This article will introduce you to why Web3 development needs better frontend UI development tools, and how Moralis’ web3uikit provides just that. If you’d like to skip straight into taking a closer look at the web3uikit, check out the following link:
Full Web3 UI Documentation – https://github.com/web3ui/web3uikit
Web3 development is hotter than ever and growing at a tremendous rate. Since the early days of Web3, most of the attention has been directed towards backend development. As such, there’s been a lack of innovation when it comes to the frontend user experience. This isn’t strange as Web3 has been a “developer-heavy” niche, suggesting that most development has been for other developers. However, as the decentralized web continues to grow and becomes mainstream, we need to emphasize user experiences and design more effective UIs (user interfaces). To accelerate the Web3 frontend revolution, we must fill the need for more advanced and helpful development tools. For this exact reason, we have decided to make the Moralis web3uikit open-source, providing everyone with the opportunity to design great UIs!
Moralis is the best operating system for Web3 development, and with the platform, it is possible to reduce average development time by a whopping 87% for all blockchain projects. The ability to save time on development partly originates from the fact that Moralis provides an infinitely scalable backend infrastructure.
Moreover, along with the web3uikit, Moralis also provides an extensive selection of development tools. For example, as a user, you’ll receive full access to Moralis Speedy Nodes, the NFT API, Price API, etc.
So, if you have an interest in blockchain development, feel free to sign up with Moralis right away. Doing so is completely free, and it only takes a couple of seconds, so you have nothing to lose!
What is a UI?
UI is short for “user interface”, which refers to the space where a human interacts with a website or application. The primary purpose of an efficient UI is to facilitate a seamless user experience. This is achieved by creating an interface that is intuitive and easy to navigate. As such, it requires minimum effort on the users’ part, all while providing them with a pleasant and desired outcome.
Creating a compelling UI can be quite tricky, and there are several essential issues to keep in mind when designing a user interface. However, three of the most important UI design elements are information architecture, interactive design, and visual design. As essential components, we’re going to take a closer look at each element to get a better idea of what they entail:
- Information Architecture – An important aspect of the UI is to organize the contents of a website or application logically, making it easier for the users to navigate with minimal effort. There are three central ways to structure content: hierarchical, sequential, and in a “matrix”. Examples of information architecture components are buttons, tabs, terminology, and organization systems.
- Interactive Design – The main idea behind the interactive design element is to convert passive readers into active participants. To do so, the UI should present instances where users have the opportunity to input information themselves. Examples here can be toggles, buttons, and social share features.
- Visual Design – The aesthetics of an application or a website is crucial. Therefore, we need to consider several aspects, such as colors, contrasts, videos, fonts, etc. Effectively utilizing these components can attract visitors and make it easier for them to navigate the site/app. Examples can be mobile optimization, typography, contrasts, and colors.
UI in Web3
Web3 has taken the world by storm and is currently one of the hottest sectors within the development industry. The decentralization of the internet provides several benefits and has the potential to revolutionize the current system. However, since its infancy, Web3 enthusiasts have mostly emphasized backend development and optimized the coding elements of dApps.
Web3 has been considered a “developer-heavy” niche for some time now, and most early adopters were developers with programming experience. With a space full of developers, most of the innovative ideas were built for other developers. This meant that a majority of developers’ efforts were directed towards backend coding elements, leaving little to no time for designing efficient UIs. However, from a traditional perspective, they haven’t had much of a choice as Web3 backend development has been the most taxing endeavor, not enabling developers to focus on getting the UI right.
Nevertheless, Web3 is now rapidly moving towards mainstream adoption, suggesting that it is no longer possible to neglect UI design. There is a need for efficient UIs as this lowers the entry barriers for the masses, allowing people with less technical knowledge to also enter the space. Without UI design, it will be much more challenging, if not impossible, for Web3 to become the new standard of the internet.
One reason for the lack of efficient UI design is the fact that Web3 backend development is taxing. However, a place to start is Moralis, as the operating system allows developers to save an average of 87% of the time that it takes to develop Web3 projects. Therefore, when working with Moralis, it’s possible to allocate more time to UI design.
Moreover, one of the more recent additions to the Moralis toolkit is the web3uikit, which we’re going to dive deeper into in the following section!
Moralis’ Web3UIKit
Besides making Web3 development more accessible, Moralis now also provides a Web3UI kit. The Moralis UI is built on this kit, and it’s now open-source and available to anyone. As such, it’s now possible to utilize the same UI resources used to develop the Moralis platform.
Moralis’ Web3 UI tools, the web3uikit, is equipped with numerous Web2 elements such as buttons, gradients, tables, colors. As the Moralis platform expands and evolves, so will the Web3UI kit, adding additional features that anyone has easy access to.
