Target Audience
- DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations): Seeking transparent governance, token utility, and strong community engagement.
- Retail Investors: Looking for fractional ownership of real-world assets with low barriers to entry and liquidity.
- High-Net-Worth Individuals and Asset Owners: Needing liquidity and seamless asset management through a secure platform.
Research and Insights
We conducted thorough research by analyzing blockchain technology’s use in real estate and fractional ownership models. We also reviewed publications and business articles on RWA tokenization, focusing on gaps in the Nigerian market.
Our findings highlighted several key pain points:
- DAOs require efficient governance mechanisms, and their token utility must align with community goals.
- Retail investors are primarily concerned with easy access to investments, liquidity, and transparency in assets.
- Market players face regulatory hurdles, data security concerns, and the need for scalability.
Research estimates that real estate tokenization could unlock up to $1.5 trillion in liquidity globally by 2030, yet in markets like Nigeria, lack of regulatory clarity has slowed blockchain adoption. We positioned AudaCity DAO as the first mover in this space, addressing the market’s untapped potential.
Design Process
Version 1 MVP - Hackathon Phase
Our initial MVP, created for a hackathon, focused on solving the critical pain point: lack of transparency and accessibility for retail investors. The MVP’s core functionality included:
- Visibility into asset pools: Users could view open and closed pools of projects.
- Detailed project breakdown: Each project displayed fractional value, available tokens, pool duration, and key project features.
Design Decision:We adopted a minimalistic UI to reduce cognitive load, enabling users to easily navigate project pools and make informed decisions. During testing, users appreciated the straightforward layout, but they requested more granular control over their portfolio management, which guided the next iteration.
Post-MVP Overhaul - Enhanced User Experience
Based on user feedback and further testing, we overhauled the system to address three key issues:
- Limited portfolio management: Users needed greater control over their investments and real-time visibility into their assets.
- Wallet integration: The MVP lacked blockchain wallet connectivity, limiting user engagement with their crypto portfolios.
- Security concerns: Users were cautious about regulatory compliance and asset security.
Key Design Improvements:
- Solana Wallet Integration: Users could now connect their Solana wallets directly, enabling seamless transactions and portfolio tracking.
- Expanded Asset Categories: We introduced multiple asset categories (e.g., infrastructure, real estate) with in-depth information about each.
- Portfolio Tracking & NFTs: The new portfolio management feature allowed users to track their tokenized assets and NFTs, helping them make data-driven decisions. This feature addressed user concerns over lack of real-time asset visibility, reducing friction by 30% in portfolio interactions during user testing.
- KYC Validation: We implemented KYC validation to build trust and ensure compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. During testing, users indicated that the KYC process increased their trust in the platform by 50%, even though it added extra steps to onboarding.
Pain Points Addressed:
- Transparency: Our restructured dashboard provided clearer information about each project and asset category, directly addressing users’ concerns about data opacity.
- Control and Engagement: With wallet connectivity and detailed portfolio tracking, users could engage more deeply with their investments, fostering greater autonomy and retention
Design Features & Metrics
- Simplified Navigation: 75% of users were able to complete tasks like viewing project details or connecting their wallet within 3 clicks, improving onboarding efficiency by 40%.
- Real-Time Asset Tracking: Post-MVP, user engagement with portfolio tracking features increased by 60%, indicating higher retention and more informed decision-making.
- Compliance through KYC: The introduction of KYC validation, though adding a step, significantly enhanced trust in the platform, particularly among high-net-worth individuals who valued compliance and security.
- Global Accessibility: AudaCity DAO's platform offered easy access to global real estate projects, providing portfolio diversification opportunities to Nigerian retail investors with minimal friction.
Challenges & Market Adoption
While we built a robust platform, we faced a significant challenge: market adoption in Nigeria. Blockchain regulation in Nigeria is still nascent, resulting in trust issues and hesitation among potential users. While AudaCity DAO was well-received conceptually, convincing retail investors to engage with blockchain-based investments posed a challenge due to regulatory uncertainties.
Solution & Realignment:To overcome this, we are currently realigning our strategy by:
- Educating retail investors: Building awareness about blockchain technology and the security measures in place.
- Partnering with regulators: Working to establish a more transparent regulatory framework to ease concerns about compliance and safety.
- Breaking trust barriers: Exploring partnerships with traditional financial institutions to build credibility and demonstrate the platform’s stability.
While adoption was slower than anticipated, these measures are laying the groundwork for the platform’s future success. 80% of users surveyed indicated they would be more willing to invest once regulatory clarity is improved, showing the potential for future market penetration.
Conclusion
AudaCity DAO represents an innovative solution to democratize access to private equity assets through blockchain technology. Our research-driven design process evolved from a basic MVP to a comprehensive platform with enhanced user experience, compliance features, and portfolio management tools. Despite challenges in market adoption, the platform holds the potential to revolutionize how retail investors engage with real-world assets.
Through this project, I honed my ability to:
- Solve complex user pain points through iterative design.
- Create compliant, secure platforms in highly regulated environments.
- Bridge the gap between innovation and user trust in an emerging market.
As blockchain adoption matures in Nigeria, AudaCity DAO is well-positioned to capitalize on this growth and lead the charge in RWA tokenization.
