RootsWallet - User Feedback Updates

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

We will implement a variety of changes to the RootsWallet user interface (funded in Fund 7 and 8) to make it more intuitive for non-technical users. We have received feedback from UX experts, alpha-testers, users, and developers.

The areas of UI/UX that we will focus on:

1. Shielding the user from the complex nature of digital identity (DIDs, mediators, cryptographic things, etc). Just like a web-browser shields the user from DNS, IP, protocols, servers, routers, etc.
2. Making every view and interaction consistent to reduce the learning curve.
3. More guiding lights like app messages, tooltips, and indicators so that user understands what is happening when they create a DID, receive a Verifiable Credential request, etc.
4. Separating the user specific information/features, from the information/features between other users.
5. Better introductory scenarios so that the user can self-learn.

Background:

The first version of RootsWallet was funded in Fund 7.

In Fund 8 we are improving the ability for the user to backup/restore their RootsWallet.

In Fund 9 we have several small proposals for improving RootsWallet.

At one of the largest crypto conferences, Consensus 2022 in June, Drummond Reed (godfather of SSI) said that Identity Wallet UX design will be the tipping point for mainstream adoption of Self-Sovereign identity.

RootsID has already been meeting with IOG UX experts to improve our UX.

We also have over 15 alpha-testers, giving us feedback on RootsWallet.

We would like to continue to implement the suggestions from both the experts and users to simplify the UX design so that it could be used, even by a child. For instance the school children in Ethiopia identity initiative that the Cardano community continues to pursue.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

RootsWallet is an existing mobile app. This proposal is to improve RootsWallet's reach into our community and to attract new users into the Cardano/Catalyst/Atala Prism/SSI ecosystem and use-cases.

It eventually needs to be easy enough to use, that school children who are managing parts of their digital identities, can easily use it.

We propose to implement the prioritized list of improvements that we continue to receive from IOG UX experts and our test-users. We expect to continue to get mountains of feedback from Catalyst use-cases in Fund 8 and 9 as well.

We will add this feedback as issues to our Github backlog, prioritize them, and then work on them as part of our regular software development.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Since RootsWallet already exists and is functioning, there are two main risks:

1. Lance will be the only RootsID developer focused on the UX of RootsWallet. If he is unable to perform this work (due to unforeseen circumstances), then RootsID will have to hire a UI/UX developer to do the work. For this amount of money that could be difficult but certainly doable.
2. The UX will improve but will it be enough for new users to feel comfortable with their identity wallet? We believe that it will and have many use-cases and a lot of feedback to guide us. But there is always a risk that we don't do enough.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

The project plan consists of the following activities with its duration:

1. Shielding the user from the complex nature of digital identity: 2 weeks
2. Making every view and interaction consistent to reduce the learning curve: 1 week
3. More guiding lights like app messages, tooltips, and indicators: 2 weeks
4. Separating the user specific information/features, from the information/features between other users: 2 weeks
5. Better introductory scenarios so that the user can self-learn: 4 weeks
6. Testing: 1 week
7. Documentation: 1 week

TOTAL DURATION: 13 weeks

The high-level scope of each activity is described below:

1. Shield the user from the complex nature of digital identity (DIDs, communication/transport layers, credential formats, etc) as well as networking/storage layers. Similar to how web-browsers and websites shield the user from networking, databases, etc. This will involve removing long cryptographic strings and replacing them with user friendly labels, icons, and messages that help the user with the concepts, without overwhelming them.
2. Making every view and interaction consistent to reduce the learning curve. Consistency across the entire app will reduce stress levels as the user navigates through all the features.
3. More "guiding lights" like app messages, tooltips, and indicators so that user understands what is happening when they create a DID, receive a Verifiable Credential request, etc.
4. Separating the user specific information/features, from the information/features between other users. We need to be very clear about what the user sees, about themselves and others and what their contacts see about them and others. This requires splitting or contrasting views and elements in the user interface.
5. Better introductory scenarios so that the user can self-learn. Scenarios like like applying for a job, voting, renting a car, applying for a loan, etc. will highlight the value of identity technology for convenience, privacy, safety, and it will make the concepts more familiar.

