DripDropz - Cardano’s Reward Layer - Improved Tooling

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Lloyd Duhon

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

DripDropz will upgrade architecture and add features to boost engagement. Together these innovations reduce friction and expand DripDropz capacity to grow the Cardano ecosystem.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No Dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

DripDropz platform is not an open source tool. While we have provided open source components, many of the technologies underlying DripDropz are specialized just to our operation. As such, we do not provide open source licensing to our core tools.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

While DripDropz has made it easier for Cardano projects to reward communities, more can be done to improve the user experience. The platform currently lacks features that would simplify rewards claiming and discovery for users. The process of finding and integrating with reward programs still requires too much independent effort.

Additionally, DripDropz currently operates on a monolithic Laravel architecture that bundles the front-end and back-end code. This limits the ability to scale and provide optimized mobile web experiences. It also restricts the capacity to offer modular integration options for projects.

Without further innovation, users may find claiming rewards on DripDropz inconvenient over time. And projects could miss out on opportunities to tap into the platform's user base if integration faces unnecessary obstacles.

By upgrading its architecture and expanding core features like rewards discovery, multi-drip, and mobile-web compatibility, DripDropz can raise the standard for easy and accessible community rewards programs. This will bolster organic project promotion, facilitating growth across the Cardano ecosystem.

DripDropz proposes upgrading our rewards platform with new architecture and features to boost accessibility and adoption. We will transition to a modular infrastructure, separating and optimizing the front and back-ends for better scalability. The new architecture will also allow embedded integration, enabling projects to directly add DripDropz functionality to their sites.

We will implement four major new features: Instant Rewards, allowing token projects to programmatically reward users for activities; Rapid Onboarding, simplifying token project onboarding; DestinationDrip, enabling dripping multiple wallets to one destination address based on held assets; and DripSwag Platform for customized token listings and pages to drive discoverability.

Additionally, we will revamp the Multi-Drip feature for simplified configuration of up to 20 reward destination wallets, with major quality of life upgrades.

The front-end will also be completely redesigned focused on intuitive rewards discovery and simplified claiming flows for users. Together these architecture changes, new features, and UX upgrades will reduce friction for both projects and users engaging with Cardano community rewards. This expands our capacity to facilitate ecosystem growth.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Upgrading DripDropz with new architecture and feature additions presents immense value to both projects and users in the Cardano ecosystem. Since 2022, 196 token projects leveraged our platform to deliver community rewards, powering over 1.5 million withdrawals. DripDropz facilitated this for an engaged user base of over 28,000 registered accounts, which accounted for 4.38% of all Cardano blockchain traffic last year.

By further improving discoverability, accessibility and seamlessness of rewards programs, our proposed innovations enable deeper community engagement. New modular infrastructure establishes the foundation to expand our partner project and user bases dramatically. Additional embedded integration options also empower partners to leverage DripDropz functionalities in their own platforms.

Together, these improvements drive greater return on efforts for projects running rewards campaigns. More users claim tokens and get further involved with supported projects. This energizes community promotion and awareness for innovative Cardano builders. With easier discovery and claiming, DripDropz unlocks new potential for organic, incentive-driven ecosystem growth.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

The DripDropz team is fully public and the team members regularly engage with community members at public events. We had booths at RareEvo and NFTxLV this year, and three of our core team members were speakers at the Cardano Summit in Dubai.

Our team members are active in Catalyst Town Hall, as well as the Intersect MBO. We regularly place updates on our Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook, Instagram, Mastodon, and TikTok. We have a YouTube channel where we place video updates for new features, as well as share our After Town Hall presentations. We also participate in a weekly “Space Place” chat on YouTube, and take questions from the community.

We have delivered on previous promises for Catalyst, closing out our Open Source Voting Proposal. As of the time of this writing, our Mainstreet Proposal is also in the process of closing out, having acceptance of 4 of 5 milestones and the final milestone under way with anticipation of the final code being delivered in December.

We have begun a user survey for the new features and site revamp. Interested users may go and fill out the survey at https://bit.ly/DDzUserSurvey. The features listed for this proposal are currently the most requested features by project owners and end users on our platform.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Front End/Back End Changes to a separate VUE Front End

Milestone Outputs: The team will complete the work of migrating the existing user interface from the monolithic stack to a separated VUE front end. This will facilitate both the redesign and the implementation of the new features.

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer will be able to see the separated front and back end systems. The back end will be API driven, and the front end will duplicate current functionality but with a deployed VUE front end.

