Hello there 😊 thanks for tuning in.
My web3 journey started when I found out about the web3ladies community. I came across them at a crucial time, when I was given a design challenge to design a cryptocurrency app, then I didn't have any background knowledge of cryptocurrencies, Dapps, exchanges or Web3.
During my research on a way forward with the crypto app design I stumbled on the web3ladies cohort III bootcamp registration and they had a UI/UX track. It was like an answered prayer so I quickly applied, joined their community and I was onboarded with open arms.
The training kick-started fully on the 6th of August 2022 and we started with a Prep-Phase that introduced all of us into blockchains and the concept of decentralization. This was really commendable of them because people from every track had the opportunity to get accustomed to what the Blockchain is which gave us background knowledge instead of us just diving into our individual tracks.
We just concluded the Prep-Phase and will be moving to the Learning phase on the 12th of September 2022 where we will focus on our tracks and also have more activities like Web3 explorations, Live sessions, before moving to the bounty phase and project phase where we will have practical challenges to apply what we learned which I am excitedly looking forward to.
Let's have a little glimpse of what web3 and the Blockchain is all about.
Evolution of the Internet
You might have been wondering what the different versions of the web are and why we have them. They are
Web 1.0 : The first ever webpage falls under this category. It was like a newspaper but in a digital form. The interface was not nice and it's only purpose was to serve as an information outlet because users could only read the content on the webpage as interaction was not possible on the webpage then ( we could not comment, like the page or post our own content).
Web 2.0 : This evolution of the World Wide Web supported extra functionalities and it is what we are familiar with today. It made collaboration online, user-generated content and real-time communication over the internet possible, which solved the problem of the first version. Examples of some applications are Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, YouTube, Bolt, Slack, Zoom, Netflix, online banking apps and many more functional apps you can think of.
As helpful and useful this version of the web has been to us it still has some downside that I would discuss.
Information Control : For us to use some of this Apps, we share our Data and some are highly sensitive than the other and we have to put our trust on the platform owners or providers to keep our Data safe and not tamper with it. Despite the trust it is not actually secured because we do not know how our Data is being handled or managed some platforms sell out our Data to third-parties without our knowledge or Consent.
Access: We have cases that we don't have access to some of the apps because of internal problems they encounter, or the apps can decide to restrict a particular user and this kind of case can make us lose access to important information that we would like to reach on that app or even a complete data loss in some cases. For Example there was a time we were not able to access WhatsApp for some hours or even up to a day earlier this year, people were having important discussions / transactions that was disrupted because that little delay from Whatapp.
Privacy and Security: There could be a breach in data from their database and our sensitive information, chats and passwords can be compromised, this could lead to theft or other security breaches.
In the web 2 space there is a central authority like Google, Facebook, Amazon and the likes that we provide our information to in order to use their services and they decide how the information is stored and used.
Web 3.0 this version of the web has come to solve the problem of centralisation that comes with using the web 2 apps. By providing decentralization to applications users have control of their data and freedom to manage it how they like without needing to trust the platform they use. We have a range of decentralized applications (Dapps) that are already in use today like Decentralized Finances (DeFi), Play-to-earn games, Social Networks and many more.
Blockchain and Decentralization
A blockchain is a distributed ledger or database that is shared among all the nodes of a network.
In simple terms what this means is that instead of one single central authority having control of the database, this one is distributed, where every entity in the network has a copy of the ledger. In the case of a centralized ledger the authority can decide to make changes to user data and it might not be traceable. But in a distributed ledger since every entity has the same copy of data if one person tampers with it and it does not tally with the others it would automatically be disregarded as it has been tampared with, this provides security.
Although a blockchain is public and transparent, there is anonymity of the users, so all transcations can be seen and no funny business can be done behind the scenes.
It also provides Immutability (data cannot be altered or changed when added to a block chain), Security, and it is trustless. Web3 is built on a Blockchain technology.
Some blockchain use case.
The adoption of Blockchain has cut across different industries.
Financial institutions : the blockchain is beneficial in this aspect because people can get access to financial services irrespective of their location in the world and they can send money to anybody and anywhere without the involvement of a third party and without any extra delay.
Supply chain industry: one can track the movement of products from the producer to the supplier to the marketer and consumer this can help trace where there's a defect or a flaw a problem.
Health sector: it can be used to securely record patients data, without the fear of alteration or loss.
Just to name a few Gaming, Insurance, Government, Crowdfunding, Charity, Real Estates any industry basically that deals with data.
Although web3 has a lot of benefits and opportunities, user experience is one it's limitation, users tend to find it complex to use as it does not have the same mechanism with the apps we are familiar with and hence it affects their adoption to the space.
This is one of the solution Polygon and Web3ladies are hoping to solve by training ladies in the UI/UX track. I am glad to be part of it.
If you read to this point I hope you learnt a thing or two 🙃
Remember the Crypto App design I mentioned??? Yeah I was able to complete the project you can check it out here and let me know what you think.
You can also connect with me on Twitter
Good vibes only, 💛 + 💡, and everything nice.
Best regards Khaerie_talks❤
Thank you 💖💖.