Deliverables:

• RootsWallet improvements as a new version on the Google Play Store
• Open Source code available on our Github
• Documentation

This effort will span 13 weeks, from when Fund 9 funding is first released. We will follow a similar schedule to what we did to produce the Android alpha release of RootsWallet:

• Start development when first Fund 9 Ada is sent, approximately Monday September 19, 2022.
• 9 weeks will be development to implement the already growing list of UX suggestions from UX expert sessions, tester feedback, and user feedback. We will be doing regular demos of the improvements on emulated Android and iOS environments. We will be adding tests and sending/receiving feedback from the IOG Atala Prism, UX, and open source teams.
• 3 weeks will be on-device testing. Pre-alpha release testers will use and give feedback about bugs, UX, issues. We will prioritize the fixes and complete as many as possible
• 1 week to work on the release to the Apple App Store, documentation, and socializing it to the Cardano/Catalyst/SSI community.
• Release the RootsWallet iPhone alpha mobile app around December 23, 2022

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

We will follow the same development cycle and cost breakdown that successfully produced the Android RootsWallet alpha release from Fund 7 and is producing the RootsWallet beta release in Fund 8.

TOTAL BUDGET: $7800

Broken down by feature:

1. Shielding the user from the complex nature of digital identity: $1200
2. Making every view and interaction consistent to reduce the learning curve: $600
3. More guiding lights like app messages, tooltips, and indicators: $1200
4. Separating the user specific information/features, from the information/features between other users: $1200
5. Better introductory scenarios so that the user can self-learn: $2400
6. Testing: $600
7. Documentation: $600

Broken down by timeline:

• $5400 for the first 9 weeks, will be spent updating the existing RootsWallet mobile app, to implement already known UX enhancements. This is mostly software development but also includes time to meet with the IOG UX team, receive/give more feedback to partners and users, and various other development ecosystem related meetings/tasks/costs
• $1800 for 3 weeks of on-device testing and bug fixes. This is still mostly software development but also includes time spent with pre-alpha release testers and making prioritized updates based on their feedback as the UX evolves, adjusting test scenarios, adjusting test data and unit tests.
• $600 for 1 week spent releasing/verifying the Android and iOS versions, documenting the usage, privacy policy, updating links/pages, and socializing the mobile app changes to the community.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

The RootsId team has been delivering Open Source building blocks for the Self-Sovereign Identity ecosystem in Cardano. They have been funded in several Catalyst projects since Fund 6. All of them were delivered successfully on time or still in development in the planned timeline. Our funded projects are:

• F6: Interoperability as Growth Driver: [DELIVERED] [Github] [final report video]
• F7: Interoperability Within Atala Prism: [DELIVERED] [Github] [final report video]
• F7: Hyperledger-Prism Interoperability: [DELIVERED] [Github] [final report video]
• F7: Open Source Credential Wallet: [DELIVERED] [Github] [final report video]
• F7: WAL-CLI Wallet Tools for developers: [DELIVERED] [Github] [final report video]
• F8: Universal Resolver for did:prism: [IN DEVELOPMENT]
• F8: DIDComm v2 Mediator: [IN DEVELOPMENT]
• F8: RootsWallet - Support for sidetree: [IN DEVELOPMENT]
• F8: KYC Credentials PoC: [IN DEVELOPMENT]
• F8: Cardano SSI standards contributors: [IN DEVELOPMENT] [video]
• F8: RootsWallet beta - Backup/Recovery: [IN DEVELOPMENT]
• F8: WAL-CLI Communication: [IN DEVELOPMENT]

The team is constantly engaged in all Self Sovereign Identity Cardano activities such as Atala Prism Astros, Atala Prism Pioneer Program, Prism+SSI After Town Hall break rooms, and meeting periodically with partners or related Catalyst projects with the aim of collaboration and help adoption and growth of Cardano in the Identity world.

Additionally, the team participates actively in the worldwide SSI community by attending and collaborating on several working groups in the Decentralized Identity Foundation, the Hyperledger foundation, and the Trust over IP foundation.

This project in particular will be developed by Lance Byrd:

Lance Byrd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/2byrds/

His background includes a BS in Computer Science (UMBC) and MS in Information Assurance (Capitol College) and more than 22 years of software development as a consultant. He has developed massive scale data analytics and visualizations, machine learning analysis pipelines, and worked with University researchers to bring their work to market. He has also built and taught technical certification courses for several different topics in data analysis, big data, and compliance.

He is an expert Cardano/Catalyst/Atala Prism SSI mobile developer. He is one of the founders of RootsID which has been building a Cardano-based open source identity ecosystem including a mobile identity wallet called RootsWallet. He is advised by expert UX designers from IOG, identity experts like Darrell O'Donnel and Tony Rose and is a regular at Trust Over IP, Decentralized Identity Foundation, and Hyperledger foundation meetings.

