NFT on-boardz
In the second half of 2021, NFTs will have penetrated mainstream consciousness, with household name web2 brands collaborating with native web3 projects and renowned celebrities (SHAQ.SOL, anyone?) jumping on the jpeg bandwagon. As the first quarter of 2022 closes, NFTs have generated $12 billion in trades across chains, slightly increasing from Q3 2021's $10.67 billion trading volume. Notably, NFT activity on blockchains other than Ethereum is gaining traction, with Solana sales rising by 34% compared to the previous quarter. This indicates that the NFT market is expanding and gaining traction across the board. New people join the NFT space daily, making onboarding necessary and critical. We believe that as more people collect NFTs, the market will improve. Most of this expansion will focus on projects with a lower barrier to entry.
What will attract the next swarms of people:
Things that are familiar but made web3. Like video games! There's a lot of potential here, but it won't happen overnight. Cost and education remain barriers, while mass adoption is dependent on convenience.
User interfaces that are intuitive. Consider the day when we achieve the iPhone level of understanding with NFTs and are ready to go without a manual. The complexity of user onboarding decreases as crypto products improve user experience and become more intuitive.
Although there is growing interest in NFTs, they remain a niche market: 25% of U.S. adults are aware of them, but only 7% are active users. Does this imply that we have a problem with onboarding? NFTs are still in their infancy, as are the associated onboarding processes. There have been attempts to improve onboarding, but the search for a better on-ramp for new users continues.
Some issues to consider when implementing NFT:
There is an abundance of information, but there is no central location. How will someone with no knowledge of NFTs navigate Twitter and Discord (where information on NFTs can be found)?
Normies require more assistance. Unlike DAO onboarding, which attracts crypto-native people, NFTs have a broader appeal. NFTs are available to people who have never purchased cryptocurrency.
Not everyone can afford to purchase an NFT for alpha purposes. Certain NFTs provide access to groups and initiatives that provide invaluable insider knowledge. Even NFT "experts" are propped up, and even these cash grabs have a high cost of entry.
Best Practices for Onboarding
When some new entrants inquire about NFTs, they are actually inquiring about which NFTs to purchase. It's a reasonable question, but as the old adage goes, do your own research. Those who appear to be spoon-fed investment advice are likely to end up being an influencer's exit liquidity. Rather than directing them to the next big Ponzi scheme, onboarding should focus on building confidence by equipping users with the knowledge to choose which NFTs to purchase. Successful onboarding enables newcomers to develop self-efficacy through a fundamental understanding of non-fungible tokens, allowing them to fully participate in the ecosystem with the confidence to move, learn, and thrive in the land of non-fungible tokens.
Inclusion is a critical component of onboarding. At this early stage, we can't completely abandon the prevalent developer-centricity in crypto products. We can use simple language and elaborate on the slang and jargon that we can't help but use. It is beneficial to refer to previously learned concepts. We used analogies from everyday life to explain new concepts in this section. Confidence grows from familiarity. We should also be aware that most NFT communities are estimated to be 80%+ male, and we need to be welcoming to everyone, not just crypto/tech/finance bros. In the same vein, we should question certain practices that may not be as welcoming to newcomers. Whitelists, for example, lower the barriers to entry for new entrants who may not have the connections or time to grind for a spot while favoring those already in the ecosystem (note: nothing wrong with WL, but it advantages some more than others).
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