Thesis & Dysmorphia - Cardano Pulse: Research of the Cardano ecosystem

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Matea Sedlaček

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

Entity (Not Incorporated)

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

9

[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)

We will survey the Cardano ecosystem about people's sentiment & behaviour regarding DeFi, NFTs, IOG, CF, governance. We will share that data in an attractive and interactive manner.

[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

There is no software code to be shared. The final results will be fully available to the public. Visitors to the “Cardano Pulse” portion of our Fork It web platform may configure the data’s display as desired, using interactive charts and tables.

[METADATA] Horizons

Education

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Problem

The ability to make informed decisions about investment choices or project design is a key to success. “Do your own research” is common advice, but often in the Cardano ecosystem there is little demographic or market sentiment data to be found.  While there is an array of on-chain market analysers which can show us a part of the picture, what is missing is a source which will augment on-chain data with sentiment information. Hearing what people think about certain topics and the reasons for their behaviour would bring more of the picture into focus. 

Solution

We aim to bridge the gap in Cardano's market analysis by integrating social sentiment and fostering informed decision-making. We will publicly offer a platform to share innovative data visualisations, option filters for data comparisons, and ways to interact easily with sentiment data as we have previously done on Fork It https://forkit.thesisdysmorphia.com/.

Cardano Pulse would be a Cardano space research and knowledge platform (rebranded and updated from Fork It).

We will conduct a research study which will tell us more about:

• the demographic structure of the participants in Cardano space
• their sentiments about the present and future of the market space and Cardano
• their behaviours, reasoning and investment practices regarding DeFi and NFTs
• their opinions about major Cardano personalities, entities and governance

We will publish the Cardano Pulse research results with data visually presented in charts and tables on a dedicated web platform, as well as in the form of a PDF report. 

Methodology and survey design

Our methodology will follow the principles of survey research. This process can be divided into 3 major parts:

• Creation of survey: 
• create up to 100 questions covering a wide range of topics about NFT, DeFi, governance and different Cardano core entities
• mostly quantitative questions with multiple choice answers
• several open-ended qualitative questions 
• consult for ways to improve the set of questions
• ask for public suggestions to cover topics of interest

• Conducting the research:
• distribute the survey throughout communities
• follow the response rates
• adjust the distribution methods as needed to reach more people
• aim for 1000 respondents with +/_30% for measurement of success 

• Results analysis
• data checks and data preparation
• conduct basic and deeper statistical analyses to find major important differences
• create the results report
• create web presentation of data in graphical and tabular formats

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

Cardano Community participation

In order to build a comprehensive picture of the current Cardano landscape, we will leverage our past experience and contacts within the Cardano Community and execute our marketing plan to maximise the survey’s exposure and participation rate. 

Means to get to participants

We will follow a marketing strategy to spread awareness of the survey and to encourage participation in it. Steps include:

• create a recognisable survey name
• frequently highlight the importance of filling out the survey, as it benefits the whole Cardano ecosystem
• promote the survey as the go-to digital event, being as important as "voting"
• host or be a guest on multiple X spaces explaining the rationale behind the whole process
• include multiple raffle prizes for the participants
• enlist the support of Cardano ecosystem projects to educate and encourage their communities’ participation in the survey

Publishing the results - Cardano Pulse 

The Cardano Pulse results will be publicly available on our web platform and in the form of a PDF report. Cardano Pulse is intended to become the go-to place for finding such data. The proof of concept for how we already did similar thing may be viewed here: https://forkit.thesisdysmorphia.com/ .

Visual example of data presentation

Value

The utility of this project extends beyond individual preferences, catering to the diverse needs of investors, developers, Cardano core companies, community members, researchers, analysts, media and new entrants. It fosters transparency, facilitates informed decision-making, and contributes to the overall growth and sustainability of the Cardano blockchain. Read more in the “Value for money” section.