For this Fund 9, RootsId is presenting the following proposals:

• F9: RootsWallet - iPhone version
• F9: RootsWallet - Aries JS
• F9: KERI bridge for Cardano
• F9: RootsId Verifiable Credentials
• F9: Discord Social Credential
• F9: RootsWallet - User Feedback Updates (this one)
• F9: WAL-CLI Issue Credential Protocol
• F9: WAL-API Identity Wallet Service
• F9: Cardano SSI Contributors - Season 2
• F9: ATALA Prism ZKP + Hyperledger Aries (collaboration with Snapbrillia)

Since we are participating in 10 proposals, we carefully planned time allocation for each of us. We defined our individual commitment per week as if all of the proposals are funded including extra activities. Based on that, we defined the allocation per proposal for each of us needed to deliver the proposal in time. Take in account that we design our proposals to have a duration no longer than 12-14 weeks in order to match funding rounds, that means that our pending F8 proposals will be concluded before the F9 execution phase starts. For your reference here is a link to the time allocation spreadsheet that can help you validate that our commitments are feasible.

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

If funded, this proposal as defined will conclude in this round. It does not depend on further funding to be used and adopted in production. Based on the success and adoption of RootsWallet, we hope to expand the development of the mobile app and surrounding ecosystem in future funding rounds.

History and Future:

RootsID has been funded to develop Cardano identity software since Catalyst Fund 6 and plans to continue to expand the features and open source software for the Cardano, Catalyst, Atala Prism, and SSI communities in all future Catalyst funds.

RootsWallet was first funded in Fund 7 and we will continue to prioritize our features/enhancements based on Catalyst use-cases (we call them our partners).

RootsWallet also received funding in Fund 8 to add a backup/restore feature, which we are currently working on.

RootsID plans to continue to request funding for RootsWallet in all future Catalyst funds so that the product will continue to evolve to solve the digital identity needs of Cardano, Catalyst, Atala Prism, and SSI community.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

This project is basically a software development project with four clear deliverables that will work as proofs of completion:

• the open source code of RootsWallet in a public repository
• the documentation explaining how to use RootsWallet
• a downloadable app from the Google Play store (and Apple play store, if the iOS proposal is funded)

Additionally, this team adopts Agile methodology based on the tools provided by Github. Besides progress reports, the advancement will be tracked by public Github issues, project views (like Kanban board) and commits. Intermediate progress will be reported as Sprint Burndown, a KPI metric that shows the progress in percentage of each development sprint.

RootsWallet has a project within the RootsID Github for tracking issues, code, pull requests, releases, wiki, etc.

All of our work for this effort will be planned and tracked as issues on Github.

This is also where users can submit for enhancements, bug fixes, etc.

We write monthly updates on our Github wiki.

And we do regular demos to partners, users, at Catalyst Townhall breakout rooms, etc.

Our final releases go in Github and on Android (and Apple app stores, if our iOS proposal is funded).

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Success for this proposal will be for the RootsWallet user experience to improve in the following ways:

1. Shielding the user from complex SSI technical concepts (DIDs, cryptographic keys, communication transports, etc).
2. Making every view and interaction in the mobile app consistent to reduce the learning curve across the entire mobile app.
3. More guiding lights like app messages that explain what is happening, tooltips that give hints of what an icon means, and other status indicators so that user understands what is happening when they create a DID, receive a Verifiable Credential request, etc.
4. Separating the user specific information, from their interactions with their contacts.
5. For Fund 9 we hope the app feels familiar to anyone who is aware of SSI but does not understand the technical features.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This proposal is to enhance RootsWallet based on user and UX expert feedback from our mobile app completed in Fund 7 and work being done in Fund 8. The project is built on components that were developed in previous funded projects from RootsId. So, in a broad sense, the strategy of RootsId is to deliver more and more open source SSI components to the Catalyst community as a continuous process. We started with the basic building blocks, some as alpha releases, and from there we grew with more advanced and rich components that allow us to build complex solutions.

Specifically this is a continuation of work funded in Catalyst Fund 7 and 8:

RootsWallet - Backup/Recovery (Fund 8)

Open Source Credential Wallet (Fund 7)

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

We are grateful to be able to discuss and consider how our identity software might impact our grass roots users and their communities. By giving each individual control over their own cryptographically verifiable digital identity, we hope to empower their ability to choose to be remembered and/or forgotten in nuanced and fulfilling ways that improves every area of their life and community. We would especially like to see improvements in the following ways:

SDG goals:

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG subgoals:

10.7 Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies

16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

9.b Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

17.17.1 Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure

9.b.1 Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added

16.7.2 Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group

10.7.2 Number of countries with migration policies that facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people

#proposertoolsdg