In this article, we go through everything you need to know about building a great UI for dApps. If you want to skip straight to building your Web3 UI, be sure to check out this link:
Full Web3 UI Documentation – https://github.com/web3ui/web3uikit
With all the excitement happening with Web3 and decentralized applications today, new projects in the space face stiff competition. To stand out, you need to step up your game. The easiest way to do so is by creating a great Web3 UI. It’s easy to get lost in technical aspects of a project, and forget the importance of a great dApp UI. Moreover, while Web3 projects have increased by leaps and bounds, the UI side of things seems to be lagging.
So, how can the industry improve Web3 UI experiences? This guide offers a glimpse into the best ways to create a great dApp UI. If you use good backend tools, you can ultimately devote more time to constructing a great frontend. Moralis, the ultimate Web3 development platform, does the backend heavy-lifting so you can focus on what attracts users: a great Web3 UI!
While solving technical problems is important in dApp development, no one should neglect the user experience. Blockchain developers that neglect the Web3 UI aspect cause substantial value loss to the dApp. Therefore, developers should remember that while blockchain and Web3 are remarkable innovations, the user has to come first. Moreover, the Web3 market extends to millions of non-technical users who need to interact with their Web3 UI simply.
This is where Moralis comes in. Moralis acts as the “Firebase for crypto”. It does most of the backend heavy lifting for you and saves you time to create an amazing frontend. Furthermore, by using the ultimate Web3 SDK, you achieve your development goals in no-time!
How to Create a Great dApp UI – Video Tutorial
How can your dApp beat the competition? Well, one key advantage is to learn how to create a great dApp UI. This is crucial to succeed and scale. Moreover, you get an edge over your competitors when you use Moralis, which has the best support tools for your backend, giving you more time to make your user experience seamlessly intuitive!
Click here to enjoy Moralis the video tutorial on how to create a great dApp UI and quickly access the Moralis Ethereum boilerplate. It gives you all the best shortcuts and teaches you how to create a great dApp UI fast. Moreover, it points you to the GitHub on Decentralization Design Principles:
What is a UI?
On the way to learning how to create a great dApp UI, you must first be clear about what a UI is. A UI, or User Interface, can be seen as the bridge between human and computer interaction. It is a space designed to enable interaction between a human and a machine. In addition, the purpose of a UI (or user interface) is to ensure that this interaction is effective. Furthermore, it should allow feedback from the computer so the human knows the task has been completed.
It has two major components: first, the visual design aspect, which is responsible for the software’s look and feel; second, the interaction design element, which refers to the functionality and logic aspects.
How to Create a Great dApp UI – Three Qualities
So, what makes a successful user interface? A successful user interface should, in this case, have the following qualities:
- Intuitive – can be operated even by laypersons or untrained users
- Enjoyable – must be user-friendly
- Efficient – less or zero friction
Thus, with these three qualities, you are more likely to attract users to your dApp.
GUI or Graphical User Interface
A Graphical User Interface (GUI) refers to the software itself. It encapsulates all the elements of the User Experience (UX). Moreover, in the context of software design, the GUI is often interchangeably referred to as the UI.
UX versus UI
UX, or user experience design, is sometimes confused with UI. The term UX Design (UX) refers to the user interface plus all the resulting interactions or behaviors as part and resultant of the design process.
How to Create a Great dApp UI: The Intuitive End-Goal
The main goal of understanding how to create a great dApp UI is to deliver an intuitive end-product. Moreover, the purpose of delivering an intuitive Web3 UI product is to attract and delight users.
Why Create a Good Web3 UI?
- It’s good business. At the end of the day, your UI is your way of reaching your intended customers. It’s a form of visual communication. Like any storefront or physical design, learning how to create a great dApp UI means more signups and better traction. Hence, it means more revenue for your project or business.
- UI creates the first impression of your brand. Connected to (1), users identify or relate to brands through great UI. Once you learn how to create a dApp UI, you ensure a memorable experience and thus better brand recognition.
