Crafting Web3 products for poetry community, pioneering the world's first poetry NFTs
PoemWiki stands as a beacon of the web3.0 era—a DAO organization that embodies shared autonomy within a vibrant poetry community.
Between 2020-2022, we launched the PoemWiki Chatbot, PoemWiki mini app, PoemWiki Website, and the PoemWiki NFT.
My role as a co-founder and product designer encompassed a dynamic spectrum of responsibilities, including Strategy Planning, Business Analysis, User Research, Workshops, Product Design, Visual System, User Interface Design, User Testing.
My Role
Co-Founder, Lead Product Designer
Roadmap
Challenge 1
Foster an active and dynamic community
Immersive Reading: Enhance the reading experience, allowing seamless engagement.
Interactivity: Integrate features like Like, Comment, Share, Follow, and DM for dynamic user interaction.
Contests and Events: Host writing challenges to stimulate participation and creativity.
Poetic Atmosphere: Establish a respectful environment through unique poetic language.
Finding 1
The poetry community is still there
Design a social platfom for poetry lovers sounds niche. But analysising engagement data from a poetry blog we have been managing for 10 years underscores poetry's enduring appeal, with a substantial base of loyal readers, active group members, and promising growth prospects. This holds true even in the digital age, where platforms like TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and others compete for our attention in a fragmented browsing landscape.
Blog Followers
700,000+
Daily Media Impression
10,000+
Active Group Chat
10+
Active Group Members
6,000+
Finding 2
However, few people post their poems publicly on digital platform
In our user research with 74 poets and poetry lovers, only 7% share their poems publicly. Our users eager to share with people they trust and have shared interest, but despise hurtful environment on socialmedia platforms due to their vulnerability in sharing poetic expressions.
“
I share them with friends or in group chats, but not publicly or extensively. I was once active on poetry forums, enjoying the feedback on my poems.
M, Poetry Lover
”
“
Their design are all basic, limited to pure text without visual art style or support for newer forms like cross-discipline, multimedia, and video poetry.
F, Poetry Lover
”
“
I joined your poetry contest and loved it. I share my poems with friends on WeChat when relevant. I also post them on my private social account, but not very often.
M, Poetry Lover
”
“
I won't publish the poem online since submission guidelines require it to be unpublished elsewhere.
F, Poet
”
Finding 3
Comparing with popular social media platforms, our target users gravitate towards smaller, specialized platforms for exploring and reading
Reading
Searching
Finding 4
User Sentiment: A robust, interactive community is pivotal for user experience, with vital interactions such as comments and chats.
Best Experience
Self-expression, connecting with like-minded people, sharing, engaging in discussions, learning and exploring, finding solace
“
Some posts that deeply resonate, along with insightful comments, create an incredible thread ambiance.
M, Poetry Lover
”
“
I use "good rates" for poetry book ratings, but it lacks depth, focusing only on reviews. Douban, on the other hand, offers diverse communities, not just for poetry, with a social media atmosphere.
F, Poet
”
“
The user groups all share the same interests
M, Poetry Lover
”
“
Some posts that deeply resonate, along with insightful comments, create an incredible thread ambiance.
M, Poetry Lover
”
Worst Experience
Cluttered digital space, malicious and low-quality content, ads
“
Malicious Comments.
M, Poetry Lover
”
“
My work was censored and taken down.
M, Poet
”
“
Trollers. Fake accounts. Attacks on the comments and DMs.
M, Poet
”
“
Malicious Comments.
M, Poetry Lover
”
“
Their design are all basic, limited to pure text without visual art style or support for newer forms like cross-discipline, multimedia, and video poetry.
F, Poet
”
Competitor Analysis
My Favorite
Chinese ancient poetry community
10,000 DAU; 5,000,000 Registered Users,
4.9（250,000）App Store Rating
Monetization through: Prime Membership Subscriptions, Paid Online Courses, IP Collaboration, Database API
Why I like it
The user-friendly “Quote Care” make a clear first impression, while the comprehensive library categorization and versatile discovery options cater to varying user needs.
The integration of poetry games and events fosters user engagement.
Skillful incorporation of Chinese traditional culture.
Unique ancient style designed interface and layout enhance the poetry experience.
Supports diverse content forms, including text, images, voice, and video.
