Please describe your proposed solution
<u>The Problem: </u>
The nature of a decentralized world is that there are many different solution offerings for similar things. There are already numerous mobile wallets, and that number will grow. There are even more desktop wallets. There are many DEXes. Many NFT Marketplaces. In the Voltaire Era, there may have been many voting apps. For end-users, it’s hard to know which products and services are best for you.
And it’s not the case that there is always one service that is definitely the best for all:
- One service or product might be favored by developers, while another is clearly better for newcomers.
- One service offers one valuable perk, while another has a different useful tool.
- One product might be new and original today, only to be usurped by a new innovation from a competitor in a few months.
Keeping up with all the different offerings and knowing what is right for you is more than any one individual can reasonably do. We might try a few different tools if it’s for something important, but otherwise we rely on recommendations from friends, tips on Twitter/X, or reviews and comparisons that are posted in various places online.
The problem with all of these is that they are so limited:
- A single person’s opinion is just that, an opinion. It’s hard to really know if they have done much research or if they have a bias you can’t see.
- Any posted opinion, review, or comparison chart is a snapshot in time: it may be obsolete before the ink is dry.
<u>Our Solution</u>
Create a Platform for creating, maintaining, and collaborating around Comparison Charts for products and services on Cardano.
This proposal is for Phase 1 of 3: Concept.
The product will start to offer value back to the community even from its concept stage, however it’s also important to understand the end goal so that you can see what we are building toward: A Community-Operated “Comparison Charts” tool.
<u>This section</u> describes the big idea: ie, what we would be building toward in a “Phase 3” Product Launch.
<u>The next section </u>will describe what will build in this initial Phase 1: Concept .
<u>Phase 3: Product </u>(Envisioning the Future!)
Cardano Compass is a high-value ecosystem explorer, centered around creating and maintaining “Comparison Charts” for important categories of Cardano community products and services. Examples would include comparison charts for
- Wallets
- Identity solutions
- DEXes
- Payment tools
- Voting Apps
- Developer tools
- …the list goes on!
What would make this platform different is that the charts are:
- NOT centrally managed
- NOT a snapshot in time
Instead, it would be a collaborative community, where community members can participate in various INCENTIVIZED ROLES to<u> create and maintain </u>current and relevant Comparison Charts! To understand what different types of users can do, let’s look at it through the lens of different roles:
Role 1: Website User: a website user can browse Comparison Charts leave comments or questions in the comment feed for any chart.
Role 2: Verified User: a verified user is any logged in user. They can be anonymous, but their activity is tied to a logged-in user role, in order to control for malicious use and spam. A Verified User can do everything a Website User can do, plus:
Create a new Comparison Chart: If there is a Product or Service that does not yet have a Comparison Chart, a Verified User can submit any topic they think should be covered with a chart. This would immediately appear on a list of available topics.
Create a Bounty: Verified users can create or contribute to a BOUNTY. Bounties are the monetary incentives that remunerate users who are authorized to do the ongoing research on products and services and keep comparison charts up to date.
Examples of users who would be interested in creating bounties:
- Product and Service Providers! Companies or Individuals may put up a bounty because they want to see their product represented in a comparison chart
- Community Members: interested and invested community members may put up a bounty if they want to see a particular product or line item added to a chart.
Apply to become a Reputation User. Verified Users who value the tool and want to contribute to ongoing research and earn ADA can apply to become a Reputation User.
Role 3: Reputation User: A reputation user is a user who is authorized and encouraged to do the research involved in creating and maintaining Comparison Charts. Reputation Users would be akin to a small part-time job for those who serve in the role. There would be a limited number of spots available, and those in the role would be expected to participate by picking up bounties and executing the work in a timely manner. Reputation users who do not perform would be released from the role, opening the spot for another applicant.
<u>Phase 1: Concept THIS PROJECT</u>
This Catalyst proposal would include building the foundational infrastructure for the platform as well as building out starter charts for 2 categories.
Use cases in view for this Phase 1 proposal are the following:
- The Lido crew can create a new Comparison Chart (ie. “DEXes”)
- The Lido crew can create a new Comparison Line Item (ie. “Has Mobile App?”)
- The Lido crew can add a new Comparison Product column (ie. “Minswap”)
- The Lido crew can submit a score for a Product+Line Item (ie. Does Minswap have a Mobile App: No)
- The Lido crew can submit a comment or rationale for their score (ie. Minswap does not offer a mobile app for iOS or Android, however mobile users CAN access the DEX through their mobile browser!)
- Website users can visit the Cardano Compass home page
- Website users can view the initial Comparison Charts
- Website users can leave comments or questions in the comments section below a comparison chart.
Phase 2:
If this Phase 1 project is approved, we will build the Proof of Concept described above. Then in the next round of Catalyst we would propose a phase 2: MVP, which would include building the Infrastructure to support Verified Users & a Bounty System, to include soft launch and dry run where all the pieces are used as intended, and any bugs are reported and resolved.
Please View the FULL PRODUCT ROADMAP here, and bear in mind that this proposal is specifically for PHASE 1: CONCEPT
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oAqdE3o2H2ARCROaWEQGfzUyWzzN1ljOYwUUCmO9Xx4/edit
<u>Who will this product engage:</u>
Companies offering Products and Services: as a company offering a product or service, you want to see yourself represented on industry comparison charts! You think that your product is the best for some kind of user: Either you are the most competitively priced, or you have the best UI, or your latest release contains a feature that no one else has! Companies get access to a highly effective MARKETING TOOL by submitting bounty tickets to get new products and features added to a chart. Features will always be then evaluated and rated by impartial Reputation Users.
We saw this motivated engagement when we published a sample “Engagement Chart” article about mobile wallets on Lido Nation to test the waters.
https://www.lidonation.com/en/posts/cardano-mobile-wallets
Not only did the post get lots of engagement on Twitter, but one Wallet provider that we had not included reached out to us – in fact, they did us the favor of creating a UPDATED Comparison Chart Graphic!
Cardano Users: Users who want to find the best products and services in Cardano will view Cardano Compass as a great way to find comprehensive and updated information. The best part for users is: When they come across a chart that is missing a product or feature comparison that they would like to see, they can do something about it – by posting a bounty! When a bounty is fully funded, Reputation Users go to work to update the Comparison charts with updated date.
Community Participants: This product offers engagement at all levels, including a ways for small cohorts of super-users to serve as Reputation Users who contribute to the research that keeps charts up to date, and are rewarded for their work via the Bounty System.