#Ep. 43: Why design is crucial for blockchain and cryptocurrencies!

Encrypted

Asim Janjua, is the Director of Innovation and Design at Consensys in the Middle East.

In this episode we look at blockchain from a design perspective and to answer the most crucial question: how does design intersect with blockchain?

Asim walks us through deisgn thinking techniques and how we can use that for emerging technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrencies. He looks at it from two lenses:

• Design as a problem solving tool to create new experiences and use cases
• Design from a UX perspective as most blockchain enabled apps/dapps are currently catered for those within the industry

Asim explains how his design led experience at Google led him to use those same principles when building out Consensys in Dubai. We also touch on whether design is one of the best ways to achieve mass adoption and how thinking of it from a human perspective is crucial for mainstream adoption. Examples such as Gemini and Grid Plus from the crypto space was highlighted by Asim as two comapnies which have implemented sound design from both a process and a user experience stand point.

One of the main points we emphasise is that design should be implemented in the beginning before starting any project as opposed to thinking about it later on in the project. These come in the form of user journeys and user personas to test whether or not problems discovered in the research phase can can be solved using the product.

We switch a gear towards the end of the podcast where the discussion leads us to how the paradigm shift with blockchain is bigger than those of the other emerging technologies we are currently seeing, such as AI and IoT.

All this and more on this week’s episode of Encrypted.

Special Guest: Asim Janjua .