Please describe your proposed solution.

We propose to embed social features into the existing marketplace. These include user profiles, real-time chat, and community forums where collectors and artists can discuss digital art trends, share collections, and connect with one another. This will make the marketplace more personable and interactive, enhancing user experience, and fostering a vibrant community within the Cardano ecosystem.

In the evolving landscape of digital marketplaces, experts often have differing views on the best approach to user engagement and marketplace growth.

One opinion, primarily held by traditionalists in the e-commerce and blockchain spaces, places a heavy emphasis on transactional efficiency. These experts advocate for streamlined, frictionless user experiences that reduce barriers to purchase and facilitate rapid, high-volume trading. They argue that marketplaces exist fundamentally as platforms for exchange, and their value derives primarily from their ability to facilitate quick and easy transactions.

However, there is a growing school of thought, especially within the digital and crypto-art worlds, that emphasizes the importance of community in shaping marketplace dynamics. These proponents argue that in an increasingly digital world, users seek out platforms that offer not only transactional capability but also opportunities for social interaction, community building, and knowledge exchange. They believe that these elements drive user engagement, enhance loyalty, and ultimately, contribute to the marketplace's long-term sustainability and success.

We align ourselves with the latter viewpoint, positing that our marketplace will benefit greatly from the integration of social features. While we certainly acknowledge the importance of transactional efficiency, we believe that our community-focused approach will set us apart and catalyze growth in the Cardano ecosystem.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Our proposal aligns well with the "Products & Integrations" focus. We aim to improve an existing product – a digital art marketplace on Cardano – by integrating social features to enhance user experience and provide value to the wider Cardano community.

Existing digital art marketplaces on Cardano primarily focus on transactions, with minimal social interactivity. Our proposed solution fills this gap by facilitating community-building and user engagement, making our solution unique and impactful in the ecosystem.

With the maturity of the Cardano ecosystem, necessary infrastructure, applications, and integration possibilities are available. Using these resources, our solution will integrate social features into the marketplace, making it more personable and user-friendly.

The importance of our proposal lies in its potential to enrich the Cardano ecosystem, opening up new ways for artists and collectors to interact, share collections, and discuss trends. This innovation will attract more users to Cardano, thus driving further adoption and innovation.

By integrating social features and fostering an interactive community, we address the existing gap in user engagement within the marketplace. This will drive greater platform usage, foster stronger relationships between artists and collectors, and boost the overall ecosystem's vibrancy. Ultimately, it will attract more users to the Cardano ecosystem, enhance the value of NFTs traded on the marketplace, and stimulate further growth and innovation.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Active and Engaging Marketplace Community: A thriving marketplace where users are actively engaging with each other, discussing digital art trends, and trading in the marketplace. An increase in the number of meaningful interactions over time will be a clear indicator of success.

<u>Growing User Base:</u> A consistent increase in the total number of users, indicating successful onboarding of artists, collectors, and digital art enthusiasts to the Cardano ecosystem.

<u>Increasing Transactions: </u>A steady rise in the number of transactions performed on the marketplace, indicating active trading and utilization of the platform.

<u>User Satisfaction: </u>High user satisfaction rates, derived from regular feedback and surveys, indicating that the platform meets user needs and expectations.

<u>Diverse User Representation: </u>A diverse user base, including fair representation of women, indicating inclusivity and a wide appeal of the platform.

<u>Community Feedback: </u>Positive feedback and support from the Cardano community, indicating the platform's value and impact on the Cardano ecosystem.

<u>Interoperability & Sustainability:</u> An interoperability platform where we can integrate with other websites makes the Cardano community more robust and sustainable.

Our goal is to create an engaging, diverse, and thriving community within the Cardano marketplace. With the support of the Cardano Catalyst community, we are confident our project will enrich the Cardano ecosystem, making it more personable, connected, and user-friendly.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

<u>Milestone Delivery: </u>Each phase of the project, as outlined in the timeline, serves as a measurable milestone. Upon completion of each phase, we will produce a comprehensive report detailing the completed tasks, issues encountered, solutions implemented, and the status of the next phase.

<u>User Feedback: </u>User feedback is a powerful auditing tool. During the beta testing phase, and after the final launch, we will actively solicit user feedback on functionality, usability, and overall experience. This feedback will be shared with the Cardano community and used to iterate and improve the platform.

<u>User Engagement Metrics:</u> We will monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as total number of users, number of transactions performed, and number of meaningful interactions. Increases in these metrics over time will indicate that the platform is successfully engaging users.

<u>Regular Updates:</u> We commit to sharing regular updates with the Cardano Catalyst community. These updates will include progress reports, milestone delivery updates, user feedback summaries, and KPI reports.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Our team consists of Stale (previous marketplace work, developed his own gaming project built on Cardano), Nic (built the first Ethereum collectible with Cardano utility), Kieran (previous marketplace work), Adawg (previous marketplace work), and Chadi (artist, customer facing, & BD experience) We’ve been in the Cardano space collectively for over 10 years and are confident in our ability to deliver on our proposal. Updates will be posted regularly on Socials and on our website.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

<u>Implementing Social Features: </u>Our goal is to provide a platform for users to interact and engage within the marketplace. This includes developing user profiles, chat functionality, and community forums. The success of this goal can be validated by the successful implementation of these features and their usage by our users.

