Designing a decentralized incentive userfeed network
Allocate your attention more effectively. Get the real value out of the information.
Research
The way we interact on the internet is very hectic at this moment. We are connected to many types of services and it is up to us to get the real value of the content that we are consuming. Most likely we need to search for that value because it is hidden from us among many disturbing factors created by third parties trying to get our attention and offer something to us. Usually what we see is not even connected from what type of profile we are browsing from. It is not related to the content we are interested in. It is purely designed for the profit of the third parties. Meaning our attention is taken away from us instead of being focused on what we actually want. It is about the time to start thinking about the information we consume, how it is structured and interconnected, in a new way and this is why I have created a concept for the dApp called Blockfeed. I would like to share with you the process that led me towards designing an interface for it.
Different personas
Logging with different personas could allow you to get the content that is strictly related to your persona so for example, you wouldn’t get a content related to your professional self if you want to search for social related content. In such a way your attention goes towards the desired content and allows the algorithms to show you a content that you want to see. It is easier to categorize the information and build a valuable network around a specific theme or a hashtag. In addition to that, the services that you might be using connected to the chosen persona might get you a personalized content knowing your online behavior which again allocates your attention more effectively.
Get rewarded for the content
By creating a truly decentralized system, each user becomes his/her own center, and is rewarded (or paid) directly for his/her participation rather than through mediators such as google, facebook, or ad networks, while companies gain both in terms of monetization and brand value because they are able to act ethically and treat their users with respect and dignity–Kin blog
At this moment people who are not fully involved with social media, meaning they don’t make money out of it, they are just posting things without being rewarded for it. And this is going to change. Whether it will be your artwork or an article, any person will be able to tip you for posting it if they find it valuable. But also liking something which doesn’t have a monetary value attached to it will get a new meaning. Likes will add a value to your identity, meaning spreading the information will be rewarded too, and will give you more power when you vote or like something. So any type of interaction will be loaded with some value but it will be the value given to you, not to the network where you are posting. The middleman is being removed and people who are in charge of creating feeds, people’s interaction will curate the content, not the algorithms created by the company owning the network. Algorithms will be working in your favor.
Information relevance
You are exposed to a better content that fits your profile. In a world of ‘fake news’ and misinformation being spread on social media, cryptographically verifiable messages coming from digital cats could become a preferred form of communication–Userfeeds
In the environment where meaningful content gets upvoted/ gets a better exposure people are motivated to create good things. Popular content automatically gets tipped more. This system doesn’t give that much exposure to fake news for example. With numerous readers verifying the validity of news articles, false information will come to light with more accuracy than if a single source or panel of judges was doing the same job. How does this system work? You have a reputation score associated with your identity. When you promote accurate information, your reputation increases. Factual articles shared by legitimate users will rise to the top and the fake news will automatically end up at the bottom of the list.
Content generated by bots might become a popular way to display information. They will be analyzing your profile and exposing you to things that you might want to see. Bots might soon become your friends.
Get paid for watching ads
Users have lost their privacy, face increasing malware risks, pay high charges to download trackers and ads, and suffer slow speeds. This has driven the adoption of ad blocking software, which is now on over 600 million mobile devices and desktops–BAT blog
Advertisers’ past dependency on commercial and social media has made us the targets — not willing participants — in marketing. Your attention shouldn't be taken from you and not appreciated. The content that you watch should be an act of a pure will and not a powerless exposure. If you get paid for placing your attention on a content the advertisers are also more aware of what they are showing and they will be more motivated to show you the right thing. And you will be also more prone to watch something related to you so automatically value is being created in this situation. Watching ads in exchange for the right to watch free content is like paying a negative price for stuff you don’t want to see before paying a positive one for what you seek.
Navigating value
A token-curated registry uses an intrinsic token to assign curation rights proportional to the relative token weight of entities holding the token. So long as there are parties which would desire to be curated into a given list, a market can exist in which the incentives of rational, self-interested token holders are aligned towards curating a list of high quality. Token-curated registries are decentrally-curated lists with intrinsic economic incentives for token holders to curate the list’s contents judiciously-Mike Goldin blog
From now on imagine that every step you take on the internet leaves a digital footprint and creates a value attached to that action. Every website you enter ads a node to your registry re-shifting the existing order of your personal ledger. Each item that you interact with on the internet will store value and be tokenized which makes it easier to create a valuable network to serve you. Each topic/meme/idea/goal has an associated token of value that is used to curate information inside it. Those tokens loaded with value will lead to the distributed content curation. Navigating the internet entropy we turn to attention-allocation engines that provide curatorial services in exchange for sovereignty over the portion of attention they handle. Facebook is de facto owner of the ~40 minutes we spend on its feed every day.
