Research
A little of what got us started.
Last updated
A little of what got us started.
Last updated
'By revealing our process, we are enabling accountability... ...of ourselves, in what we deliver compared to what has been promised, and; ...of those who engage in our deliverables and how well they ultimately steer this ship 'to the stars'.'
The work presented below is an abbreviated walkthrough of what we did, what we learned and what we discovered that lead us to realise a vision, define a mission and compose the solutions we are presently engaged in building.
In 2022, 3.Finance set out to answer the following two questions:
What are the challenges surrounding adoption? And;
What is the greatest threat to the success of DeFi?
Takeaways: 'Accessibility, Accountability, Dependability, Consistency and Sovereignty.'
Our primary task began with the acquisition of data pertaining to the current perception of finance.** By mapping a diverse spectrum of views, we established a set of archetypes defining the boundaries of a mental and conceptual environment from which we ideated and measured our decisions.
**Questions, discussions and exercises on both 'centralised' and 'decentralised' finance were covered. Further, 'centralised finance' was split into 'legacy' or 'traditional' and 'cryptocurrency'.
A series of scatter graphs like the one displayed below were collated.
Observed behavioural characteristics (eg. values and knowledge) allowed us to map each interview to a 2x2 grid, as seen above. Associating these same characteristics to our Archetypes enabled relationships between each to be identified, enabling us to plot areas on the graph that described each Archetype. Enabling a mental and conceptual environment to be revealed to us.
'A fourth archetype was identified: 'Normie's' - as expected, they sat external to the system.'
'While this may sound obvious to the reader, the importance of this classification has far more to do with understanding 'why' a person resonates with such a mindset, than it has to do with; them being 'internal' or 'external' to any system.
You may read a highlight of each archetype here:
Side notes:
Mental environments are those defined by the character of an Archetype and the relationships between each of those included in a defined system. These environments allow 'user' journeys to be defined, tested and refined. They enable us to understand what a user may be thinking at a particular point within a defined journey.
Conceptual environments are those defined by the needs, desires and goals of each Archetype. These environments allow us to ideate, prototype, test and refine solutions. This process also allows us to identify 'when' a user transitions between Archetypes. Ie. When their mental state is most likely to change.
Having collated each of the scatter-graphs produced from interviews, a more refined view of the 3.Finance ecosystem was crafted. The refined view can be seen below:
'The importance of establishing such a diagram can not be understated. Knowing relationship dynamics between archetypes in particular, enables insight to be gleaned fast, so as to quickly inform, validate or invalidate thoughts and solutions.'
'Financial ambition' was one topic discussed during each interview. This segment of the interview began by asking participants if they'd share their financial ambitions and to walk us through their plan to attain / achieve their goals.
Retrospective analysis surfaced a common thread, which we've composed below. It resonated so strongly, it now underpins our solutions.
'We are all motivated by the desire to attain our own freedom.
The meaning & measure of which, differs for each of us, but the associations we make with the terms ‘freedom’ and ‘financial independence’ are almost always synonymous.'
Discovering 3.Finance.
Imagining The Guild, discovering an ACB.
All that excess. Well, if all goes to plan, there will be a lot of excess GUILD tokens sitting idly. Naturally, we'd want to put them to good use and to do so in an efficient and effective manner. It feels obvious now, but at the time, it was quite a challenge to see anything beyond the reach of our own arms. See lending for more details.
As we've settled into the direction we've found the path before us leading, we have repositioned the way we think about our vision and mission respectfully:
To be ‘settler of last resort’.
To affirm the sovereignty of DeFi and defend the sovereign right of all to access the benefits that DeFi offers.
The phrase, 'moving stars' comes from the saying 'to change one's own stars'.
'When we are each born, while the circumstances to which we are each born are beyond our control, the way we shape our lives is not. A truth many societies deny and who's survive depends upon our belief that 'changing our stars' is not in our own power.'
'We can move stars, all we need are the right tools'.
See '' for the final environmental diagram.
Archetype 1 -
Archetype 2 -
Archetype 3 -
Archetype 4 -
Starting with the notion that DeFi is a culture of inclusivity, we were sure to adopt a compound solution that was both human and bot friendly, socialising the activity of compounding to ensure everyone at all levels were able to take advantage of the growth possibilities associated with compounding often. See for more details.
Noting from interviews, subtle differences of priority with respect to 'focusing on a positions growth' and 'growing diversified positions', we hunted for a means to signal priorities with respect to the 'onward-use' of rewards. See for more details.
Culturalist's always seemed to be the next natural step in the road towards DeFi adoption, though our interviews revealed a reluctance to participate due to perceived risks; complexity being the reason most sighted. So we imagined a solution that speaks their language. See for details.
No project can self fund forever, however adopting a business model that spoke to our own values was paramount to our moving forward. Creating a freely minted token has unfortunately always felt more like a subtraction than an addition, so we were keen to look for other solutions. See our and tokens for more details.
Prior to confirming which business model to adopt, workshops were held to understand feasibility and profitability. Though the road ahead will likely be an off-road experience, there is a lot of promise and we're planning products that will assist in the projects success. See and Bonds for more details.
