Des Femmes Updates May 2023
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Des Femmes Updates May 2023
Our latest NFT giveaway, job opportunities, and thoughts about a UX panel at ETHDam
Hello and welcome back to the Des Femmes newsletter! Sterling Schuyler here again, freshly out of ETHDam 🌷 Plus, as a reminder, be sure to submit for our latest NFT giveaway in June!
If you’re looking for something to read on your upcoming holiday, you can find the latest issue of Des Femmes Magazine in Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble stores across the U.S. Our Sovereignty issue includes articles about NFT ownership, setting up a Lightning node, shooting guns, running a flower farm, and more.
Community members who would like to participate in the University of Maryland’s Master Money Mentor program can reserve a spot by sending $100 via Venmo to @desfemmesmag (with the transaction set to private and your email in the description). Or, you can DM @desfemmesmag on Instagram or Twitter if you prefer a bitcoin address.
We’re also looking for sponsors for the 2023 mentorship program, and welcome conversations with any organization or person that values women’s financial literacy as much as we do. As a special perk for our early community funders, if you own a Des Femmes NFT from 2021 or 2022 you can email leigh@desfemmesmagazine.com for a free membership program reservation. More details about mentorship program details coming late this summer.
But first, I want to share my reflection on a particular panel at ETHDam.
Usability in DeFi Takes the Main Stage
ETHDam was a two-day conference about privacy and decentralized finance, with a hackathon focused on developing solutions for both topics. As a volunteer, I didn’t have much time to explore the whole event, but I did have a chance to attend the UX and UI in crypto panel with Nuno Loureiro of the Ethereum Foundation, Ismael Darwish of Argent Wallet, and Jan Zibelnik of Block Wallet.
Before the conversation even kicked off, Loureiro made one of my favorite points of the whole panel: "People are always complaining about UX, but UX is never invited to the main stage." It’s easy to complain about how bad something is, but rarely do we ever suggest actionable insights for making change.
They spoke about risk, and how much people need to be informed about the risks of interacting with certain products. Darwish, for example, mentioned seed phrases as a common barrier to usability. That’s why Argent implemented guardians as a more familiar and less burdensome wallet recovery process.
The panelists also debated the need for simplicity. While some panelists would like to see more simplified wallet designs, others believed that certain complexities and information needed to be provided in order to reduce the risk of mistakes and poor investment choices.
One even questioned whether we should still call them “wallets”. To me, it’s always made sense that a crypto wallet holds cryptocurrency, much like a real wallet. However, as wallets become a form of identity in web3 spaces, it makes less sense.
Throughout the whole conversation, I noticed that none of them mentioned the importance of talking to their users in order to improve their products. As with almost all conference panels, there wasn’t nearly enough time to thoroughly explore the topic or ask enough questions.
What questions or thoughts about wallet apps and crypto tool UX would you like to see answered in future newsletters? Reply to this newsletter with a comment or DM us on social media (@desfemmesmag) to have your perspective highlighted in our next newsletter!
In the meantime, I’m so glad the panel existed, and I hope to see more discussions of UX on the main stages.
Job Opportunities
Thesis is looking for a Senior Creative Developer. They want someone who can prototype quickly and efficiently, but also knows that done is better than perfect. A remote-first company, Thesis is a cryptocurrency venture studio that supports products and protocols in cryptocurrency and decentralized businesses enabling sovereignty and privacy. When you apply, tell them that Des Femmes sent you!
We also encourage any badass lady in the community who is looking for a job to upload her resume and skills to the Women in Blockchain career development portal. You'll receive direct intros to companies on your own terms. It's an invite-only and ongoing resource. If you are hiring, post your job openings to WiB’s job board too.
Both Des Femmes and WiB have collectively achieved what was to us unimaginable: offered networking tools; sponsored travel, accommodation and tickets to conferences; written and published research pieces; presented career opportunities; offered educational resources; increased diversity in panels; made lots of new friends; and so much more. On many occasions, we have also joined forces to celebrate together in cities like Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Paris, expanding our network above and beyond.
If you’re interested in collaborating with us on an event or mentorship program, email hello [at] desfemmesmagazine.com
Until next time, stay curious!