Seeing in Systems: Sketching A Native Ethereum Design Language by Alex Singh
We often lament how the ""UX of web3 doesn't work more like web2."" Those are easy fixes. What we really need is a native web3 design language. One that guides us to design with Ethereum, not against it. To achieve that, we must learn to see in systems.
Our world is a complex collection of natural & artificial systems. Our software are systems, too: networks of dependencies, features, users, incentives & interactions. Yet none of our design tooling or ""best practices"" is designed to help us work in this mindset.
Let's invent the “Third Layer” of the design stack: A systems-first approach that goes deeper than ""UI"" or ""UX"", in order to:
1. Create a safer & more inclusive user experience.
2. Understand our work as one part of a larger ecosystem.
3. Develop adaptable interfaces that shape themselves to local culture.
4. And give us new tools & mental models to solve major usability problems.
Seeing in systems won't only help us, it may even enable today's legacy online platforms to solve their major challenges: against attention hijacking, mass data collection, state propaganda, racial violence, radicalization, harassment & exploitation.
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