Zcash User Research & Engagement (ZURE), Phase 1

Community Grants Applications
33

I just submitted my grant proposal for Phase 2. Please let me know your thoughts.

Also, my last update for Phase 1 was posted here.

Title:

Zcash User Research & Engagement (ZURE), Phase 2

Applicant name:

Peacemonger

Pitch: A one-liner elevator pitch version of your proposal

ZURE studies ZEC usage among early adopters to drive engagement and inform tech development. The goal is to increase Zcash adoption.

Total Request (USD):

$35000.00 USD

Have you previously received a grant from Zcash Community Grants (formerly called ZOMG) or ZF?

Yes

Please provide details:

Zcash User Research & Engagement (ZURE), Phase 1

Are you seeking or have you received funding from other sources for this proposed project?

No

Applicant background:

Former head of product marketing at ECC. 8 years of product marketing, 7 years of content management and strategy, 15 years of copywriting, 15 years of startup marketing.

Description of Problem or Opportunity:

  1. The problem ZURE began solving under its first grant is the lack of focus on Zcash Product users, i.e. users of the private payments system. See Intro to ZURE for more info.

  2. ZURE findings were presented at ECC’s Zeboot and shared with the community in a public report. This effort put payment users in focus; the next step is to dig deeper into early adopter personas in order to identify key needs, motivators, and barriers to ZEC usage as well as points of friction for each persona.

  3. In addition to insights that can help developers build desired features, 1:1 interviews present a unique opportunity to connect with devoted Zcashers around the world, regardless of their background, language, or preferred platforms. It is an opportunity to welcome new contributors to the community and build collaboration between the various segments of our ecosystem. One example would be ecosystem-wide, community-driven campaigns to support adoption, development, and important ecosystem milestones.

  4. While ZURE has been focused on the end user, interviews and frequent contact with developers and entrepreneurs inside and outside of Zcash, often reveal developer needs, concerns, and opportunities. This feedback can be used in planning releases that affect developers as well as developer outreach.

Proposed Solution: Describe the solution at a high level.

  1. ZURE will continue methodical collection, analysis, reporting, and public discussion of Zcash Product user feedback, where “Zcash Product” is defined as the private payment system. The goal is to engage early adopters of Zcash, focus the conversation on ZEC usage, normalize the idea of using ZEC for payments, develop a community of private payment users, inform ecosystem developments that support ZEC usage through public reports and discussion that involves both, users and builders, and keep the Zcash community updated on usage-related developments, issues, and opportunities.

  2. Zcashers, interested in learning more about using ZEC for payments, are ZURE’s target audience. They are invited to participate in User Interviews. ZURE’s stakeholders include Zcash enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and builders, interested in leveraging usage insights and increasing user adoption. They will be engaged through public discussion and, when necessary, 1:1 calls and small group meetings.

  3. ZURE will grow its community of active Zcashers by continuing to organize weekly small group discussions, workshops, and online events that bring together end users, developers, and other Zcash contributors. This helps design better interviews and surveys, but another specific objective of these meeting is to plan and run coordinated ecosystem-wide, community-driven campaigns that increase awareness and engagement, showcase content that drives adoption, and support important ecosystem milestones.

  4. ZURE will work with ZF’s Decentralistdan on a plan to leverage ZURE’s work to improve developer-focused initiatives.

Solution Format: What is the exact form of the final deliverable you’re creating?

  • ZURE’s vision is to build a user adoption engine, with user research at its core.

  • There are multiple deliverables in this process. Short-term deliverables are public UR Reports, public discussions of usage insights, and a @UseZcash twitter account, dedicated to usage-focused updates and developments, online workshops and events, and community-driven campaigns. Long-term deliverables include user-focused content, usez.cash website

Technical Approach: Dive into the how of your project. Describe your approaches, components, workflows, methodology, etc. Bullet points and diagrams are appreciated!

  1. Resume Round 1 and 2+ interviews, design and launch new surveys

  2. Publish research reports, engage in public discussion, continue to present at events like ZconV and Zeboot

  3. Organize online events, workshops, and weekly calls to

  • discuss and gather insights

  • mobilize grassroots efforts and plan community initiatives aimed at raising awareness and increasing Zcash adoption

  • bridge the gap between users and builders, improve cooperation across the ecosystem to support important Zcash milestones

  • strengthen ties between individual Zcashers

  • normalize Zcash payments, explore use cases

  • dissolving barriers between Zcash communities around the world, learning from Zcashers in other countries

Dependencies: What external entities is your project dependent on? What involvement is required from ZF, ECC, and/or other external organizations? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?

ZURE is impossible without willing participants and collaborators. Its success continues to depend on the ecosystem’s willingness to support and participate in this process, which has been very encouraging so far!

End users:

Interview and survey participation

Participation in online discussions and events

Builders, contributors, enthusiasts:

Public discussion participation

Support and collaboration: forms of support from builders and leaders may include feature updates, answering common questions, contributing to the resolution of common user issues, and etc.

Working with community members on things like survey translation and distribution

Execution risks: What obstacles do you expect? What is most likely to go wrong? Which unknown factors could jeopardize success? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?

Execution risks: What obstacles do you expect? What is most likely to go wrong? Which unknown factors could jeopardize success? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?

  • The majority of the risk stems from the dependencies. As I mentioned above, a lack of participation is the biggest threat to this project.

  • There is also a risk of biased results. It’s important not to favor any particular comms channel and to continue to seek out and welcome new participants. Because this effort targets active early adopters, those who choose to join and stick with this process are ZURE’s target audience by default. These early adopters are the key to wider Zcash Product adoption.

  • A detailed roadmap for this type of work is difficult to define. The dynamic nature of this community and the space we are in means new opportunities arise. Making the most of them requires flexibility. Deliverables associated with community engagement can sometimes be difficult to track and outline in a report because it is not possible to track and quantify every conversation and its outcomes.

Unintended Consequences: What are the negative ramifications if your project is successful? Consider usability, stability, privacy, integrity, availability, decentralization, interoperability, maintainability, technical debt, requisite education, etc.

Still can’t think of any.

Evaluation plan: What metrics for success will you share with the community once you’re done? In addition to quantitative metrics, what qualitative metrics will you commit to report?

  • Survey and User interview results and observations

  • Public reports and summaries

  • User-focused updates and content, community-wide campaigns,

  • Community-driven initiatives

Hardware/Software total budget:

$0.00 USD

Please provide justification for the total hardware/software budget:

n/a

Services total budget (cloud, hosting, etc.):

$0.00 USD

Please provide justification for the total services budget:

n/a

Compensation total budget:

$35000.00 USD

Please provide justification for the total compensation budget:

Rate: $100/hr

The budget covers approximately 350 hours of work. Past experience shows that the work outlined in this proposal will likely take more time. The budget will not be affected by the additional time

Do you require startup funding?

No

Milestone 1 - estimated completion date:

05/24/2024

Milestone 1 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables:

$17500.00

Deliverable 1.1

175 out of 350 hours

Milestone 2 - estimated completion date:

06/28/2024

Milestone 2 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables:

$17500.00

Deliverable 2.1

350 out of 350 hours

Total proposed USD value of grant:

$35000.00 USD

How was the project timeline determined?

Each week represents approximately 40 hours of work. Due to dependencies mentioned above and the fluid nature of ZURE’s process, the actual hours per week could vary.

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