Following the impact

When we published the results of similar surveys that focused on NFT projects, the impact was widely felt. Along with the appreciation voiced by many community members, we received numerous invitations to join X spaces to present and discuss the data. Furthermore, the importance of this sort of research was recognised by Charles Hoskinson, who invited us for an interview on his YT channel and pointed out the possibilities which may stem from a better-informed Cardano community. See the full interview we had on his YT channel:

With this new Cardano Pulse research, we expect to create an even higher level of impact, as our survey will cover the whole ecosystem. We will follow the impact with the additional steps of:

• tracking the number of participants
• tracking the percentage of participants who completed the entire survey (analyse drop-off points to improve future survey engagement)
• collecting feedback from participants on how they learned about the survey
• hosting or appearing on X spaces to share the results of the study and to gather feedback
• creating a "share results" option, using social media to highlight various results from the Cardano Pulse platform, widening the reach of the survey within the community (see example below)
• creating an "impact and feedback" form for people to fill out and share their thoughts about the results and how they found those useful

Example of "share results" integration

[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?

Capabilities: Proof of concept

The team has already demonstrated a successful approach for conducting such research, as seen by the results of our recent work as Thesis & Dysmorphia. The results were presented both as a research paper in PDF form and on the Fork It platform.

First page from our 81 pages long study paper.

Past October we published the results of a year-long study of the Cardano NFT space, addressing multiple questions of interest and collaborating with 46 projects while gathering a total of over 3500 answers to various surveys. We minted a special NFT collection containing a link to the paper in the form of a PDF file. We created Fork It platform and displayed all the data in charts and graphs there. 

During our year-long study, we proved that we have a feasible approach, we gathered many connections and community trust along the way, and we delivered everything we promised to deliver. Also, we are well aware of many things in which we can optimize the process of creation of such research, and they will all be implemented if this proposal gets funded.

With such experience and expertise, we believe we are well-suited to continue gathering and delivering such research data to the public. In addition, please see our team members’ descriptions in the “Team Members” section below.

Accountability

The progress of the project will be shared publicly on our website, showing the passing of each Milestone.

Possible risks

We acknowledge possible risks in successfully delivering this project. Those are (with our cautionary steps explained):

• Not getting enough people to answer the survey [risk impact: low to medium]
• Robust marketing plan, spreading the opportunity to participate in the survey across Cardano space 
• Pivoting our marketing approach as necessary
• Prolonging the survey distribution period if needed
• With our target of 1000 respondents, a response rate of 70% or more will still be enough to make the results representative of community sentiment

• Botting of surveys [risk impact: low]
• The survey platform we are using offers IP protection, so the same IP cannot be used to fill out the survey twice (IPs are not collected from our side)
• The survey will be divided in sections, with completion of one required before the next is accessible, increasing the difficulty for bots
• Finally, when all results are in, we can manually look through the data and find any suspicious activity (timing of entries, entries without careful thought)

• ADA value going down - [risk impact: just for bears]
• Converting our grant payments into fiat as we get them to protect against potential price drops
• Find cost savings in our budget
• In the event of a large drop in price, we will deliver as much as this unavoidable budget restriction allows

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

Milestone outputs in the first phase (2-3 months):

Creation of the survey:

• create questions to cover all the major topics about Cardano space
• confer with various projects to hear about the topics that are important to them 
• gather "community feedback" where people will be able to add questions of interest or give valuable insights
• step into contract with survey management platform, purchasing a subscription to suit our needs

Establish/renew contacts with projects in the Cardano scene and their communities to:

• increase awareness of the survey happening
• actively involve projects in further marketing steps

Web:

• develop Cardano Pulse visual identity
• consultation with developer on the final form of the questions/answers to create the most suitable web experience for the results presentation

Marketing:

• creation of detailed 6 month marketing plan
• creation of visual identity - logo, flyers, graphics, articles, videos concerning this first phase
• establish X presence highlighting importance of the upcoming survey 
• host X spaces covering the survey topic
• organise activities to bring more awareness of the survey (games, quizzes in discord and on X)
• announcing the upcoming survey and the dates to remember

Acceptance criteria:

• visual identity of Cardano Pulse established
• successful creation of survey and establishment of contacts in space
• successful implementation of survey management platform to suit our needs
• getting the marketing engine up to speed with all the needs for this projects

Evidence of milestone completion:

• delivery of final survey form
• delivery of information of projects involved in raising awareness of the study
• Cardano Pulse visual identity
• major points of marketing plan delivered in tabular form

