Cardano DAO Governance Dashboard: Voting & Treasury

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

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

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

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

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

We will create an open-source governance dashboard for Cardano, integrating with the MuesliSwap DAO SC framework for true decentralized staking, voting, parameter updates, and treasury management

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

[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?

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

Our project will be fully open-sourced under the GNU license (GPL)

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Our proposed solution addresses a critical gap in decentralized governance on the Cardano platform, specifically the lack of a comprehensive interface for DAOs to effectively manage their governance processes. By integrating directly with the MuesliSwap smart contract (SC) framework (funded in fund 10) our dashboard will provide a seamless and intuitive environment for DAO members to engage in governance activities.

Perceived Problem: Many decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) on Cardano currently struggle with scattered and inefficient governance mechanisms that hinder active participation and transparency. Moreover, many governance mechanisms are not fully on-chain and sufficiently decentralized. This leads to decreased engagement and effectiveness, limiting the potential of DAOs to fully leverage collective decision-making, decentralized accountability and trustless operation. 

Approach: Our approach focuses on the development of an open-source dashboard that integrates with the existing MuesliSwap SC framework (https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/10/f10-daos-less3-cardano/dao-treasury-and-protocol-parameter-management-via-on-chain-governance-by-muesliswap). This integration ensures compatibility and leverages established infrastructure, which is already familiar to many users within the Cardano ecosystem. By doing so, we streamline the governance process, making it more accessible and efficient. Moreover, through offering a free, open-source dashboard solution, new projects can easily spin up their own unique, self-hosted DAO dashboard. 

Demonstration of Impact: We will measure the impact of our dashboard by the adoption rate among DAOs on Cardano and the increase in participation in governance activities. Success metrics will include user feedback, the number of governance actions taken through the dashboard, and the overall enhancement of governance transparency and efficiency.

Uniqueness and Benefits: What sets our solution apart is the direct integration with the MuesliSwap SC framework, which is fully decentralized, audited and secure. This integration not only ensures technical synergy but also enhances user trust and adoption. The beneficiaries of this solution are not just the DAOs but also the broader Cardano community, as it enhances the ecosystem's overall functionality and appeal by enabling more sophisticated and decentralized governance structures.

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

Value to the Cardano Community:

Our project will directly contribute to the growth and maturity of the Cardano ecosystem by providing a robust, open-source governance frontend. This platform will:

1. Facilitate Enhanced Participation: By simplifying the governance process through a user-friendly dashboard, we expect to see increased participation from DAO members
2. Improve Decision-Making Efficiency: The streamlined process for voting and managing treasury and protocol parameters will make governance more efficient and responsive to the needs of the community.
3. Foster Transparency: Open-source nature and clear documentation will ensure that all actions are transparent, building trust and accountability within the community.

Measurement of Impact:

To gauge the success and impact of our project, we will employ both quantitative and qualitative metrics:

• Quantitative Metrics: We will track the adoption rate of the dashboard by different DAOs, the number of governance actions processed through the dashboard
• Qualitative Metrics:. We will gather community feedback through forums and social media to evaluate the perceived impact on governance processes.

Sharing Outputs and Opportunities:

Our commitment to transparency and community engagement informs our strategy for sharing outputs:

• Open-Source Repositories: All code and documentation will be available on GitHub, allowing developers to access, use, and contribute to the project continuously and use it for their own DAO 

[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 MuesliSwap Team is well-known in the community and credited with delivering high-tech solutions. We started the first DEX on Cardano, months before its competition launched and to date provides the only hybrid AMM-Orderbook DEX with integrated DEX Aggregator.

In particular, MuesliSwap Team members are known to be particularly strong in developing secure smart contract based dApps, pioneering the development of DeFi protocols since the early days of SCs on Cardano. The described DAO dashboard hence fall into our area of expertise.

