How should FLASH be positioned? Cool and "memey" or as a "serious" financial tool?

[archive] đź’ˇ Ideas & Discussions
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#1

Hey everyone

I love the retro style of the new dApp design, it’s cool and original.

But at the same time, I wonder whether this positions FLASH as a “memey” project akin to all those food-based crypto tokens, which are generally viewed as pump n dump schemes and for short term speculation.

Should we not position FLASH as a serious financial tool akin to the AAVE’s and Compound’s of this world?

The 80s theme is so good though it could be kept and perhaps used as a sort of Easter egg on a more serious, professional platform design?

Please share your thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of both directions and the potential for offering both designs side by side.

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#2

I agree that flash should be pitched towards the serious side of the market if it wants to reach the kind of levels we all want to see it succeed with. Maybe the other variant of the dapp that Zach showed off the other day could be the main one with the funky back to the future variant being a niche easter that unlocks by tapping the flash logo three times or something.

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#3

I share your sentiment about the current retro theme giving off too much of a playful tone as opposed to a serious financial platform. I like the original theme but the alternative option with the orange logo and wavey backdrop is better than the current design for me.

I think the thing about the current cryptospace which is still in its infancy is that most early adopters are more geared to the geeky freedom searching mindset who might see it as a fun flavour but for a mainstream push maybe not. The question is though, is crypto mainstream where the suits would be the ones using the platform? I don’t think so but still, to be safe I think it should be toned down a bit to a more professional look but still adding some flair in a subtle way.

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#4

Close your eyes and imagine how you feel when thinking about how Bitcoin has gone from a financial experiment to the “coca cola” of cryptocurrency. How can we encapsulate a feeling just like that, but with FLASH? What types of graphics and imagery and logo and colors would help with that?

But also consider that the 80s theme helps make it memorable, a good theme that correlates “back to the future”, time travel, and flashstaking.

Does the 80s theme cause a mental distraction that takes away from the focus of the importance and brilliance of what exactly FlashStaking is and how it works? Or does it help create a mental anchor to make FLASH memorable and make the Dapp more enjoyable to use?

#5

I think the idea of the black and orange version proposed would better attract non-tech/older people in general, but I am not certain that goes across the board and I wonder which crowd we should first try to “ensnare”:smiley:

I like the idea of switching skins via the logo.

I think that we could use different skins for different portals and I think it clear that private portals will want customized skins showing off their product/brand.

#6

I think the two are not mutually exclusive, If we can create the conception of a legit-meme coin, where as the utility is real, sound tokenomics, and then simply offer the platform in two variations, the retro 80’s vibe version which i love, but you could also have the option for a clean/ modest and more minimal looking interface. I think theres a place for both versions.

It could be an idea to lead with the clean smart version, with a button to switch over to the 80s time travel version. the design the team have put together initially looks super cool imo,

XID-aF60F

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#7

#XIOfeedback

Please answer to the above questions and thoughts? Additionally we would love you to vote on the following two polls for a quick overview!

For me FLASH should mainly be a …
  • meme token
  • serious financial offering

0 voters

How strongly do you feel we should implement the following design options?
  • only use the more serious design
  • only use the retro style 80’s version
  • go for a completely different design
  • use multiple versions to choose from

0 voters

1 Like
#8
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#11

Love the topic, not a fan of how it is presented.

It assumes that one option is “memey” and one is a “serious financial tool” when there is a very subjective line and also, overlap.

Ex: Uniswap is the best defi fincial tool we have. It has a pink unicorn. Is that “memey”?

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#12

My thoughts exactly. I think “memeyness” has become part of crypto and specifically DeFi culture at this point. people are happy to throw 1000s at food coins, which seems a bit more memey than a compeltely legitmate financial platform that just happens to have a car in the background behind it.

I think there’s a classy, respectful balance between the two with the way it is currently. Given the rebranding, even more so. If people want an interface that looks like their current fintech financial tools, Coinbase is waiting for them.

2 Likes
#13

I agree with the sentiment that it should be more professional. When I saw the “memeier” option it immediately felt tacky to me. I like the other one though.

