Proposal to fund the Product & Creative Services Workstream Jan-June 30 2022

Workstream Discussion Product (features & roadmap)
1

Abstract

As a product-centric DAO, a well-resourced Product & Creative Services Workstream is vital to our success. The Workstream is accountable for a number of activities which are critical to the DAO’s ability to delight users, grow the FOX ecosystem, and achieve its mission. This is a proposal to continue funding the Product & Creative Services Workstream’s anticipated budget through June 30, 2022.

Motivation

Continuing to fund this workstream will ensure that the ShapeShift DAO can retain the extraordinary talent that the Workstream already has while also ensuring the team can expand and fulfill the growing product, design and UX needs that the DAO’s product development and creative requirements demand. The workstream has so far succeeded in hitting their goals, and has completed a large number of projects including the launch of the new responsive Alpha website and successful Yearn integration. We’re also working on an updated proposal to implement analytics on an Alpha version of the web app (alpha.shapeshift.com) where new features will be released first. This will enable us to collect and report metrics to the community while still offering a private, analytics-free version of the app on app.shapeshift.com. View completed items on our roadmap (completed items are moved to the bottom) and on our UX/Design board (completed items are in the completed column).

Specification

Mission: Design and execute the optimal product roadmap for achieving the mission and goals of the ShapeShift DAO. And now, with the addition of the Creative Services group (voted on and approved

  1. by the community) to also provide design-oriented and brand-focused creative support, guidelines, and guardrails to the myriad of projects the DAO will take on.

    Goals

    Curate and propose a product roadmap based on research, user feedback and behavior, and informed vision that aligns with the mission and goals of the ShapeShift DAO.

  2. Provide feature specifications (including goals and success metrics), UI/UX designs, product management, and applicable front-end development for features prioritized by the ShapeShift DAO.
  3. Represent the ShapeShift DAO’s product suite, roadmap, and workstream and act as a repository of knowledge.
  4. Ensure the delivery of prioritized features on time, on or under budget, and according to the acceptance criteria defined in each feature spec written by the Product Managers.
  5. Assist with one-off community projects as needed, and make sure all projects executed by the workstream and outside the workstream are on brand and pass usability.
  6. Help all ShapeShift Workstreams communicate effectively, by creating engaging
  7. content that is aligned with the brand of ShapeShift DAO.
  8. Communicate ideas, create materials to educate FOX holders, assist in the creative needs to help launch marketing campaigns and expand the effectiveness of the brand.
  9. Success Metrics

    Define and propose an evolving roadmap that aligns with the vision of the DAO and is discussed with and accepted by the community

  10. Features on the roadmap are delivered in milestones, on or under budget, and according to the acceptance criteria defined in each feature spec.
  11. The KPIs specified in each feature are tracked and reported to the community (once Analytics are implemented into Alpha).
  12. Execute projects that lead to growth in DAO revenues.
  13. Own and evolve the brand and ensure a polished, professional image in all that we DAO.

Budget

Total Funds Requested For 6 months: $686,049*

*This covers salaries, software, test funds, etc. All unused funds will be returned to the treasury

https://global.discourse-cdn.com/standard10/uploads/foxcookieco/optimized/1X/1995276bd5aaa2fb719b688ec12910d86709fc8c_2_690x412.png

The budget has been revised from the previous budget, as the needs from the workstream have evolved in the past several months. We have removed the Project Manager roles, as it currently stands, they are not immediately necessary. Should the need arise to add those or additional roles in the future, separate proposals will be made accordingly.

Also, it is worth noting that Diggy was voted into the Workstream leadership role, through Feb 2022. If she plans to run for the Workstream leader position beyond that timeframe, she will make a separate proposal later on.

If this proposal passes, the equivalent amount of FOX will be transferred from the DAO’s treasury to the Product Workstream on Colony on a monthly basis. Because the budget is denominated in $USD and FOX is a volatile asset, any decreases in FOX price will warrant additional transfers of FOX from the DAO to the Product Workstream on Colony to ensure the workstream has enough FOX to cover its budget. We are also hoping that much of this budget will be able to be distributed in stable coin going forward. All unused funds will be returned to the DAO.

Benefits

If this proposal passes, the DAO will receive the following specific deliverables and services which are integral to its success:

• Proposed feature roadmap encompassing the following products the DAO: ShapeShift Mobile, current web app (beta.shapeshift.com), new open-source web app, shapeshift.com, and other products the ShapeShift DAO launches

• Feature specs for prioritized feature including goals, success metrics, and acceptance criteria

• UI/UX for each prioritized feature

• Front-end development

• Reporting on product KPIs and feature success metrics (once Analytics are in place)

• Design-oriented and brand-focused creative support, guidelines, and guardrails to the myriad of projects the DAO will take on

Drawbacks

The main potential risk is whether cost/benefit of a product workstream will be worth it to the DAO’s bottom-line in the long term. To mitigate this risk, only 6 months of funding are being requested. The funds will be managed on Colony and can be revoked by the DAO in a worst-case-scenario.

Vote

Yes: You support funding the workstream’s anticipated 2022 budget for 6 months totaling $686,049

No: You do not support continuing to fund the product workstream.

