As the June 15th Boardwalk release gets closer, the Dev Team is sharply focused on preparing the platform for its debut. While technically Terminal is considered the first release, and thus the legitimate debut, Boardwalk is the basis for all commerce in the Swarm City ecosystem. That means after its launch individuals will be able to communicate and transact value in a decentralized and peer-to-peer way, which makes it immediately useful by anyone. In that way, one could see how Boardwalk is regarded as a new beginning.

The Typical User Experience

This past week STΞFAAN PONNΞT and @faffy_dee are thoroughly working through every step of a typical user experience. As mentioned in earlier posts, communications and transactions occur in smart contracts, which are hashtags in Swarm City. The first contract the Dev Team will release is called #pioneer. In #pioneer, the user experience (and logic behind it) models a typical experience subsequent hashtags will have, so it’s important to thoughtfully consider how it should work. Let’s delve into this a little bit.

In order to make commerce in Swarm City trustless and decentralized, deals need to be written on the blockchain. Using blockchain technology makes posting and viewing requests possible without a central authority.

A deal begins with a service seeker creating a new deal on the blockchain. This is the first interaction with the blockchain. The second interaction occurs when the seeker sends an amount of SWT tokens to this deal, funding it. This assures service providers watching that the service seeker has the funds to pay for the requested service. These tokens are locked in the deal until the deal is completed, or the deal is cancelled before the seeker commits to a provider.

Next, when a service provider decides they would like to fulfill the seeker’s request, they will indicate so in the app. This action automatically creates a “link” between both parties’ devices using Whisper. Whisper is a part of the Ethereum p2p protocol that allows for direct (and optionally) encrypted messaging between two devices. The provider’s wish to engage in a deal broadcasts through Whisper, notifying the service seeker.

Once the seeker chooses which provider they would like to use, the wallet address of the selected provider is assigned in the smart contract — assuring the service provider that the deal can only be paid out to him or her after the deal is completed. This is the third interaction with the blockchain. The last step in the creation of a new deal is the service provider sending a matching amount of SWT tokens to the deal contract as an assurance that they will execute the deal. This is the fourth interaction with the blockchain.

The last blockchain interaction occurs once the service seeker acknowledges the deal went according to plan. This is when the payout happens, and funds are transferred from the deal’s contract to the provider’s wallet. When you total them all up, that’s five interactions with the blockchain. Each one needs to be coded logically, as well as be visually logical so each user can clearly understand what’s going on.

Making Blockchain Accessible

The underlying blockchain technology allows Swarm City interactions to be trustless and decentralized, but to many people this seems complicated. The Swarm City Dev Team is committed to making the user experience intuitive. That way everyone, no matter how tech savvy, can experience the benefits of using blockchain based technology, and understand and therefore trust the system.

It’s important that the technology isn’t hidden from users. The Dev Team strives to present this new way of day to day interactions in a consumable way. For that reason @faffy_dee and STΞFAAN PONNΞT are ensuring the typical user experience is fluid and flawless before moving on to atypical experiences.

Connect With The Dev Team

The Dev Team is always on the lookout for other developers who want to get involved. If you have Polymer or Solidity experience feel free to reach out to #devhive on the Swarm City Slack. You can get a peek at the project by reviewing Github, here, or if you’d like to be involved in testing new releases, please join #testersignup on Slack and read the pinned post for instructions.

More to come soon. Cheers!