Milestone outputs in the second phase (1-2 months):

Final push for survey publishing awareness:

• high load of marketing activities (X spaces, community activities and tournaments)
• announcing the prizes/raffles for survey participants
• regular updates on websites and social media

Conducting the survey:

• distribute the survey throughout communities on discord, on X and our websites
• create the means to track who filled out the survey while keeping their answers anonymous
• follow survey participant numbers
• gather feedback to learn the way that reached the survey participants most effectively
• if needed, adjust the survey distribution accordingly to reach even more people
• choose 5 question for which results will be published as preliminary results soon after survey finishes

Acceptance criteria:

• successful organisation of the survey conducting process
• successfully following raw data of survey participation and adjusting marketing strategies if needed
• having preliminary results 

Evidence of milestone completion:

• delivery of raw data about the number of survey participants
• delivery of information about the effectiveness of various survey distribution methods
• delivery of preliminary results from pre-chosen questions

Milestone outputs in the third phase (1-2 months):

For this part it is important to be as effective as possible, to make the time between survey conducting and results publishing the shortest possible.

Statistical analysis sprint (important to be done as quickly as possible):

• data checks and preparation
• statistical analysis of all results
• preparing data for web import
• choosing the most relevant content to be included in the PDF
• PDF writing and proof reading

Developer/designer sprint (important to be done as quickly as possible):

• creating interactive charts, tables, visuals for the web
• creating and designing PDF report
• importing survey response data to the Cardano Pulse platform
• creating a filtering comparison tool for the platform
• creating the “share results” functionality on the platform

Marketing:

• teasers of results and platform
• X spaces with presentation of some results, discussions and debates
• raffles/prizes winners announced
• final quiz/tournament as we approach the publishing moment
• regular updates on websites

Acceptance criteria:

• successful statistical - development - designer communication and interchangeable help to get the results out in the cleanest and fastest possible time (developing the right interactive charts for internal use can be of great help for statistician to get the right picture of the results which in turn helps in choosing the right data for the PDF which helps the designer to finish the job sooner)
• creation of PDF report and Cardano Pulse web data
• hosting of X spaces with important topics and debates

Evidence of milestone completion:

• delivery of screenshots/private access to Cardano Pulse
• delivery of preliminary PDF report
• delivery of data on raffles for participants

Milestone outputs in the final phase (1-2 months)

Publishing:

• grand publishing moment/launch party - Cardano Pulse platform and PDF report go live
• introducing “share results” option on the platform

Marketing:

• promotional and educational materials (shorter and longer formats)
• X spaces covering the full scope of results, debates
• highlighting the importance of such survey and it’s success - inviting everyone to understand the importance and vote for the next occasion for its funding
• regular updates on Cardano Pulse platform

Other finalisation moments:

• delivery of prizes to raffle winners

Acceptance criteria

• successful launch of the platform and PDF report
• successful creation of promotional and educational materials
• succeeding in making the Cardano Pulse a meaningful event for the time being, with hope that it becomes at least a yearly occasion in Cardano space

Evidence of milestone completion:

• delivery of video of the process and final results
• delivery of final product, Cardano Pulse platform goes live and PDF report is available
• delivery of Project Close-out report (goals achieved, numbers, limitations, recommendations) 

Total period length: up to 9 months

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

The team is comprised of:

• Matea Sedlaček, PhD, Thesis & Dysmorphia co-founder, the scientific lead for the project
• X, Linkedin
• Entrepreneur, successful business owner, researcher, PhD in the field of physiology, with great interest in blockchain and NFT space, community and quickly changing sentiments and behaviours in crypto. 
• Marina Minko, Thesis & Dysmorphia co-founder, project manager & PR manager
• X
• Diverse background in philosophy, with a strong interest in human psychology and behaviour. Her extensive professional journey includes positions in general management, financial management, strategic development and foreign agency contracting.
• Mad Orkestra, developer and designer
• X
• Fullstack freelance Webdev and designer.
• Westmarch, copy-editor and proof-reader. 
• Survey design consultant and discord moderator for the Thesis & Dysmorphia project. Copy-editor of "First Thesis: On Cardano NFT Space".
• Disastrid, marketing and community manager
• X
• 3 years of experience in community management, passionate about the Cardano space and all things Web3.