My Least Favorite
Poetry writing and sharing platform
User Volume Unknown
4.6（597）App Store Rating
Monetization through: Ads, Membership(Pay to remove ads)
Why I don’t like it
Ads are excessively distracting, with a high frequency of appearance.
Usability is hindered by numerous bugs.
The requirement of membership for basic features risks user attrition.
While aimed at poets and creators, the product's failure to align with their usage patterns, showing a lack of research.
Design Approach 1
Immersive Reading
When designing the homepage, a space dedicated to reading, exploring, and engaging with our captivating poems, our approach was guided by three key principles:
1. Content-Centric: Placing the spotlight on the content itself, and create an immersive reading experience without distractions.
2. Immediate Access: open the app and delve into poetry seamlessly.
3. Intuitive Design: Intuitive and welcoming interface
We adopted a "swiping card" gesture, which allows users to explore one poem at a time and access unlimited array of poetry by simply swiping upwards. This technique has been proven success by renowned platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Tinder. We want to bring it to poetry, with a elegant design.
A/B Testing
We did A/B testing for different swiping gestures, and the up and down gestures wins. Because it is:
More intuitive, familiar to user.
Easy to create consistency and pattern.
Design Approach 2
Encouraging Interactivity
Integrate features like Like, Comment, Share, Follow, and DM for dynamic user interaction.
Allow users to share their poems as images with QR codes. This approach not only adds a visual dimension to the sharing process but also empowers users to easily promote their work beyond the platform.
Design Approach 3
Contests and Events
The poetry contest we hosted gathers the very first users of our products and continues to grow. The contest not only encourages users to write more but also creates a space for community members to share their thoughts and creations under different topics. The contest itself is akin to a conference, a forum, and a discussion.
We invite poets in the community to join the jury and write reviews for the submissions. In return, we promote their NFT products and publications.
Poem Contests
117
Original Poem Posted
68,000+
Design Approach 4
Poetic Atmosphere
Comments play a crucial role in user engagement and interaction with their work. 6 out of 7 interview participants highlighted comments as pivotal triggers for both positive and negative experiences.
I substituted the cold placeholder text with poems, infusing the platform with poetic language that evokes warmth and compassion. This approach fosters a culture of kindness and respectful communication among community members. Additionally, it contributes to the establishment of a distinct common identity for the community members.
This is proven to be success that only 3 report cases received in 18 month and with 116,700 users.
Our Achievement
We achieved organic growth of over 110,000 users post-launch, without any investment in product marketing, alongside a retention rate exceeding 22%. Our peak in user engagement coincided with an event we hosted in collaboration with Himalaya, China's leading online broadcast platform, attracting 114,000 daily visits. We established a significant milestone in fostering a vibrant and engaged community around our product.
Registered Users
116,700+
Monthly Active Users(MAU)
16,300+
Retention Rate
22%
*As of Oct, 2021
Chanllenge 2
Create a sustainable revenue mode
Launch Poem NFTs: Provide unique ownership and monetization opportunities for poets and their works
Introduce Poem Coin: Allowing content creators to earn a portion of the platform's profits
The poetry community has faced challenges in monetizing poems and related products. However, cash incentives are vital for content creators and essential for sustaining the product.
“
Contemporary poetry often thrives on amateurism, with earnings stemming more from faith-based support than from poetry book sales, compared to novels and critiques.
M, Poet
”
Existing models like Membership Subscriptions, Ads, and Derivative Product Sales have proven insufficient in profitability and rewarding creators. This prompted us to explore innovative monetization avenues.
Through workshops and internal discussions, we brainstormed diverse strategies such as poetry games, language learning via poetry, partnerships with wine clubs and flower delivery, inspiration tools for creators, and creative derivative products like Coin-operated Poetry Machines. Ultimately, our journey led us to poetry NFTs, a pioneering approach to monetization.
Why Poetry NFT?
Industry Dynamics
NFTs have provided a groundbreaking mechanism that digital art are able to securely authenticated and traded. In 2021 alone, the NFT market achieved an astounding valuation of $41 billion that is inching ever closer to the total worth of the entire global fine art market.
Leverage of Strong Community Connections
Our close ties and partnerships with poets within the community provide us with a distinct advantage. Collaborating closely with poets, we're equipped to seamlessly integrate their poetic creations into the NFT landscape.
User Preference
Users reject irrelevant ads but are open to financially supporting their favorite poems.
