tokens needed in everyday life. How can we start to consolidate?
Asking people to pay money to use a social network or read a blog is bad enough, much worse (in their mind) than the status quo.
âFacebook and the New York Times are freeâââwhy would I pay tokens to like a post, share a video or read an article? What idiot designed this system?â
How can we get developers and techies to remember the most important principle: the customer is always right.
Action steps:
- Build with the lowest common denominator in mindâââaverage American reads at a 7â8th grade level
- Focus on interoperability over new protocols.
United we stand, divided we fall.
3. Build robotic systems to handle token exchange (if necessary) between applications and protocols
Please like/share this if you think Blockchain better get its act together when it comes to build better systems TOGETHER. It takes a village and city-states ALWAYS tear each other to pieces.
Learned something? Click the đ to say âthanks!â and help others find this article.
Hold down the clap button if you liked the content! It helps me gain exposure .
Clap 50 times and follow me on Twitter: @itsmattward
User Hostile Tokens was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.