<u>Growing the User Base: </u>Our user-friendly social features aim to attract more artists and collectors to our platform. We will validate the effectiveness of this approach by tracking the growth in our user numbers.

<u>Fostering Active Community Engagement: </u>We aim to create a vibrant and interactive community where users actively engage with each other. We'll validate this by tracking metrics like daily active users, time spent on the platform, and engagement within the forums.

<u>Increasing Marketplace Transactions: </u>By enhancing user engagement, we aim to foster a thriving marketplace where users regularly trade digital art. We will track the number of transactions as a measure of this goal's success.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

1. Design & Development of Social Features (Months 1-3): This includes conceptualizing, designing, and developing the user profiles, chat functionality, and community forums.
2. Testing and Integration (Months 4-5): Once the features are developed, we will test them rigorously to ensure their flawless operation, followed by their integration into the existing marketplace.
3. Community Building & Engagement Initiatives (Months 6-7): We'll conduct community outreach and engagement activities, like webinars, community discussions, and promotional campaigns, to foster a vibrant community.
4. Monitoring and Iterative Improvements (Months 8-10): We'll closely monitor the performance of our social features and the community's feedback to make necessary improvements and enhancements.

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

• Phase 1 - User Profiles and Chat Functionalities: In the initial three months, we will focus on designing and developing user profiles and chat functionalities. This includes 50 man-hours for user interface design, 200 man-hours for backend development, and 50 man-hours for initial testing.
• Phase 2 - Community Forums: Over the next three months, we will develop community forums. This requires an additional 80 man-hours for backend development, 40 man-hours for frontend development, and 80 man-hours for testing.
• Phase 3 - Beta Testing: For the next two months, we will launch the platform for beta testing. We will invite a select group of users to use the platform and provide feedback. This will involve 10 man-hours for managing the beta testing, collecting and analyzing feedback, and making necessary adjustments.
• Phase 4 - Final Launch: After incorporating the feedback from the beta testing phase, we will work towards the final launch of the platform.

Throughout the project, our team will ensure rigorous testing and iterations based on user feedback. With our well-defined plan and experienced team, we believe the successful implementation of this project is feasible within the specified timeline.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Phase 1: User Profiles and Chat Functionalities

- Design

- UX/UI Designer: 40 hours x $70/hour = $2,800

- Project Manager: 10 hours x $75/hour = $750

- Development

- Blockchain Developers: 200 hours x $100/hour = $20,000

- Testing and Iteration

- Blockchain Developers: 50 hours x $100/hour = $5,000

Phase 2: Community Forums

- Development

- Blockchain Developers: 80 hours x $100/hour = $8,000

- Testing and Iteration

- Blockchain Developers: 80 hours x $100/hour = $8,000

- UX/UI Designer: 40 hours x $70/hour = $2,800

Phase 3: Beta Testing

- Collecting and Incorporating Feedback

- Further Development and Bug Fixes

- Blockchain Developers: 10 hours x $100/hour = $1,000

Phase 4: Final Launch

- Marketing and User Acquisition

- Ongoing Development and User Support

Man-hour Budget: $48,350

Server Costs: $11,650

Total Budget: $60,000 translated to ADA is 200,000 ADA

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Our team includes:

• Chadi Nassar as Product Lead: Responsible for the overall management and direction of the project. This includes the overall project timeline, budget management, and communication with stakeholders. The KPIs include timely delivery of each phase, staying within the project budget, and achieving project goals.
• Phase-wise KPIs:
• Development & Integration: Successful design and integration of social features.
• Testing: Successful completion of testing with minimal critical issues.
• Community Building & Engagement: Achieving targeted community growth and engagement metrics.
• Monitoring & Improvements: Timely identification and implementation of necessary improvements.
• Stale, Kieran, & Adawg as Blockchain Developers: Takes care of the development and integration of social features. The key deliverables include the functionality, reliability, and security of the social features.
• Phase-wise KPIs:
• Development & Integration: Successful coding and integration of social features.
• Testing: Resolving identified issues during testing.
• Monitoring & Improvements: Timely implementation of improvements based on user feedback.
• Nic as Community Manager: Handles community outreach and engagement activities. The key deliverables include community growth, engagement, and satisfaction.
• Phase-wise KPIs:
• Community Building & Engagement: Achieving targeted user base growth and engagement levels.
• Monitoring & Improvements: Implementing effective strategies based on community feedback and engagement data.
• Full team as our QA Tester: Ensures that all developed features function correctly and seamlessly. The main deliverables include issue reports and validation of resolved issues.
• Phase-wise KPIs:
• Testing: Thorough testing of social features and successful identification of any issues.
• Monitoring & Improvements: Regular testing during the improvement phase and validation of issue resolution.

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The implementation of social features is expected to significantly enhance user engagement, growing the active user base and thus increasing marketplace transactions. This will further incentivize more artists and collectors to join the Cardano ecosystem, contributing to the overall growth and development of the ecosystem. Therefore, the investment will be a catalyst for growth and increased adoption of the Cardano ecosystem, which far outweighs the initial project costs.