2

I am obviously in support of this proposal! The product Work Stream is doing great and I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish in the New Year!

3

Thanks for posting this - I think the product workstream has been doing an amazing job for the DAO so far and you have stepped in and been an extremely capable leader of that workstream, so in general the product workstream has my support!

I do have a few questions on the above proposal though:

There is budget for both the workstream leader and Diggy’s UX lead role from March onward and this adds quite a bit to the overall budget. Can this be clarified that if Diggy does decide to continue on as workstream leader the UX lead budget will not be used (unless its perhaps filled by another role)? Basically I don’t think

  1. (as great as she is!) should be be paid twice by the workstream. I assume this is the plan but would like clarity on this aspect because it has a large budget impact. My assumption is only in the case a new workstream leader (not currently on the team) takes over will both budget items be utilized, but want this to be clear.
  2. Decentralized J is a new team member, I love to see the product workstream bringing on new talent from the community, this is great! Since he is new could we please get more of an overview of who he is and his qualifications and his expected responsibilities in this role moving forward? Maybe he could even post some details in this thread about who he is for the community?

Right now the entire budget for

  1. 's creative services squad (which I support and voted forward) seems to be entirely on Gray personally. I understand that the majority of that budget is meant to go towards him, but wasn’t some of that set aside to go towards other people/budget items on that squad and not 100% towards Gray? Can we get clarity on this as it is not clear currently as the budget is laid out?
  2. For such an important and well funded workstream the proposed goals are a bit broad/nebulous for my liking with no defined and falsifiable KPIs that can be measured against. I would like to ask the workstream to help narrow these goals to be falsifiable if at all possible and to add measurable KPIs that the performance of the workstream can be measured against during and after the 6 month time period (and i’ll be asking this of every subsequent workstream funding proposal, not just product). I don’t know exactly what these should look like but I do believe they can get substantially better, some ideas may include (a) specific items on the product roadmap the workstream commits to delivering within Q1 and Q2 (at least in terms of fully specced out product requirements/user tested UI/UX designs etc) (b) a measurable % amount of bugs identified/solved each quarter (c) specific front end development features to be shipped in Q1 and Q2 (d) Certain amount of collateral assets, videos, marketing materials produced by the creative services workstream in Q1 and Q2. Could probably come up with more on this front and these could be replaced by other measurable goals, but I do think it behooves both the workstream and the DAO as a whole to be clearer about these goals on a quarterly basis and I would ask the workstream to hold a public meeting with the community at the end of each quarter to go over the progress on the goals they set in this proposal, any goals that need adjusting/removing/adding at that time (as things change fast in DAO land), and what the projected progress will be over the coming quarter (and again this is something I will be suggesting to every workstream moving forward).

Thanks for considering my comments and team, I am a strong supporter of everything the product workstream has already accomplished and if I can get some feedback/answers/commitments on some of the items above I will be supporting this renewal when it comes time to vote on snapshot.

4

discourse-post-upload20231125-65354-zsozg2.png jonisjon:

Right now the entire budget for 's creative services squad (which I support and voted forward) seems to be entirely on Gray personally. I understand that the majority of that budget is meant to go towards him, but wasn’t some of that set aside to go towards other people/budget items on that squad and not 100% towards Gray? Can we get clarity on this as it is not clear currently as the budget is laid out?

I can speak to my part of it:

The bounties and contract work were rolled into one sum for the whole workstream. Software is broken out into line items. My proposed budget was $122k I believe, and in this budget proposal we shaved off $10k by adjusting salary a little, some cutting of software/hardware expenses that I’ll handle on my own, and deferring some software cost for later.

It’s my feeling that we can use at least 6 months to get the Creative Services Group established, get cross-team workflows going, and then decide where additional staff needs are at that mid-year point. So you are correct in that it’s a “Group of one” right now, managing outside contractors and looking to build up our headcount later in the year.

5
  • Thanks for reviewing our proposal and for giving such great feedback!

    Yes you are correct. I will not be taking two salaries. If I don’t continue as Workstream leader past February I would just be taking the UX lead role salary and someone else would step into the Workstream leader position. I want to make sure we’re best positioned for success, and it’s definitely a large challenge right now, juggling both roles. That said, I am still undecided if I will consider the leader role past February.

  • I will be announcing Decentralized J to the community on Monday! We are excited to have him join the workstream, he has a strong technical background and is a true degen.
  • We actually pulled back on some of the costs initially laid out in GrayMachine’s proposal. The majority of the costs are for his salary and the software and tools he’ll need. As he responded above.
  • This is a great idea. I will work with the team and we can outline some more specific KPIs.
    • 6

    What can I to make your consideration of Product Workstream Leader turn into a “strong yes”? :slightly_smiling_face:

    Kidding aside, you’ve been doing great, and I hope you continue in the role, but only if it feels good to you. If you decide to not take it on, would you consider staying in the role until a replacement is found?

    7

    Thank you 1f642 Yes, I absolutely would stay in the role until a replacement is found.

    8

    I’m in favor of this.