Project background

EdenOnEOS is a pioneering project aimed at revolutionizing democratic processes through the use of blockchain technology. As the lead UX Designer, I significantly contributed to the UX/UI research and design of the product. This tool harnesses the power of the EOS blockchain to foster a new generation of Digital Autonomous Communities (DACs), community builders, and influencers.

Project details

The objective is to develop a community application that incorporates the solution proposed in Dan Larimer's book, "More Equal Animals".

Step 1: Meet as Group before and after breakout rooms for instruction and feedback.

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Step 2: Breakout Meetings

User Research Summary

To understand user needs better, I interviewed members with experience in DAOs, community associations, and boards.

User Research Pain Points

User Personas

Persona 1	Community-Focused Software Engineer
	Age: 34, Education: Master's in Computer Science, Hometown: Rapid, MI, Family: Married with 2 children, Occupation: Software Engineer
Problem statement	James, a software engineer with blockchain expertise, aims to develop innovative technology inspired by Dan Larimer's book, "More Equal Animals."
Pain Point	"I'm concerned about the limitations of current technology and want to explore innovative solutions."

Persona 2	Community Activist
	Age: 29, Education: Master's in Community Development, Hometown: Berkeley, CA, Family: Married, Occupation: Community Activist
Problem statement	Jane, a community activist and mother, wants to unite her community to promote sustainable living, particularly among rural mothers. Inspired by Dan Larimer's book, "More Equal Animals," she believes technology can help achieve this goal.
Pain Point	"I need to find ways to efficiently mobilize my community."

Persona 3	Retired Swedish Civil Servant
	Age: 70, Education: Master's in Political Science, Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden, Family: Widower with 3 grown children, Occupation: Retired Civil Servant
Problem statement	Lars, a retired civil servant and political activist, seeks to reform Sweden's democratic process. He believes blockchain technology can create a more transparent and accountable coalition government. Inspired by Dan Larimer's book, "More Equal Animals," he wants to adapt these principles to Swedish society.
Pain Point	"I see a problem that most people don't want to talk about in Sweden, and I'm looking for a technology solution to be ready when things fall apart."

Persona 4	Russian Social Activist
	Age: 24, Education: Bachelor's in Social Sciences, Hometown: Moscow, Russia, Family: Single, Occupation: Professional Networker
Problem statement	Nikolai, a professional networker and social activist, advocates for government transparency in Russia. He believes blockchain technology can enable more transparent and accountable governance. Inspired by Dan Larimer's book, "More Equal Animals," he aims to adapt these principles to Russian society.
Pain Point	"Community technology is run by corporations that hinder honesty and integrity."

Product Problem Statement

Our users—from software engineers and community activists to retired civil servants and professional networkers—seek a blockchain-based solution that enables efficient community mobilization, fosters government transparency, and overcomes current technological limitations. They are passionate about using technology to transform democratic processes and community building, and they need an intuitive, user-friendly application to help achieve these goals.

Challenges

The EdenOS app design presented unique challenges, including member onboarding and voting via Zoom video meetings, and implementing playoff-style election processes. The complexity of these features was heightened by the lack of existing models to follow. The inherent usability challenges of EOSIO blockchain technology added another layer of difficulty. Despite these significant technical hurdles, we developed an effective, user-friendly application through collaboration with the world's most skilled front-end and EOS blockchain team—truly (no other development team could have delivered this project, especially in our timeframe).

User Flows

The user flows were designed following Dan Larimer's plan for the Digital Autonomous Community (DAC), with comprehensive input from the technology team. This early-stage analysis helped identify potential issues before development began.

Development of the application information architecture

I created the following user information architecture diagrams with the development team to establish how users would navigate key features in the application. These included:

1. Membership
2. Community
3. Treasury
4. Elections for voting

2. Voting

The voting user flow presented several significant "pain points" involving voting percentages, time management, blockchain signing, and video handling. Our technology team recognized these challenges and worked closely with me through multiple iterations to create a streamlined process for users.

Key Feature Designs

Below are the final product designs, which illustrate the complexity we encountered during the app's design and early development phases.

Playoff-Style Small Group Voting

The playoff-style elections enabled members to advance through community levels via persuasion. In groups of five or six, members needed to secure votes from at least two-thirds plus one of their group (including their own vote) to progress. This process demanded strong leadership abilities and persuasive skills. Without securing the required votes, a member couldn't advance, leaving their group without representation at higher levels.

Rapid prototyping rank-order vote test

Below is a prototype of a quick rank-order voting system where users could reposition candidates using arrow buttons.

Rank-Order Vote Lo-Fi Prototype Testing

We conducted internal testing to understand user experiences, identify issues, and confirm design decisions. This helped us ensure the final product would be functional for users.

Distilling Early Testing Feedback

To better understand the user testing results and identify pain points in the process, I created an Empathy map.

