decent design
©2024
Timeline: February 2020 - present
Team: Superbloom, Decent Patterns
Tags: local first UX, UI/UX, visual identity
the story
Decent Patterns (or Decentralization, Off the Shelf) is a design project supporting practitioners in decentralization through interface, content, and service design. The main resource is a library of tried-and-tested design patterns, along with a glossary of terms and a research report detailing the needs and gaps we see in the current ecosystem.
Decent Patterns' mission is to develop UX components and tools that developers and designers can use to build better user-facing applications backed by decentralized architectures. To achieve this goal, the Decent Patterns team – with the input and assistance of the larger community – is working to create a library of decentralization resources, assets, and design patterns.
The pattern library is inspired by the architect and design theorist Christopher Alexander, co-author of “A Pattern Language.” Much like the way Alexander developed his patterns, our design patterns follow a structural template for clarity and convenience. Each pattern provides a design solution to a recurring design problem which we have observed and discovered in our hands-on research work. The library also includes examples, best practices, learning resources, and potential problems that may be encountered when using a given pattern in real-life development work. Ultimately, the design pattern library seeks to provide a roadmap to repeatable solutions and serve as a reminder of the countless capabilities of design.
outputs
Decent pattern web design & maintenance
In late 2019, I joined the project as a UI/UX designer and one of the four maintainers of the project. Based on the original creative concept from designer Ignatius, I made sure all designs efficiently incorporated key visual elements and brand colors, fulfilling all requirements regarding AAA standards and localization.So far, my contribution has included:
- Graphic design: 01 one-pager, 01 research report, branding, illustration, and icons set
- Web design: mobile + desktop mockups
- UI/UX: User research and UX testing
- Others: Website maintenance, new UX patterns review, community meet-ups, and workshop planning and facilitation
Barriers to the adoption of web monetization
The innovative Web Monetisation API has the potential to create a viable alternative to targeted advertising as a means for website content creators to generate revenue. Yet despite this promising possibility, confusion and significant barriers to adoption remain on behalf of both the sender and receiver of payments
From October 2020 to March 2021, the project team received research funding from Grant for the Web to address the barriers to the adoption of web monetization. The report and accompanying zine work first to highlight common questions and challenges encountered by end users, and then offer a set of recommendations for opportunities to expand web monetization adoption in the future.