- Convenience. Great UI also creates an environment of convenience. Users want to find what they are looking for. Therefore, easing complexity helps them get from A to B fast, which they will appreciate.
The State of Web3 UI
While UI has reached maturity in Web2, it has rather far to improve when it comes to Web3. Let’s face it, Web3 has a UI problem. Many projects, while boasting great back-end functionality, lack appeal when it comes to their front end.
Why is this? It’s the persistent case of “devs for devs”, or tech enthusiasts building for tech enthusiasts. Thankfully, this dilemma isn’t hard to fix. As the industry gains further mainstream adoption, it will inevitably lead to better Web3 UI.
How to Create a Great dApp UI – Tips
Currently, most Web3 UI design isn’t very user-friendly. One of the issues facing Web3 and preventing developers from grasping how to create a great dApp UI is translating complexity into usability. Web3 dApps need to figure out the key elements that matter to the user and focus on those.
It’s also important for blockchain developers to figure out the main value proposition of their dApps. Clarity of purpose helps guide design. Moreover, they need to remember that dApps are designed for a wide user base, most of whom have less technical knowledge than them and their peers.
Here are some helpful tips on how to create a great dApp UI:
- Focus on what gives value. Ask the right questions.
When building a dApp, forget the fancy jargon. Moreover, forget what’s trending–you can’t ride every bandwagon. Emphasize how useful the product is to the user. Ergo, UI design should be driven by its benefits.
Zero in on the features of your product that matter most to the user. Furthermore, build the core of your design around them. Also, make sure that they are easy to understand and access. What’s more, users need to understand the benefit of using your dApp right away as they encounter your UI design.
- Fix the language.
Most technical people tend to use popular jargon from their communities. However, such words may not be understandable by the average person. Hence, they tend to make it difficult for dApp users.
Using technical terms in your dApp’s language or copy alienates your market. Remember, you don’t want to add more complexity to your UI. Technical terms add pressure and create additional friction for adoption. Therefore, pare down your language and make it easy for the general public to understand.
Moreover, it helps your UI to tell a story. Make your words and design speak eloquently through simplicity and engaging storytelling. Given that Web3 has many exciting use-cases, including creating NFTs and GameFi and Play-to-Earn (P2E) games, the use of effective storytelling is crucial to drawing users to your dApp.
- Take cues from those who are doing it right, like MetaMask.
While Web3 UI has its challenges, we aren’t saying it doesn’t have its successes. For example, MetaMask is highly successful at allowing users to store their crypto or tokens securely and in a decentralized way. Apart from being an in-browser wallet, it also allows dApps to conduct user authentication without a traditional Web2 login.
If you are building a dApp right now, here’s a quick guide on how to use Moralis to create a crypto login. This enables MetaMask authentication with just a single line of code. Moreover, it applies to any blockchain and allows Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon logins. To learn more about this subject, read the Moralis article on how to authenticate with MetaMask.
Moralis, being natively cross-chain, allows you such seamless functionalities when you build cross-chain dApps. With Moralis, you are already halfway to learning how to create a great dApp UI.
- Follow good DDP (Decentralization Design Principles)
The link to Decentralization Design Principles or DDP is already available above, but here is a summary of the crucial things to remember as you navigate how to create a great dApp UI:
- In your dApp, make it clear which data is coming from the blockchain, and therefore decentralized or public, and which isn’t. Web3 culture is keen on decentralization, but if any aspect of your dApp derives its data from private or more centralized sources, state it. Transparency goes a long way for your users.
- Manage expectations. Tell your users how long their estimated wait times are. You can say, “This could take a few minutes” or, if it takes a bit longer, “Grab a coffee while waiting” to make it easy for them to manage their time. It is also respectful.
- Don’t overwhelm your user. This has already been stated in the language use tip (3) but is emphasized under DDP. Don’t dump a bunch of expert-level information in combination with basic information. Moreover, create tiers of information. This will go a long way in making users comfortable with using your dApp.
