What does a good “Web3 Customer Journey” require?[Column]| coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Critical to Web3 development is a good “customer journey”. That means giving users a seamless, secure, cost-effective, and fast way to get between Web3 and the real world. It also needs to be completely self-custody from start to finish.

Using Web3 still feels fragmented and complicated. At this point, anyone who wants to use a decentralized app (Dapp) still has to use another environment to participate in the crypto ecosystem and exchange assets. This is far from optimal. This creates a disjointed experience and, more importantly, leaves room for unnecessary risk. This is because the custody service will manage the assets.

current customer journey

With some progress, the current Web3 onboarding phase 1 looks like this:

Alice creates an account using a popular hot wallet browser extension to participate in a project. She then withdraws money from her bank account, buys cryptocurrency and puts it in her wallet.

This is a great customer journey. All interactions with the project’s Dapps are completed in the browser’s hot wallet. There is room for improvement, but it works.

But what if Alice sells an NFT, wins a Web3 game, or makes money with the latest DeFi (decentralized finance) strategy?

Apps and browser extensions cannot convert acquired crypto assets into fiat currency. Converting crypto assets into fiat currency and making them usable in everyday life is not so simple. Possible, but not easy.

Several steps are usually required.

Alice needs to move crypto assets from the Dapp-connected wallet to another service’s wallet. For many users, it’s the service of a centralized exchange linked to a bank account. Then you sell your crypto assets on an exchange, get fiat currency, and withdraw it from your bank account.

A New Option: An App-Ended Experience

However, you don’t need to have an account on an exchange to convert your crypto assets into fiat after using the Dapp. There are practical widgets that give Dapps the option to easily and natively integrate cryptocurrency and fiat exchanges.

This is a step too often neglected in most Web3 application development. Users often find themselves in a situation where it’s easy to put money in, but hard to take it out.

In the example above, Alice had to find a solution withdrawal service on her own. It is often a popular exchange.

A completely self-custody customer journey should become the standard. Deposits and withdrawals should exist natively within each app, and the Web3 experience should be complete in one self-custody form. The ability to move assets from Dapps to bank accounts should be an option.

This is the existing Web2 experience that users already understand and trust. Platforms like PayPal have been able to accelerate the e-commerce industry and more by developing easy, all-encompassing customer journeys for fiat online payments.

If we can raise the bar within our industry, Web3 will have a similar turning point.

There are infrastructure providers like Ramp, of which I am CTO, that offer a convenient way to incorporate these features into the customer journey of your application.

An ideal customer journey looks something like this:

Alice wants to use a project, so she buys crypto assets through a widget that appears in the Dapp menu. Next, if you want to buy something in the real world with your crypto assets, click on the Withdraw menu from the Dapp’s main dashboard. After a few minutes, you will be able to withdraw from your bank account.

Why it should be the standard

Going forward, there are many reasons why in-app payment infrastructure will become the default for Web3 applications rather than an afterthought.

• Providing users, especially novice users, with a single, self-contained “deposit/withdraw” experience shortens the learning curve of using Dapps.
• A self-custody customer journey is also a safe journey. Users are always in control of their private keys, even if they are unaware of their importance.
• Reducing the number of times fees are incurred increases overall cost efficiency.
• It’s a monetization option for development teams as well. Add a small additional cost to your transaction fees to create a sustainable revenue stream.

Real world and Web3

Users, of course, want to use assets in the real world. We need to feel that economic activity on Web3 is seamlessly connected to economic activity in the real world. To make sure users feel that way, the withdrawal process in the customer journey has to be as simple as the deposit process.

It should be built into the app, fast, cost-effective and secure. In other words, it must be self-custody.

While many novice users may not immediately appreciate its importance, defaulting to a fully self-custody customer journey will benefit the entire industry in the long run.

It is our responsibility to give our users control over their assets, from deposits to withdrawals, in order to prevent counterparty risk by default.

You already have all the infrastructure you need to build a complete, self-custody customer journey. In order to develop a more robust and reliable service, let’s actively build excellent standards at each step.

Mr. Łukasz Anwajler: Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Ramp, a self-custodial infrastructure company.

｜Translation and editing: Akiko Yamaguchi, Takayuki Masuda
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original: We’re Responsible for Web3 User Journeys; It’s Time to Make Them Completely Self-Custodial