Blockchain Should Think More About Mobile And UX

Let’s face it — there is absolutely no way to deny that technology has absolutely revolutionized human civilization forever. While we used to work to create our own food through agriculture, we can now click on a device that fits in our pocket and has products and goods of all kinds shipped to our front doorstep within a day or two, and access information immediately and for free when it otherwise would have taken a considerable amount of time and money. There are all sorts of emerging trends that many believe will continue this revolution, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and others. Two of these trends are undoubtedly blockchain and mobile.

There are more people than ever that believe that blockchain will be quite disruptive. We know that Facebook, which is used by billions of people, is looking to launch its own stablecoin within months in order to potentially disrupt the global payments sector. One of the most powerful — and arguably the most powerful — retailer in the United States, Wal-Mart, is already using blockchain to track its lettuce. The truth is that many believe that blockchain will make many industries much more effective in terms of efficiency and transparency.

More Mobile

While there are all sorts of cryptocurrency proponents that are eager to see how blockchain affects the world, the truth is that we aren’t exactly utilizing it on a daily basis. For example, there’s a good chance that you aren’t using blockchain to send money to your friends, or paying that cup of coffee with cryptocurrency. Many believe that one of the keys to mass adoption is to focus on mobile.

This is hard to deny when you consider that over 90% of millennials own smartphones. Doesn’t matter what the activity is, whether it’s checking the news, checking out social media, paying for products — there’s a very good chance that it is all done on mobile, and that is an area that many blockchain startups are not concentrating on. There are many people that believe that decentralized apps are the future — but unless one has a blockchain smartphone — it might not be as easy to implement and for users to move through.

A company that understands that blockchain does require more mobile integration is LTO Network, which, in collaboration with Capptions, is focused on giving blockchain a “mobile face” and has already implemented so-called anchoring in the applications they provide to multinationals and governments. Capptions was founded in 2015 and has been focused primarily on overall efficiency, to aid with regards to team workflow, operations, and compliance. In partnership with the LTO network, the company will now use blockchain capabilities, which is significant considering that it boasts 75 enterprise partners and around 20,000 end-users. The idea is that blockchain can improve transparency with all of these partners, and help with overall productivity, saving companies massive amounts of time and energy.

It doesn’t matter how your sector focuses on compliance or accountability, the truth is that the immutable nature of blockchain can absolutely transform the space. While there are companies that used to be able to manipulate records, allowing for corruption and fraud — now, that is not an option. This can affect the restaurant that is trying to cheat hygiene standards, the hospital attempting to take shortcuts that don’t benefit the patients, or the clothing company who wants to use sweatshop labor instead of manufacturing their clothing ethically.

LTO Network is committed is concentrating on simultaneously increasing data privacy while still recognizing that transparency leads to productivity, which is one of the reasons why many are excited about its potential. The idea of decentralized workflow is being discussed more and more, and the LTO Network even won the Blockathon by the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security due to its ambitious goal of combining private and public blockchains to enable collaboration between organizations. Their collaboration with Capptions is only one example of how LTO might work to revolutionize the way that companies, organizations, and even governments, work.

More Awareness, Better UX

While the retail business used to focus on the customer, the digital world is now focused on the “user”. We know that responsiveness and having a pleasant experience on a website or app is one of the most important aspects for success, because a user will continue to stay loyal to a brand, company, app, or social media network, thanks to the design layout and user experience. This is something that blockchain startups don’t seem to consider. While the blockchain sector is often focused on meaningful partnerships, the truth is that the dAPP sector is still in its early stage.

This isn’t a new idea, either, but rather a fact that many high-profile individuals in the space recognize. One of the most respected individuals in the cryptocurrency space is Vitalik Buterin, and with good reason. He is the co-creator of Ethereum and widely considered to be one of the most important influencers in the crypto sector. He has tweeted about the fact that improved UX will be a catalyst for mass adoption to his 800,000+ Twitter following.

There are many that point out that education is a huge part of the user experience, and that there are many who might believe that they understand the word “blockchain” as a buzzword that might need additional information and clarification on the subject. There is no doubt that startups need to work towards making blockchain much more understandable so that the masses can have some type of concept with regards to the technology before we reach mass adoption, the same way that a learning curve was necessary before everyone started using the Internet.

Of course, it doesn’t matter how much you educate or market, if the actual execution is not user-friendly. Users these days are more fickle than ever, and want to feel as though they are interacting with apps that are directly responding to their needs, and companies of all kinds have to make sure that whatever blockchain applications that they are considering — that this is implemented. Even if there are clear advantages to a blockchain-based project, the sheer fact that the user experience is superior somewhere else might be enough to change their minds. This is simply part of the cold hard reality that consumers everywhere have smaller attention spans than ever.

In summary, many executives believe in blockchain, but while corporations are interested — the users have to be drawn in by incredible user design, and that involves catering to mobile in a way that the blockchain sector isn’t currently. Of course, this is sure to change, and 2019 might be the year where more cryptocurrency-related companies realize the importance of mobile technology and UX.

Blockchain Should Think More About Mobile And UX was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.