The Team has also already completed multiple projects funded in Catalyst among which is an off-chain governance solution used by multiple Cardano projects. As a large team of dedicated techies, we have the competence, capacity, and motivation to also complete this additional part of governance infrastructure in time and with high quality.

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

Design and Initial Development

Outputs: 

• Frontend UI/UX design 
• setup of the initial development environment, including creation of core technical specifications

Acceptance Criteria: 

• UI designs for a fully functional DAO governance dashboard (including UX workflow)
• successful environment setup

Evidence:

• Design files, environment setup in github repository

Core Feature Implementation

• Outputs: Implementation of essential dashboard functionalities such as Cardano wallet connection, proposal viewing, voting mechanisms, and basic treasury management

• Acceptance Criteria: working demo website with basic features and cardano wallet connector

• Evidence: demo version of website running on testnet, code in github repository

Integration and Comprehensive Testing

Outputs:

• Integration with the MuesliSwap DAO Smart Contract (SC) framework
• adding the remaining features to the frontend (including token staking functionality, viewing voting results, treasury overview)

Acceptance Criteria:

• Successful integration with the SC framework and working demo on testnet.

Evidence:

• Frontend code on github
• transaction examples on Cardano testnet (Preview) built with frontend

Deployment, Community Feedback, and Project Close-Out

Outputs:

• Deployment of the final dashboard on Cardano mainnet
• collection and implementation of community feedback
• preparation of a comprehensive project close-out report with an accompanying video

Acceptance Criteria:

• Stable mainnet operation
• positive community feedback
• detailed documentation of the project's outcomes and impacts

Evidence:

• Link to mainnet website
• final project code on GitHub
• final project report, and a summary video

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

Current Team Composition

1. Project Lead (Chris): Responsible for overall project management, stakeholder engagement, and ensuring project milestones are met
2. UI/UX Designer (to be hired): In charge of designing the frontend website and defining the key user flow.
3. Blockchain Developers (Patrick + Phil): Tasked with implementing the smart contract functionalities and ensuring integration with existing Cardano ecosystems. Their proficiency in Cardano transaction building and smart contracts is crucial for successful and correct implementation 
4. Front-End Developer (Pasi + Matt): Focuses on the user interface and user experience aspects of the dashboard
5. Community Manager/Outreach Coordinator (Young and Priscilla): Manages community feedback, engagement strategies, and public communications

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

Budget Breakdown

• Project Management: (10,500 ADA)
• Details: This covers the project lead's time and resources needed to manage the team, oversee the project's execution, and ensure milestones are met.
• UI/UX Design (17,500 ADA)
• Details: Designing and implementing the user flow, web interface for the open-source DAO dashboard including parameter updates, voting mechanism, treasury management
• Development - Frontend, Backend and Blockchain Integration (80,000 ADA)
• Details: This includes payments for blockchain developers, front-end developers, and the backend engineer if needed. Costs cover software development, integration, coding, initial testing and documentation phases.
• Marketing and Community Engagement (4,000 ADA)
• Details: Budget for marketing materials, community outreach, feedback mechanisms to engage the community and gather input.

Any unforeseen costs will be paid by the MuesliSwap team. This aligns with our continent to support open-source Cardano infrastructure. 

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

Justification of Project Costs:

1. Comparative Market Rates:
2. The budget allocations for roles such as blockchain developers aligns with industry standard
3. Project Management and Oversight:
4. Allocating parts of the budget to project management ensures robust oversight and coordination, which is crucial for the timely and successful delivery of the project
5. Community Engagement and Marketing:
6. Investing in community engagement is vital for ensuring the platform meets the real-world needs of its users and manages to attract other interested Cardano DAOs

Supporting Evidence for Value for Money:

• Scalability and Potential Impact: The dashboard aims to provide a robust governance tool that can be scaled across the Cardano ecosystem, potentially serving multiple DAOs and enhancing governance processes at a systemic level. 
• Long-term Sustainability: By creating an open-source platform, the project contributes to the sustainability and continuous improvement of the ecosystem.