Milestone Evidence: Reviewer will be guided through the process to show that the front end has migrated from the initial PHP stack to the new VUE stack. This will be performed on a recorded video interview with the developer team that will be published via YouTube link.

Instant Rewards API Release & Multi-Drip Revamp 

Milestone Outputs: The documentation for use of the Instant Rewards API will be released. The Multi-Drip tool will have an easier to use interface. 

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer can utilize the API to push a reward for a wallet using the API. A reviewer can see the new multi-drip revamp on the main site.

Milestone Evidence: A Swagger or similar API documentation tool link will contain all of the Instant Rewards features. A Figma document will show the transformation from the original Multi-Drip tool to the new User Experience. The new User experience for Multi-Drip will be live on the main DripDropz site. A video will be released on YouTube describing each of these changes.

Rapid Onboarding Release

Milestone Outputs: The rapid onboarding feature will be released on the DripDropz main site.

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer can proceed through the rapid onboarding process on the DripDropz site.

Milestone Evidence: The Workflow document that underlies rapid onboarding will be available for review, and it will match the finished process available on the DripDropz main site. A video will be released on YouTube describing this feature.

Site Face Lift Release

Milestone Outputs: A new site redesign of DripDropz improving the user experience.

Acceptance Criteria: The reviewer will be able to view the new site changes on the DripDropz main site.

Milestone Evidence: Figma document showing the site redesign, and the live site being substantially similar to the Figma document. A video will be released on YouTube describing the new workflow.

DestinationDrip Release

Milestone Outputs: A minting portal for the DestinationDrip feature, using the ADAHandle Subhandle standard.

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer can mint a DestinationDrip handle, and place it in a different wallet, and see that rewards are transmitted to the destination wallet.

Milestone Evidence: The feature is live on the DripDropz main site. A YouTube video is produced explaining the new feature.

DripSwag Release

Milestone Outputs: The release of the DripSwag tool which allows users to purchase enhancements to their token listing on the DripDropz site using DRIP token to pay for the upgrades.

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer will be able to see the ability to modify a listing on the Drip Platform with DRIP token.

Milestone Evidence: The feature is live on DripDropz. A closeout report is generated and released. A closeout video is generated and released.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Adam Dean Technology Architect & Front End VUE Development

https://twitter.com/adamKDean

Darlington Wleh Back End PHP Development

https://twitter.com/LidoNation

Latheesan Kanesamoorthy Legacy Code Support

https://twitter.com/LatheesanK

Andrew Westberg Phyrhose Support

https://twitter.com/amw7

Kyle Solomon Project Engagement/Outreach

https://twitter.com/adosiawolf

Anthony McDonough Finance/Audit

https://twitter.com/Anthony_Bloom_

Chris Hockaday Technical Support

https://twitter.com/Orbital_Lexicon

Doug Brown Site UX/UI

https://twitter.com/isthatdb

Lloyd Duhon Project Management

https://twitter.com/radioastro

Melannie Duhon Media Team

https://twitter.com/DuhonMelannie

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

This is considered a “Whole team effort”, and will require dedication for each of the above team members. The cost for the entire team, per month, to engage in this task is 95,000 ADA as their minimum fixed value for work per month. The six milestones are broken down to individual months of work, as each team member will contribute their labors to the completion of the site revamp. The total cost of the proposal is 570,000 ADA. 

These calculations are performed on ADA at $0.30, providing a monthly overhead of $28,500 USD and for the six months of delivery, $171,000 USD.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The extensive upgrades proposed for the DripDropz platform present excellent value considering both the immense benefits for Cardano's ecosystem and the costs of development. The requested 570,000 ADA will fund 6 months of effort from the skilled DripDropz core team to deliver sizable architecture changes, 4 new feature additions, a revamped user experience, and major improvements to existing functionalities.

This dedicated team has proven capable of driving tremendous engagement and adoption. For context, with limited upgrades in 2022, DripDropz facilitated over 1.5 million reward withdrawals and accounted for over 4% of all Cardano traffic. The proposed changes can multiply this impact. And at costs averaging 95,000 ADA per month, the quoted monthly expense of $28,500 USD aligns with competitive market rate given the specialized blockchain expertise required.

When factoring in the long-term growth, integration, and discovery capabilities unlocked for 200+ partner projects, and simplified reward access for 28,000+ users, the value for Cardano is immense compared to the finite 570,000 ADA development costs. DripDropz innovations strengthen the ecosystem's incentives and accessibility - crucial for sustainability. Hence for both users and builders, this funding request represents high value-for-money given the future upside.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept