Cardano Cube - Content Creator HUB (Centralized Cardano News & Content)

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Milan Houter

[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)

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)

We propose to enhance our existing platform to serve as a central hub for Cardano-related news and educational content by enabling projects, educators and writers to become content creators.

[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 dependency

[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

Not open source

[METADATA] Horizons

Education

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Cardano Cube proposes to enhance its existing platform to serve as a central hub for Cardano-related news and educational content by enabling the community to become content creators. These users will be given tools and processes for publishing articles on the platform. By consolidating their content on Cardano Cube, we ensure easy access and visibility for the entire crypto community, streamlining the dissemination of valuable information.

Key features of the platform include:

Content Creation: Users can use typical tools of content management systems to write articles, add imagery, embed videos, and reference projects on Cardano Cube. The WYSIWYG editor will work similarly to Medium.com, with ease of use for quick editing.

Content Creators: When composing a new article, users have the option to indicate whether they are representing a project they are officially affiliated with or their own individual entity. This functionality extends accessibility to a broad spectrum of community members, enhancing inclusivity and engagement within the platform.

Classification/Taxonomies: Content Creators can reference existing projects on Cardano Cube and assign matching categories and tags. This determines where the content will be shown and how it can be found on the Cardano Cube platform.

Editing/Publishing workflow: Articles are initially crafted as drafts, allowing for ongoing editing and the option to schedule them for publication at any time.

Content feed: Users have the ability to explore a curated selection of articles via a dynamic feed, where the freshest content appears at the top, gradually displacing older entries. Additionally, users can utilize filters to refine their browsing experience, tailoring the results to their specific interests. This feature facilitates the discovery of new content and emerging creators and projects.

Subscriptions: Users registered on Cardano Cube have the option to subscribe to their preferred Content Creators, enabling them to receive timely notifications each time new articles are published.

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

Centralization of Information: By consolidating Cardano-related content on a single platform, users will no longer need to search through various mediums to find relevant news and information. This centralization increases accessibility and convenience for the Cardano community.

Enhanced Visibility for Content Creators: Content creators will benefit from increased visibility for their work, as their articles will have dedicated pages on Cardano Cube. This exposure can lead to greater recognition within the community and potentially attract a larger audience for their content.

Improved Community Engagement: With easier access to a wide range of Cardano-related content, community members can stay informed about the latest developments and discussions within the ecosystem. This increased engagement can foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, and community growth.

Streamlined Project Visibility: Projects building on Cardano will also experience improved visibility through dedicated content pages on Cardano Cube. This exposure can help projects attract users, investors, and collaborators, ultimately contributing to their success and adoption within the ecosystem.

Promotion of Cardano Ecosystem: By serving as the central hub for Cardano-related news and information, Cardano Cube contributes to the overall promotion and growth of the Cardano ecosystem. The platform becomes a valuable resource for both newcomers and seasoned participants, supporting the ecosystem's expansion and development.

[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?

Cardano Cube has been a prominent figure within the Cardano ecosystem for three years, serving as a centralized hub for projects, news, and updates within the Cardano blockchain. We have a proven track record of staying in the space and reaching a large number of new Cardano members.

Our team is made of experienced professionals in design, coding, and content creation. We have worked with some of the biggest projects on Cardano such as NMKR & Axo, and have collaborated with GeroWallet, Newm, Ore Ore Ore, Book.io, and many more, developing strong connections with both the community and developers within the Cardano ecosystem. 

We are the right team to accomplish the task of bringing Cardano to the forefront of the crypto and blockchain industry. We are not just an online platform, we are forging connections, driving innovation, and trying to propel the Cardano ecosystem forward.

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

M1:

Design of User Interfaces and the User Experience of the content exploration on the platform as well as the creation and publishing process. This includes the views for content management as well as views for all the different places where the content will be presented on the platform. 

Acceptance criteria: Design flow will be accessible via Figma URL. This design can be clicked through and validated and contains the full user flow.

Evidence: Design flow will be accessible via Figma URL.

M2: Development of the Content Creation and Publishing flow. Representation of the contents on dedicated article pages. QA of the respective features and starting onboarding of beta users for initial content creation.

Acceptance criteria: Development results should match the designs provided in milestone 1, QA results and potential fixes applied, publishing flow is deployed to production, and a minimum of 5 users are onboarded.

Evidence: The staging environment will be delivered with a URL.

M3: Further development of the representation layer of published content. This includes the required enhancements on user profiles and project pages, a content feed, and user notifications upon new content.

Acceptance criteria: The development result should match the designs provided in milestone 1.

Evidence: The staging environment will be delivered with a URL.

Final: Final Quality Assurance by testing all features: both Desktop and mobile are being validated. Fixes and improvements are applied and the outlined features are ready for production.

The completion and delivery of a research paper delineating the feasibility and potential implementation of trustless verification for content alterations utilizing cryptographic hash functions and blockchain technology.

Acceptance criteria: QA results, reaching production-readiness, research paper completed.

Evidence: The staging environment will be delivered with a URL. After completion of the development, the feature will be deployed to our public website.

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

This project team is represented by CEO Milan Houter, CTO Robin Boning and CMO Victor Duran.

Milan Houter

Founder & CEO at Cardano Cube.

15+ Years of experience in UI/UX Design.

Twitter: https://x.com/CardanoBuilder

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milanhouter/

Milan will focus on UI/UX and seamless experience of the content creation flow. As well as validating development vs design.

Robin Boening

CTO at Cardano Cube.

Senior Developer with 15+ Years of experience in Development.

Twitter: https://x.com/lacepool_com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-b%C3%B6ning-25725485/

Robin will be responsible for the development of the feature. This includes both Front-end and Back-end.

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

In total, we are requesting 112,400 USD (330,600 ADA) which covers the full development, design, and quality assurance. Besides that, it will cover all the costs to have an active marketing promotion for 6 months, which gives us a runway to really amp up the content on Cardano and also recruit a great amount of content creators.

Design & Development

Funding will be allocated towards the development of the onboarding platform, including user interface design, backend development, and security measures.

Back-end / Front-end: 720 hours (90 days full-time, 1 developer) = 100 USD/h

Design: 80 hours (2 weeks full-time, 1 designer) = 85 USD/h

Development = $72,000

Design = $6,800

Total of 78,800 USD

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Quality Assurance & Testing

In each phase of our development, we will validate the user flow and security by testing and quality assurance. This work will be done by design (front-end) and development (back-end/security). 

Our estimates are to invest 2,000 USD per milestone on testing and quality assurance, bringing us to a total of 2,000 x 4 = 8,000 USD.

Total of 8,000 USD

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Project Management & Business Expenses

We estimate that we will need 16k USD to compensate for project management, coordinating milestones with Project Catalyst, and contacting partners within the Cardano Community. This also includes infrastructure costs and pricing for tooling needed to make this feature a success.

Business costs are calculated based on the business team working 2 hours per day, this will go on for 4 months, for 50 USD per hour. 

Total of 16,000 USD

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Marketing & Community Engagement

Funds will be earmarked for marketing efforts to promote the new onboarding platform and attract mainstream users to Cardano Cube.

We plan on recruiting content creators in the space to become creators on Cardano Cube. These content creators will also be actively promoting on X and YouTube. We will have 1 active marketing specialist working for 8 hours per week for 6 months for 50 dollars per hour.

8 hours * 26 weeks * 50ph = 10,400 USD

Total of 10,400 USD

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

In total we are requesting 112,400 USD which covers the full development, design and quality assurance. Besides that it will cover all the costs to have an active marketing promotion for 6 months. 

On top of that we recruit content creators within the Cardano Community which will grow a huge content creator HUB. The hourly rates in this proposal are based on the average European salaries.

Total funds requested = 112,400 USD which converts to 333,250 ADA at an exchange rate of 0.337 ADA.