RYP: Keeping the Cardano Ecosystem Informed, Anytime, Anywhere

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Nils Peuser

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

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ada

235000

[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 will enhance RYP to provide personalized notifications of on-chain events and project & infrastructure updates directly to people's preferred channels, bringing together decentralized communities.

[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

Changes to the core services and deployable components or on-chain parts will remain open source, and all public APIs remain comprehensively documented. This will allow anyone to run RYP.

The website to interact with RYP will be closed source, to remain competitive.

[METADATA] Horizons

Community Outreach

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Our project aims to fully productize RYP (Reach Your People), a prototype blockchain notification platform on Cardano.

We will enhance engagement and outreach capabilities, and provide two-way communication for users and projects.

The key components of our proposed solution include:

• Notifications Relay: We will continue our efforts to integrate our new and existing capabilities with current wallet providers. We aim to become a service provider for wallets on Cardano that want to integrate notifications, when they do not have the development bandwidth to implement the entire suite of on-chain events. Through this channel, we can also allow users to receive off-chain announcements from verified projects directly in the wallet, an existing capability of our prototype.
• End-User Response Capabilities: We will integrate sentiment gauging and simple polling features through reactions on platforms like Discord and Telegram or email links, allowing immediate responses to announcements, governance activity, and other communications that invite feedback.
• Monetization of RYP: Implementing a monetization model for project announcements to incentivize participation and fund marketing efforts. This will in turn, increase on-chain transaction volume for Cardano.
• Wallet Activity Tracking: Adding features to track your wallet activities, enabling users to receive consistent real-time or digest notifications about transactions and governance actions relevant to their Cardano wallet, regardless of which wallet software they use.
• Support for Off-Chain Projects: Introducing new categories for off-chain projects without tokens, in particular service providers (like Maestro for example), keeping them informed about critical events like hard forks and governance decisions in a timely manner and increase the reach of members-based organizations like Intersect.
• Improved Governance Integration: Enhancing integration with existing and new governance tools to provide seamless notifications from proposal creation to enactment.
• Project-to-Project Communications: Facilitating direct communication between projects to foster collaboration within the Cardano ecosystem.

These enhancements will keep users engaged and aware, thereby increasing adoption of the Cardano blockchain. These capabilities will also create better communication channels between all existing entities that are active in our ecosystem, reducing errors and allowing for timely information flow.

Our current architecture can be found below, and will be extended by the notification core services and new publishing channels.

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

Our project will significantly improve user engagement by ensuring that Cardano community members and consumers are promptly informed about important on-chain events, governance updates, and project announcements. This heightened awareness will lead to:

• Increased Participation: More active involvement in governance processes, staking activities, and community events.
• Enhanced Retention: Projects will retain users more effectively due to streamlined communication.
• Ecosystem Growth: A more vibrant and interconnected community will attract new users to Cardano.

We will measure impact through metrics such as the number of connected wallets, notification subscriptions, user engagement rates, and feedback from users and projects. These metrics will be shared via a public dashboard for transparency.

[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?

Our team has a proven track record within the Cardano ecosystem:

• Experience: Successfully developed the RYP prototype (leveraged by 25 Cardano projects, Stakepools and dReps) based on a Fund 10 proposal. Delivered capabilities significantly beyond the required milestones, including documentation and code security as well as a polished website to deliver the RYP features for end users. Previously developed Vibrant (formerly HAZELnet), used by over 700 Discord servers and 44,000 verified wallets, without community funding or Catalyst support.
• Expertise: Extensive background in full-stack development, Cardano integrations and chain indexers, and project management.

To validate feasibility we will:

• Conduct Thorough Research: Initial phase dedicated to planning and feasibility studies for any capabilities that have not already been prototyped.
• Engage Early Adopters: Beta testing with selected users and projects to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments.

The majority of proposed capabilities is already proven to be feasible based on our prototype from Fund 10.

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

Research and Planning (1 Month)

• Conduct research on the protocol to use for a highly available notification service that other vendors and wallets can connect to. Likely involves WebSockets connectivity for web apps as well as a concept for integrating mobile push gateways like APN (iOS) and FCN (Android)
• Research on monetization approaches for end users, projects and services
• Output: Decision records, architecture diagrams, initial issue tracker tickets, spreadsheets to compare various monetization approaches

Initial Notification Implementation and Monetization Features (2 Months)

• Implement monetization of RYP announcements for projects.
• Develop basic wallet activity notifications features (incoming and outgoing transactions).
• Create prototype for websockets-based notification service
• Outputs: Demo video, open-source code, deployment instructions.

Beta Testing and New Category Support (1 Month)

• Onboard early testers for beta versions of notification tooling
• Implement support for off-chain projects
• Prototype project-to-project communications.
• Outputs: Beta invitations, user feedback, Demo video, open-source code

Integration of End-User Response Capabilities (1 Month)

• Implement sentiment gauging and polling features.
• Enhance governance tool integration.
• Implement sample project for notification integration or have wallet provider beta integration
• Outputs: Demo video(s), open source code.

Milestone 5: Final Release and Marketing (1 Month)

• Launch new capabilities to the general market.
• Finalize project-to-project notifications, if time permits
• Conduct security tests and ensure high test coverage.
• Execute a social media campaign to share project results
• Outputs: Launch announcements, infographics, Demo video, project close-out report and video.

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

Lead Developer: Nils Peuser

Director of Engineering with over 25 years of experience in web development and a consistent presence in the Cardano ecosystem. Responsible for core development and architecture. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nils-peuser-437784a/

Frontend Engineer: To Be Hired 

We are seeking a skilled frontend developer experienced in UI/UX design. We have several candidates already, that we are currently considering for the role.

Project Manager: Nicole Peuser 

Experienced Cloud Project Manager responsible for planning and coordination. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-peuser-716a92177/

Marketing Specialist: External Service Provider

To be outsourced to a agency or individual knowledgeable in social media campaigns and graphic design, potentially with Cardano experience.

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

Server and Development Tools (6 months): $3,000

• Backend server costs: $300/month
• GitLab CI/CD pipeline: $99/month
• AWS Amplify hosting and business services: $100/month

Lead Developer (6 months): $54,000

• Full-time development and architecture design at $9,000/month.

Frontend Engineer (5 months): $12,500

• Part-time UI/UX development at $2,500/month.

Project Manager (6 months): $9,000

• Part-time project coordination at $1,500/month.

Marketing and Community Engagement (4 months): $4,000

• Social media campaigns and design work at $1,000/month.

Total Budget: $82,500 at .35 USD / ADA ~ 235,000 ADA

Salaries are based on industry standards in the US Northwest, optimized by leveraging part-time roles that may be outsourced. Full Time Developer assumed at discounted rate.

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

Our project offers substantial value by enhancing user engagement and retention, which are crucial for Cardano's adoption and utility. By streamlining communication, we reduce overhead costs for projects in maintaining active communities.

• Return on Investment: If 50 projects each save $250 per month in outreach efforts, the ecosystem saves $12,500 monthly, recouping the project cost in about six months. This is a conservative amount of savings, and RYP already onboarded 25 projects without major marketing efforts as a prototype.
• Reduced costs for Wallet providers: If the infrastructure prototype for notifications is feasible, we will help reduce the costs for wallet providers to implement their own notification system, by creating plug and play integrations they can extend with their own functionalities.
• Increased Transactions: Monetization will be done via on-chain payments only, in ADA, stablecoins and potentially native tokens, increasing the transaction volume on Cardano.