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

The price of ADA is calculated as $0.5.

Some of the prices are shown directly in ADA, some are recalculated from USD values.

Project management (full proposal period, 9 months) - $7,500 = 15,000 A

• preparing milestone evidence documentation
• community sentiment, and the overall impact of promotional and marketing activities
• facilitation of communication and collaboration amongst team members
• monitoring project timelines, ensuring alignment with project objectives
• preparing regular reports for the project team, summarising PR efforts
• ($7,500 in total) = 15,000 A

PR, Marketing and Community (full proposal period, 9 months) = 18,000 A

• community management on X and discord, organisation of activities, development of marketing and communication strategy, PR ($5,000 in total) = 10,000 A
• X spaces hosting (10 spaces, 250 A/space) = 2,500 A
• regular Cardano Pulse website updates, blogs, articles = 1,000 A
• incentives for survey participants (NFTs/tokens/merch) = 2,500 A
• project partners incentives = 2,000 A

Visual identity - $2,200 = 4,400 A

• Cardano Pulse logo, $200 = 400 A
• Flyers, graphics, $1,000 = 2,000 A
• Video material, $1,000 = 2,000 A

Survey creation and statistical analysis (pre and post survey period sprints) - $10,200 = 20,400 A

• question creation and reviews (40h, $80/h) - $3,200 = 6,400 A
• data preparation (30h, $100/h) - $3,000 = 6,000 A
• statistical analysis (20h, $100/h) - $2,000 = 4,000 A
• PDF report content creation (20h, $50/h) - $1,000 = 2,000 A
• copy-editing, proof-reading (20h, $50/h) - $1,000 = 2,000 A

Development and design of the web platform and PDF - 19,000$  = 38,000 A

• importing survey data to the platform (5 days/$850 per day)
• creating interactive charts/visuals/tables from the data (5 days/$850 per day)
• coding comparison filters based on several questions (3 days/$850 per day)
• incorporating "share results" to the platform (2 days/$850 per day)
• designing the PDF report (5 days/$750 per day)
• creating Cardano Pulse website overall (3 days/$850 per day)

Software and other costs - 1,750$ = 3500 A

• Survey management software licence ($1350) = 3,000 A
• Statistical management software licence ($200) = 440 A
• Web servers ($200) = 440 A

COSTS SUMMARY

TOTAL: 99,300

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

Our project offers exceptional value for money by providing comprehensive insights into the Cardano ecosystem through a well-structured survey and accessible presentation of results on the Cardano Pulse platform.

Should Cardano Pulse be well received within the community we would like to make this polling a recurring annual event - recording Cardano sentiment well into the future. 

The granted funds will be properly managed by our co-founders Matea Sedlaček and Marina Minko, as both are entrepreneurs and have the skills and experience to do so.

Read more about value for different groups of ecosystem participants below. 

Community Members:

• Contribute to the growth and development of the Cardano ecosystem by sharing opinions and insights.
• Access our data platform to explore survey results and stay informed about the community's collective perspectives.

Investors and Traders:

• Gain insights into market sentiments.
• Understand the demographics and behaviours of participants for strategic positioning.

Developers and Projects:

• Identify trends and preferences in the community to guide development decisions.
• Tailor products and projects to better suit the preferences and needs of the Cardano community, enhancing adoption.

Cardano Core Entities:

• Understand community perceptions, refine strategies, and improve offerings based on real-time insights.

Researchers and Analysts:

• Utilise the survey data for in-depth analysis and research on Cardano market dynamics.
• Leverage the platform as a valuable resource for comprehensive and up-to-date information on the Cardano community
• The data collected can be used by educators to incorporate real-world, current information into blockchain-related courses, ensuring that educational content remains relevant and practical.

Media and Influencers:

• Access to survey results allows media outlets and influencers to create timely and relevant content, accurate and insightful coverage, contributing to a more informed and transparent Cardano ecosystem.

New Entrants:

• Access a consolidated overview of the Cardano community.
• Gain a quick understanding of the market dynamics, sentiments, and key players in the Cardano ecosystem.