Empathy Map: Feedback Example

Conclusion: No Rank-Order Voting

After evaluating the rank-order vote test, we determined that rank-order voting wasn't suitable for this version of the application. The main issue was the lack of an inclusive reward system—only advancing users who received a budget would benefit.

We later incorporated rank-order voting into a subsequent version called "Psinq" developed the following year.

Minimal Styles Guide

EdenOnEOS's first version was designed as an iterative process. I created a basic style guide and components, following web standards for the color palette.

New Voting Process UX/UI

Voting functionality was restricted to election periods, which informed our decision to place it at the bottom of the navigation menu.

Desktop Voting UI

Mobile Voting UI

Our initial design assumption was that users would primarily vote on desktop devices.

Mobile usage results: Surprisingly, 30% of users opted to vote on mobile devices, with many simultaneously participating in Zoom meetings while voting.

Understanding: The ability to join meetings and vote from any location significantly increased participation, enabling users who might otherwise have been unable to engage in the process.

Hi-Fi Mockup and Prototype of Single-Choice Voting

Prototyping the Mockups to Test the Flows

I conducted daily reviews of the hi-fi mockups with the development team. While they led the project's technical direction, I translated their functionality requirements into the final designs through our discussions. The hi-fi mockups and prototypes helped the team better grasp the human factors I was addressing.

3 Key Voting Components

During the voting design process, three essential components underwent extensive iterations before reaching their final designs.

1. Choice Box

User testing shaped the voting component interface. Users preferred a single-select checkbox over a traditional radio button for two reasons: checking a box felt more like casting a vote, and the format aligned with UX standards by not requiring an initial selection.

To foster transparency, voting results appeared in real time. Members could modify their votes throughout the meeting, with instant feedback showing who voted for whom and each member's vote count.

2. Consensus-o-meter

Our "consensus-o-meter" component evolved through multiple iterations to handle its inherent complexity. Space limitations and the requirement for self-voting shaped the final design. Through iconic and written active feedback, users could vote confidently, always aware of their current voting status.

3. Voting "pi-mer"

During testing, we found that without a timer, users needed prompting to complete their voting. Since meeting durations and stages could vary, we implemented a color-coded time system.

We created a timing component—nicknamed the "pi-mer"—to show users their remaining discussion and voting time. The timer starts green with 40 minutes remaining, turns yellow at the halfway point, and switches to red when time is running low to prompt users to finish voting.

Hi-Fidelity Invitation Prototype Recordings

User Testing

We recorded test meetings to capture responses, looking for both positive and negative feedback to measure overall community sentiment. Here's an example of the video upload service we tested.

EdenHi-Fi Mobile Invitation Flow

The Eden invitation flow required displaying multiple steps to users with educational information throughout. Our members later helped us simplify this flow.

EdenHi-Fi Mobile Consensus-o-meter

The consensus-o-meter tracked group consensus. When users didn't vote for themselves, it showed an open space that indicated the group was out of consensus.

Hi-Fidelity Invitation Prototype Link

Prototype User Testing

We provided users with simple testing instructions:

1. "Vote for one member."
2. "Use the consensus-o-meter to align your consensus with other participants."
3. "Be aware of the timer."
4. "Note, you can change your vote."

Testing Results:

The results were very positive. The feature worked well, and users completed voting with overall positive feedback.

"Being able to change my vote helped us complete the meeting early."

"When I noticed the timer turn red, we quickly finished our voting."

"The consensus-o-meter helped when we all voted for someone who hadn't voted for themselves."

"Using the checkbox was not a problem. It made sense."

Learnings

• Simplified designs
• Prototypes in motion: The ‘temporal’ experience of prototype helped reduce clutter and improve user focus on key tasks.
• Focus user attention: Any piece of information that does NOT provide SIGNIFICANT REAL value to the user at that time should be removed.

Empathy ,ap of feedback

Mobile-first responsive Application release

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Results

• 94% of groups completed voting within the allotted time
• 88% of groups achieved consensus
• One group failed to reach consensus due to disagreement
• One group did not achieve consensus due to failure to vote
• Two members encountered technical issues

Positive User Testimonials

"This solution works for our community."

"This is a refreshing take on what a DAC should be."

"Everyone was able to talk and share."

"This is amazing, I got to know so many awesome people."

"I feel like I'm part of a community that cares about its members."

"Experiencing this kind of democratic process in such an innovative way was truly remarkable."

Areas for Improvement

There was friction between members over voting.

Combining video within the voting application would help.

Outcome and Conclusion

While the application achieved its core purpose, the user experience needed refinement.

The community found the app intuitive and successfully cast their votes. Our success stemmed from a user interface that displayed only essential information for decision-making.

We identified the need to streamline the process, potentially using off-blockchain solutions.

Collaboration and Active Prototyping

Active prototyping was crucial for meeting our launch deadline, allowing us to identify and address key issues early in development.

Community Notion Page:

🌳Eden 🍏

©2025 Thomas Hallgren