- Be clear about the implications of transactions. Make sure users understand when a transaction is irreversible. This will save you a lot of complaints and requests for reversal.
- Respect user privacy. Let them know when any action may lead to user identification or other privacy risks.
- Give them as much control as possible. For example, you can let them subscribe or unsubscribe to events based on their preference.
It’s all about translating the needs of users to your dApp thoughtfully! Remember never to neglect user psychology as you learn how to create a great dApp UI.
How to Create a Great dApp UI: Shortcuts
To create a standout Web3 UI, you need to have some tricks up your sleeve. One of the best things you can do for yourself as a dApp developer is to sign up on Moralis for free and avail of the time-saving benefits of the world’s best Web3 SDK.
Here are the ways Moralis helps you achieve better Web3 UI:
- Skip Setting Up Web3 Backend Infrastructure Yourself
Unless you are a highly experienced blockchain developer with extensive resources at your disposal, and you have a good reason for doing so, it’s not the best idea to set up node infrastructure and other backend requirements all by yourself. Beginners are better off working with node and Web3 infrastructure providers to help with their backend. Moreover, developers of all levels will appreciate that not everything needs to be built from scratch. It’s simply impractical to create sophisticated backends for the sole purpose of building a simple dApp.
For example, one of the biggest mistakes that newbies can make is to start a dApp project by connecting to an RPC node. RPC nodes are difficult to handle. Furthermore, their databases can’t handle aggregation or filtering. Hence, this will make your dApp frontend build even more challenging in the future. What’s more, it will negatively affect the quality of your end product. Therefore, it’s worth exploring the limitations of RPC nodes to understand how you can avoid them.
Moralis handles such requirements with as little as a single line of code, courtesy of its extensive Web3 SDK and Web3 API options.
By sparing you the headache, Moralis helps you focus on the needs of your target audience or market. In addition, it provides you with the best tools to make your Web3 and Ethereum development journey as pain-free as possible.
- Natively Cross-Chain Infrastructure
In the early phase of your dApp project, Moralis Speedy Nodes gives you a distinct edge. It gives you convenient access to multiple blockchains. Furthermore, you can set up Ethereum nodes, Polygon nodes, Arbitrum nodes, BSC nodes, and Avalanche nodes in as fast as a few minutes. This unique capability alone already gives you a head start in navigating how to create a great dApp UI. With Moralis being natively cross-chain, you can easily add more functionalities to your list.
- Ready-to-Use Tools for Any Web3 Project
From the get-go, Moralis gives you all the functionalities you need to run any basic dApp, including seamless user logins, and the fetching of balances of different tokens (such as ERC20, BEP20, ERC721, and ERC1155). It also lets you fetch transactions and smart contract events from the blockchain and lets you receive real-time alerts. Furthermore, it allows you a better way of figuring out how to index the blockchain.
Moralis also provides you with more shortcuts that help you build all the coolest things on Web3 right now. If you’re building an NFT dApp, you should check out Moralis’ Ultimate NFT API. If you are exploring how to create a DEX, or how to build an NFT marketplace, Moralis has tools for you too.
Watch this video to learn more about Moralis’ game-changing features:
How to Create a Great dApp UI – Summary
There are two main things to remember when figuring out how to create a great dApp UI. First, follow the correct Decentralization Design Principles (DDP) as previously outlined in this article. Second, use the right tools to speed up your build and make your dApp frontend process simpler.
Moralis is the perfect companion to building standout Web3 UI. With all the exciting features packed in in the Moralis Software Development Kit (SDK), your backend is covered while you tackle your frontend challenges. It saves precious time and effort. Furthermore, you should check out the Moralis Ethereum boilerplate (link posted above). It helps you build Ethereum dApps with a great UI faster.
Building exceptional Web3 UI has never been easier or more intuitive than with the Ultimate Web3 Development platform, Moralis!
