The beginning of a new User Interfaces Journey at Lisk
With our organization constantly expanding, Oliver and myself have decided to formally divide our areas of responsibility over the entire team. We have done so in order to focus more clearly on departments that require our expertise, in order to ensure Lisk’s ongoing development. As of today, I have officially taken on the challenge of overseeing all user interfaces within the Lisk ecosystem originating from LiskHQ. Focusing on our user interfaces while Oliver oversees the engineering aspects of the Lisk ecosystem will allow me to focus the entirety of my energy on my dream for Lisk — to make it the most accessible blockchain platform in the world.
In 2016 and the first half of 2017, we had the manpower to provide the Lisk community with a basic desktop user interface called Lisk Nano, which put functionality over design and usability. The growth of our team throughout 2017 and beginning of 2018 allowed us to shift focus to design and usability, resulting in the much anticipated relaunch event in February 2018, where we revealed our new desktop user interface Lisk Hub.
Today, we are more motivated than ever to take our user interfaces to the next level. To do this, we have teamed up with Netguru which, next to Taikonauten, will help us push the boundaries of user experience in blockchain user interfaces. We have also decided to divide our frontend development team into two specialized teams. One team will be responsible for Lisk Hub while the other will be responsible for our future mobile user interfaces for iOS and Android.
Yes, you read it correctly! We are working on a mobile version of the Lisk app and have teamed up with a second design agency! However, it will take several months before you will see any results! The Lisk marketing team and I will keep you up-to-date using our blog, video content and social media platforms.
The People Leading Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile
Just as before, Vit will continue to be in charge of Lisk Hub. With the relaunch event he has done an amazing job keeping a strict deadline while bringing Lisk Hub to reality.
Since then he has released eight new versions introducing major new features and user experience improvements.
Ali was one of the first team members at LiskHQ and is now taking charge of the project he personally pitched to me — Lisk Mobile.
With a large depth of experience in mobile development and his very own efforts to make Lisk Mobile happen he is the perfect candidate for this.
Vision through planning
It’s easier to work on a product if you know where you need to take it. That’s why Vit, Ali and I had a preliminary session to figure out the visions for Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile. Below, you can find our learnings from this session.
What are the main differences between a desktop and a mobile device software usage?
A desktop device provides the user with a larger screen, which can easily display a lot of information. Input devices, like a mouse and keyboard allow for easy interaction with complex functionalities. Nowadays, it is mostly professionals who are using a desktop computer for coding, designing, video editing and office work. Tools available with a desktop are generally more feature-rich and powerful, e.g. Visual Studio Code or Sketch.
A mobile device has a smaller screen therefore you can’t see too much at once. The touch screen is convenient but also requires easy input mechanisms. Nowadays, everyone is using mobile devices, but mainly for relatively easy tasks such as messaging, social media, photos or surfing the web. Tools available are often single-purpose and slimmed down.
Who is our typical audience?
A desktop user is generally more professional and expects a powerful application with a lot of information and many features. We have determined the following stakeholders within that category are traders, investors, delegates, entrepreneurs, app developers and experts, each with their own information and feature requirements.
A mobile user is generally looking for an intuitive and easy-to-use application to use while on the go. We have determined the following stakeholders within that category are token holders and users curious about blockchain applications built on Lisk.
What do we want them to do?
For now, there only exist preliminary ideas of what the mentioned user groups should be able to do within Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile. We are still analyzing this with further meetings and will provide an update on the aforementioned channels.
The vision of Lisk Desktop
A powerful and information-rich app for professionals offering a wide range of features for different audiences.
The vision of Lisk Mobile
An intuitive and easy-to-use app for the mainstream, offering a limited feature-set with a special focus on user experience.
A user interfaces roadmap is ahead
I would like to involve the community in these endeavors as much as possible and therefore, I want to start gathering ideas for Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile. I have created two Google polls to gather feedback and insights from you regarding what features you would like to see in Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile. Just click on the links and fill them out! Next week, we will evaluate the results.
The next step for Vit, Ali and I is to figure out a Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile roadmap for 2018 and beyond. We are now performing an in-depth competitor analysis and collecting ideas internally on what features we deem most important. After we have finished gathering input internally and from the community, we will put the results together and decide on what exactly we would like to work on, and in which order. This creates the foundation of our user interfaces roadmap, to be released without designated timelines.
Keeping you in the loop
I want to continue maintaining transparency and keep the community informed. Therefore, from now on, whenever there are new results to be communicated I’m going to write blog posts like this to keep you all up-to-date on what is happening within the field of frontend development. Whenever there are new results to be communicated, I will put out a blog post.
Expanding our team
As most of our followers already know, Lightcurve is the blockchain consultancy and studio, dedicated to the development of all aspects of Lisk, Lisk Hub and Lisk Mobile included. Lightcurve is constantly on the lookout for new talent to join its user interfaces team. If you feel like you’re an ideal candidate and are willing to move to Berlin, reach out to [email protected].
Open positions for Lisk Hub:
Frontend Developers (React)
Frontend QA Engineer
UI/UX Designer
Open positions for Lisk Mobile:
Frontend Developers (React Native)
Frontend QA Engineer
UI/UX Designer
Thank you and I look forward to sharing more regarding our exciting plans soon.
~ Max Kordek
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