Stellar Product Manager: The blockchain industry must meet people’s real needs

Author: Tori Samples, Senior Product Manager of Stellar Development Foundation, CoinDesk; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

When I When I started building blockchain products, I often saidthat blockchain is a database; it is not going to save the world.

Technology alone rarely does this. The value of every technology is determined by the functionality and usefulness it brings to people in their daily lives.

Consider another technology that once seemed novel and scary: the humble elevator. Elevators are everywhere today because people appreciate its value in specific needs and circumstances. Elevators are not the be-all and end-all, nor are they the only way to move up and down. However, most people use and trust elevators because the industry follows basic product principles that every builder should emulate.

Ordinary users cannot explain how a metal box allows them to move through vertical space, but they know what an elevator can do for them. What was once a feared new technology has become an undisputed tool that is widely adopted. Over time, the touches developed to make people feel comfortable—elevator music and human operators—have been set aside in favor of consistent regulations and widespread trust.

I study the deployment of products such as elevators because Mass adoption is where blockchain is no longer Being viewed as scary and/or irrelevant is key. I build products for ordinary people, who are often marginalized due to factors beyond their control: where they are born, lack of financial infrastructure, conflict, or natural disasters.

There is no denying that products must be practical in order to be adopted by people in these environments. That’s why I’m currently leading the development of the Stellar payments platform, a high-value payments product that powers humanitarian cash aid, cross-border payments, government social programs, and support for unbanked gig workers and creators.  

Perhaps the biggest lesson learned from building and deploying blockchain products for the “real world” is that, Users care about how the product benefits them, not the underlying technology. Somehow, the crypto industry is still figuring this out. We spend too much time promoting blockchain for elevator pulleys and levers (the original technology) when we should be emphasizing value and functionality.

If a blockchain product makes a person's life significantly easier or better, they are likely to use it. They will never be convinced by an explanation of a specific first-level consensus mechanism. As a former founder, I know it can be fun to jump into the inner workings of a product. I also knew that my clients (mainly refugees from Rwanda) would not say that they were betrayed by those inside workers. They use our wallet because it allows them to send money to people in other countries, hold multiple currencies, and avoid carrying cash across borders. Let the results speak for themselves.

There is a learning curve in building and deploying technology that can only be overcome through human exposure. You need compelling evidence and a human touch to overcome initial resistance. Assuming a product is good for users, remember that fear is often a slow driver of adoption. There is impeccable proof behind blockchain, but the industry still needs to instill confidence.

The technology community generally believes that blockchain’s appeal to humans is inefficient or unnecessary. However, product leaders should allocate resources to initiatives that bring new experiences closer to what users already know and trust. You don't commit to these initiatives forever; you just open the door for the next wave of users. This could be staffing real people on phone lines, using offices as representations of trust, showing where users gather, or mimicking traditional tools through skeuomorphic designs.

Finally, Builders must trust users and let them make their own decisions. Just as we ask our users to trust us and our products, we must trust that people are experts in their own needs and circumstances. Most cases can be divided into three categories: global (all users can make the same choice consistently), person-specific (the same user will make the same choice consistently), and context-specific (the same user can make the same choice at any time). make different choices over time).

Understanding how people use your product can help you position it for mass adoption, but it doesn't allow you to decide when people should use it. Once you make technology available and beneficial, trust people to make the right decisions for themselves. Assuming you've verified that you've built the right product and that your messaging works, live in peace. Your users are just as rational as you are.

Adherence to these principles, combined with time, will pave the way for blockchain products to become as ubiquitous as elevators. Like elevators, these products should simply help users live reliably with greater ease and freedom than before.