You make good points about uniswap, but I think it become successful despite having unicorn, not because of it.

People seem to be more and more fed up with these “food tokens”. I worry that even though we are not a food token, if we use the “meme” like version, we could be assigned to the same group. You know like people who know nothing about Flash would look at the website and be like “oh yeah, it’s another yield farm crazy token, let’s pass”

Alternatively what could be fun is to have like a toggle. Kinda like youtube has for dark/light version, where you could switch to the other one.
Other mentioned the easter egg idea. That would work well here. The toggle could show up only after your first stake.

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#14

That’s a great point on uniswap. Although to be fair it is a discrete logo at the top left of the appp, it’s not like the whole page is flashing unicorns

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#15

I don’t think it matters what it looks like as long as it works, is secure and does what it says on the tin.

#16

I love soo much the back to the future theme, it would be great to have at least have a switch for those who love it if you go with the clean design.

#17

This reply is to the “memey-ness” of the visuals, not the token or it’s fundementals.

I see what you are saying, I can’t see why there should’t be a bunch to choose from?

A default setting with some Goldman-Sachs-like-boring-ass-theme, and also as a option these fun retro style and yellow editions .

I do think same should go for the website as well.

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#18

I liked the orange design better from day 1. Even more so after trying the retro skin, I get why some think its cool and all, I like Back to the Future movies too, but on my TV, not on my banks homepage.

Besides that it’s not executed very well in my opinion. I don’t know if it’s still work in progress, but I’ll give feedback on what I see:

  • The background scenery with the Delorian is commonly used on EDM/retrowave videos on youtube, so many will recognize it as that (it’s not specifically made for $Flash. Do we even have permission to use it?)
  • The image is very low resolution. (Is it supposed to be a video clip playing in the background?)
  • The chromatic color theme is very straining on the eyes. It’s basically like looking at 3D cinema without the glasses.
  • The font used is too stylized. Some people had trouble telling 1’s and 7’s apart on day one of the comp. That’s a bad sign when you’re dealing with money apps.

I don’t mean to be harsh, it’s just I work as a technical artist and I deal with UI/UX on occasion so some things just stick out to me.

I haven’t tried the orange yet as it isn’t available for testing on the flashstaking comp, but I usually lean towards minimalistic/clean designs as preference. It also looks more in style with the XIO theme.

3 Likes
#19

I would definitely stick with the meme positionning.

1. Crypto is, and will stay for some more years, a nerd network. We all know our parents or friends won’t be using flashstaking (or even bitcoin) before years.
So we don’t need to target the mainstream who needs to be secured, but only the crypto users who already is in the meme culture

2. A strong identity creates more brand memory.
Right now, on the web every websites looks like any other, with the flat design stuff. It’s hard to be distiguished. We have the opportunity here to create something very different, that people will then remember. Being remembered means people will think about us, and come to use us

3. A strong identity helps fighting against copycat
We all know that if Flash is a success, lot of similar projects will pop up in the second.
Having a very strong and memey identity will help us to fight them, having both the protocol AND the branding versy strong. It will make harder for other projects to compete with us.

4. A “back to the future” theme help installing the flash key concept
The team loves the “time travel of money” and I think they will keep it.
Having a design that goes deep into this very same way will help people remember the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of Flash: giving you your reward before you have to wait.
That is great.
They are so many protocol people don’t understand or forget about why they are built for.
Here, people will remember easily.

5. Most DeFi websites are… weird.
We all know the Uniswap Unicorn.
Have you been on Curve? Harvest? Aave builds everything about the ghosts.
Very strong DeFi protocoles uses memes and people keep using and loving them.
Doing something boring won’t make more people use our service.
Degens are not afraid by Doloreans :wink:

6. UX is key
I think the whol thing will be finding the right balance between the meme and the usability.
Too much weird stuff might make it harder to use.
Let see what can be done to find the right balance.

4 Likes
#20

I for one would be more onboard if there were flashing unicorns. #justsaying :rofl:

1 Like