Moreover, in the near future, the team at Moralis will keep adding more crypto-centric features to the web3uikit. This will make it much easier to build great UIs for all sorts of different Web3 projects. Examples here can be swap interfaces, DeFi interfaces, etc., features that will prove immensely useful when developing dApps.
The primary reason for open-sourcing the Web3UI kit is to create one uniformed platform – which is Moralis – that provides “one single source of truth”. As such, you’re now able to utilize Moralis in all aspects of Web3 development. Moreover, the kit has a few fundamental core goals:
- Developer Experience (DX) – With the Web3UI kit, Moralis aims to provide a great developer experience, making it easier to create an efficient UI.
- User Experience (UX) – Through the utilization of the kit, all developers should be able to facilitate a great UX.
- Frontend Community – One goal of this open-source UI kit is to establish a frontend community. As such, people can share and learn from one another.
- Expanding the Moralis Team – Since the kit is open-source, anyone can contribute, which will allow the team at Moralis to find a great addition of frontend developers.
Contribute to Moralis’ Web3UI Kit
One of the fundamental goals of the Web3UI kit is creating a frontend community. Here, people can share their work and learn from one another. For this reason, and the fact that the kit is open-source, anyone has the ability to submit their own contributions. We highly encourage you to join since now is the time for a Web3 frontend revolution!
If you want to learn more about contributing to the web3uikit, you’ll find all the necessary information in the “CONTRIBUTE.md” file. As you soon might notice, it’s quite an extensive process, and there is a bunch of information to consider. However, this detailed process comes with good intentions as Moralis aims to provide a Web3 UI toolkit of the highest quality. As such, all the available components of the kit are tested, ensuring that everything works as intended.
However, if you are further interested in contributing to Moralis’ Web3 UI tools, you should check out the following video from the Moralis YouTube channel. The video covers the necessary steps to contribute, providing you with a straightforward guide on how to join in:
Moreover, as we mentioned in the preceding section, another important goal with the kit is to expand the Moralis team. Contributing to this kit is an excellent way to get on Moralis’ radar, and your work here acts as a great resume.
So, if you are looking to join the Moralis team, a great place to start is by contributing to the Web3UI kit!
What is UX? UI vs UX
The distinction between a UI and UX can be somewhat confusing, and it isn’t uncommon that people use them as synonyms or mix them up. As such, we feel like it might be a good idea to clarify what a UX is and the difference between these two practices. So, with no further ado, let’s try and answer the question, “what is UX?”.
UX is an abbreviation for “user experience”, and just like a UI, this is a critical aspect of succeeding online. UX and UI are two closely related concepts; however, there are clear distinctions to be made.
Meanwhile, UI mainly focuses on the points or the space in which humans interact with an application or a webpage; UX encompasses the complete customer journey. As such, UX designers have tasks such as customer research, creating customer personas, and testing design. Thus, UX designers need to constantly work with the customer in mind and use their needs as a base when making strategic decisions. However, this might not sound all that different from UI design.
UI and UX are interconnected, meaning that the border between these two fields might be blurry. Nonetheless, a general distinction is that UX design is concerned with the overall feel of an experience; meanwhile, UI is about how a product looks and functions.
As such, a UX designer does extensive research and maps out the entire customer journey. Here they might highlight “pain points” where the customer struggles and how these can be solved. It is then up to a UI designer to bring everything to life. This suggests that both UI and UX designers work closely together to provide higher customer satisfaction.
Moralis’ Web3UIKit – Summary
UI, or user interface, is the point at which a human interacts with a website or application. As such, the main point of an effective UI is to facilitate a seamless user experience. This happens through a number of different elements, for example, information architecture, interactive design, and visual design.
Moreover, UI and UX (user experience) are two relatively similar concepts. However, even though some occasionally use them as synonyms, they have their differences. The main difference is that UX design takes a broader approach and encompasses the overall feel of an experience. Meanwhile, UI is about how a website or application looks and functions.
So far, the Web3 revolution has largely been a backend revolution. However, as Web3 adoption picks up steam, there is a growing demand for improved Web3 UI. As such, it is just a matter of time until Web3 undergoes a frontend revolution centered on crafting user interfaces and user experiences that appeal to the general public. With the open-source release of the web3uikit, we’re hoping to accelerate the advent of Web3’s frontend revolution. Make sure to check it out, star it on GitHub, and play around with our web3uikit. Who knows – maybe it’ll be you who kickstarts the Web3 frontend revolution with the help of Moralis’ web3uikit!
Moreover, if you want to learn more about designing great UIs, check out the following guide from the Moralis blog on how to create a great dApp UI.
So, if you haven’t already, to continue making improvements in your Web3 development and Web3 UI journey, sign up with Moralis. Creating an account is entirely free, and you’ll be able to become a blockchain developer in no time!
