What is Intuition?

Intuition is an ethereum-based attestation protocol that makes it easy to store, monetize, and track insights and knowledge. Information gleaned from Intuition helps users make informed decisions and enables developers and users to minimize and assess trust assumptions more effectively, lowering the risk of errors and vulnerabilities across the web.

Problem

After an initial spike in engagement following the launch of the Intuition Beta Portal, user retention dropped in subsequent months. This prompted us to explore Product-Market Fit (PMF) and new ways to showcase the protocol's potential through both design and narrative strategies.

Process

To address this challenge, we formed an experimental "Skunkworks" team—a small, agile group inspired by Lockheed Martin during WWII. This team, consisting of a UI designer, a developer, and myself, brainstormed, sketched, and prioritized ideas. We developed four key concepts, creating landing pages and anonymous Twitter campaigns to test public interest and gather insights for future product direction. With an ultimate goal of finding our golden users.

Ideation & Hypothesis

I facilitated a two-part workshop with leadership, growth, and product teams to identify opportunities. Using grouping and prioritization exercises, we narrowed down concepts based on user research and market data.

For the top three ideas, I created "one-pitch" art boards summarizing the problem, user frustrations, motivations, and the opportunity space. These insights guided us to focus on two core directions, Idea 1 and Idea 2 (below) for testing.

Research

I built a user research program, leveraging interest surveys and existing relationships within Discord, Twitter, and our investor network. A user testing CRM was implemented to track participants, and I conducted interviews to uncover user habits, frustrations, and aspirations. Key areas of exploration included:

• Methods for saving and organizing online content (e.g., folders, bookmarks, desktop tools).

• Sharing content with friends and communities.

• Trust and sentiment around crypto-related decisions (e.g., investments, endorsements, purchases).

• Comfort levels with prediction markets (e.g., Polymarket).

• Processes for due diligence when assessing new crypto projects.

Landing Pages

In parallel, I collaborated closely with the UI designer to create landing pages for four concepts aligned with our core product direction hypothesis. Each landing page presented a unique narrative, offering different perspectives on Intuition. The goal was to evaluate which narrative and digital experience resonated most with potential future users.

1. SPOC (Social Posts On-Chain)

2. RepuStation

3. Collections

4. TrustBar (Chrome Extension)

User Testing

With the landing pages in place, I interviewed 11 participants, representing personas such as OnChain Degens, Airdrop Farmers, DAO Contributors, UX/UI Designers, and Community Managers — all crypto-native with 3-10 years of experience.

Key User Commentary

• Sean Murphy:
  "Crypto Twitter is the 'reputation platform' right now."

  
  This underscores the critical role of trust and sentiment signals on social media in evaluating Web3 projects and people.

• Kylan Hurt:
  Highlighted the appeal of a TrustBar (Chrome extension) for adding notes and tags to profiles, enabling users to track trustworthiness more effectively. This aligns with the demand for tools that go beyond follower counts.

  
  

• Jeremy Oliver:
  "We need better ways to gauge positive and negative sentiment (beyond just how many likes/RTs a post has) in the comments section of Twitter."

  
  Emphasized the need for tools that provide balanced perspectives rather than amplifying the loudest opinions.

  
  

• Jenny's Hesitation to Connect Wallets:
  "Sometimes I’m honestly at a loss...how can I verify this? Is it a safe place to interact? Is this a scam? Like all of that is going through your mind."

  
  This highlights the anxiety many users feel when navigating wallet connections and underscores the need for better security and trust mechanisms, especially for Web3 newcomers.

  
  

• Airdrop Farmer:
  Noted that only about 10% of his community would show genuine interest in these product ideas, as many join waitlists solely to farm potential airdrops.

  
  

  This suggests a need for focused marketing and energy allocation when targeting such audiences.

  
  

• Funga:
  "I prefer to only bet where I have an edge."

  
  Stressed the importance of clear communication around the risks and rewards of information markets versus the gambling perception often associated with prediction markets.

Key Findings

1. Pain Point: Trust & Sentiment
   Crypto Twitter is the dominant "reputation platform," but users struggle to evaluate sentiment, credibility, and potential scams.

   
   

2. Demand for Better Trust Tools
   Users want tools to assess trustworthiness beyond follower counts or superficial metrics like "Likes" (which leave out sentiment direction)

   
   

3. Strong Interest in Chrome Extension
   The TrustBar Chrome extension resonated most with users as a way to integrate trust and sentiment insights directly into users’ browsing experiences.

   
   

4. Decentralized Link Verification
   There’s demand for tools that verify links and prevent phishing scams, similar to centralized solutions like DeFi Lama and WalletGuard.

   
   

5. Comfort with Prediction Markets
   Users expressed mixed feelings about prediction markets, often associating them with gambling. However, there was notable interest in their relevance and accuracy, particularly given Polymarket's success with 2024 US election predictions. Overall, clearer communication about the risks and rewards is essential to address these concerns effectively.

   
   

Prioritized Next Steps

Following this effort, I provided the organization with the following recommendations for product direction:

• Prioritize Chrome Extension Development: Integrate trust and sentiment insights into the browsing experience.

  
  

• Explore Decentralized Link Verification: Investigate decentralized solutions for phishing prevention.

  
  

• Clarify Earning Potential: Improve messaging around monetization opportunities for users.

  
  

• Align Product Roadmap: Focus on trust, sentiment analysis, and safer Web3 navigation tools.

  
  

Reflections

The Skunkworks unit I was part of during this PMF effort was an excellent exercise in fast, agile product research, testing, and execution. As the age-old saying in product design goes, "test early and often," and that's exactly what we did—at every stage. We conducted concept testing, A/B testing, moderated interviews, and unmoderated surveys.

Along the way, I cultivated strong relationships with community members who evolved into "golden users," the ultimate goal of this initiative. With these engaged users in place, the team was well-positioned to advance the Chrome extension in a way that closely aligned with user needs.