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The multiple levels of web3 UX

Creating a larger framework for web3.

Jon Crabb
UX Collective

There are so many new elements that separate web3 from web2, such as gas fees, tokens, wallets, and smart contracts, that we need to think way beyond just the UI. There are multiple levels.

We need to improve all of those levels to create a good user experience.

A diagram showing four layers: visual, functional, access, technology
How to visualise the different layers of Web3 UX

The User Journey is a Long and Winding Road

Consider a standard app. Nothing Web3, but just a popular app on your smartphone that you use regularly. The actual UI of this app is just the last element in a long string of experiences beginning in the real world, crashing through numerous physical spaces, into digital interactions, through a whole mess of different hardware and software until you eventually find yourself hovering your thumb over a button someone designed.

You probably had a thought, like “play music” or “check directions” or “buy clothes,” which was prompted by something in your physical surroundings.

The “UX” of that experience begins long before you take the phone out of your pocket.

This is under-appreciated when looking at Web3, so let’s take an example.

International payments

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