novelty
building our identity on-chain
Role
Product Manager
Duration
6 Months
Skills
Design
UX Research
UI Design
Usability Testing
Copy Writing
Strategy
Competitive Analysis
A/B Testing
Go-To-Market Strategy
Agile Methodology
About
Novelty uses blockchain technology to build decentralized identities (a handful, i know). Think: resume, but even more powerful. Novelty creates a readable, confirmed record of a person’s interests, skillset, accomplishments, and activities.
Why, though? I asked the same question. The biggest value of novelty is that blockchain can build a verifiable history of experience and skills; there is proof of someone’s expertise on a topic (verified based on their classes, their jobs, etc.). The vision is to become the new standard for profiles, professionally or personally.
My Impact
My interest in product managing for novelty came from a curiosity about the Web3 scene. The field intimidated and intrigued me. What’s the hype really about? What are the social, ethical, and technological implications of blockchain? What are the applications of web3 that I care the most about?
I dove head first into design and strategy. On the design side, I worked alongside novelty’s designers to create an inclusive and inviting interface experience for users. I say inclusive and inviting because I understood first hand how confusing and offputting Web3 initatives can seem to non-web3 experts (aka most of the world). By revamping all of novelty’s copy writing, I wanted to democratize access to what still exists a tech-bro dominated space. Over 50 usability tests among undergrad students, I iterated our designs to heighten intuitivity and engagement. Ultimately, I am proud to have designed a familiar user experience in a new domain that is web3.
On the strategy side, I worked alongside the founder to create a roadmap for our beta launch at Stanford. As an undergrad myself, I understood first hand the kind of marketing that works for students. By maintaining close relationships with club leaders and collaborating on events with them pre-launch, our undergraduate launch saw 300+ downloads in the first week.
Importantly, over my 6 month internship with novelty, I saw the company through a major pivot from an events app to an identity/profile app. My experience taught me much about product design and even more about product management.