Distributing the influence
Consider that influence and creativity will be the main drivers of wealth in the age of artificial intelligence, automation and even Universal Basic Income-Jet8 blog
Brand and consumer relationship should seek another form of interaction which brings more values to both parties. For example, brands could create their own tokens in order to curate activities to engage with their audience. These tokens could help incentivize direct participation in these brand ecosystems. Customers could receive personalized offers. Users that promote brand could get rewarded for that and later on exchange those rewards for digital or physical goods. A distributed economy should allow anyone anywhere to become either the earner or the consumer. One of the earliest examples could be airlines and credit card companies, which built points-rewarding systems designed to get users to spend and participate, rewarding them with redeemable awards. However, the blockchain and the growing trend towards tokenization of activities makes gamification a perfect approach for promoting new micro-economies. One of the primary problems that many companies issuing tokens are experiencing is getting users to spend instead of hold. Which means that new forms of anticipation and engagement must arise.
Brainstorm
Sketches
User flow
Media
Menu
Notifications
High fidelity
UI library
Business goals
- Provide user with the most relevant content based on their interaction
- Let user seamlessly interact with their wallet
- Give user opportunities to react to the content in a meaningful way
- Let users decide what advertisements they want to watch
- The users’ actions determine what appears in their feed, we do not control it
- The user data is decentralized so we can’t have a look at it, the user owns the data
User goals
- Instantly react to the content provided
- Be able to see the most relevant content based on their network and profile
- Receive notifications when wallet balance has changed
- Upvote and tip for good content
- Receive offers, suggested content
- Withdraw/ deposit tokens
Challenge
The challenge that I have faced here is defining what functions the application should have that would actually suit the purpose of the Apple Watch. Since Apple Watch is designed for lightweight interactions, information shown should be quick, easy to access and dismiss. The desired app should support fast interactions and focus on the content that users care the most. So i had to think how to design the functions that allow users for immediate actions, instant rewards without diving too much into the content itself.
Main functions
Clickable prototype
Detailed features
Intro. Intro screen showing you that the feeds hold a value and are curated.
Personas. Choose a personality with which you going to interact on the social network. Type of personality will determine what content you are going to see.
Content. Choose the type of content that you want to see.
Tokens. List of all the tokens that you posses. The size of the circle depends on the amount of the token that you posses.
Withdraw/ deposit. Users are able to withdraw the tokens into their own wallets or put more tokens.
Balance. You can see your overall balance and all the tokens that you hold. So you can see USD balance and each token balance.
Token balance. List of all the tokens that you posses. The size of the circle depends on the amount of the token that you posses.
Update. Whenever you receive funds you will be notified.
Text content. You can read articles, browse through links suggested to you matching with your persona and you can react to that content.
Article. The app will display the headline and most important part about the article and give you an opportunity to read the full article on your phone.
React. If you like the content you can react to it. You can tip for it, you can upvote it or like it.
Tip. You can tip for the content you like and you can do that with the token of your choice.
Choose token. You can choose the token with which you will tip.
Tokens. You can choose the token with which you will tip and you can the balance as well.
Video. You can view the videos that have been recommended to you and for some in order to access you will need to pay.
Music. You will be suggested with music directly from artists. For some pieces you will need to pay in order to listen.
Images. You will see advised photos, as well as curated galleries from bots.
React. You can instantly react to the photos with just one tap.
Curated feed. You can view the feed from a bot. Go into the history what this bot has shown you.
Curated feed. That feed will consist of all the content categories.
Campaign.You will be able to see the campaigns from the companies showing you how much you will gain and what the campaign is about.
Campaign. You can accept the campaign or just react to it giving it a certain value.
Notification. You will be notified when you have news and it will directly take you to the app
Further readings:
Don’t hesitate to get in touch via email, or👇
