*This entry is a continuation of 3 Role Types: Intro.

Thus far we have established that the foundational roles of someone looking to join a community are:

1. Observer role.

2. Participant role.

3. Contributor role.

Each role comes with its own context, expectations and appropriate actions; and if we can make those easy to understand, follow and execute it makes creating a wonderful experience more likely.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the Observer role.

This role’s purpose is to answer the fundamental question: is this a safe place for me?

Consider any unfamiliar social context one encounters. The natural response, even from the most gregarious personality, is to become silent and observe the context.

We become silent so that we have more energy to pick up on behaviors and language that signal safety or danger from other contexts we have engaged in. The duration of silence varies from person to person and how tuned into these signals they are.

If the new context poses no immanent threat to our survival we then can asses what risks are present if we were to stay. We understand that just because an environment looks safe, doesn’t mean it is safe. So we subconsciously cross reference signals of risk from previous communities we’ve engaged in.

After this process is complete the result is the ‘gut feeling’ we’ve come to trust (or to our detriment, ignore).

In web3 community development, friction is created when there is no space for ‘someone’ to engage in the Observer role and allow this processing to take place.

Often, the moment someone enters the Discord server they are bombarded with calls to action, awkward introductions, and ambiguous asks to contribute. When all they really want to do is make sense of the context they have just entered. And in web3 just about everything is unfamiliar - so our neuroception is on high alert.

One could say, “they don’t have to do anything, they can just observe and engage when they are ready”. However, in this traditional practice Observers are categorized as ‘lurkers’ - which is hardly a term that signals safety or belonging. Furthermore, the same context creates an expectation of engagement, and to implement any expectation before a healthy relationship with the context has been established, creates friction.

While in the Observer role, someone is also determining what the potential for belonging in this context is. The more risks involved, the less likely they are to experience belonging within this context.

The key is to give Observer the space to observe. Yet, this does not mean that this role is to be quarantined and ignored. “Hi! You’re new? Just stand over there and see how it’s done” is not the vibe we want to create.

By deploying Strategic Empathy towards the Observer in the web3 community context that is being created, we will discover what information needs to be highlighted. The goal is to signal safety to their neuroception as quickly and efficiently as possible.

If the gut says ‘yes these could be my people’, we have a green light to move to the next role: Participator.

*********

Learn more about DAO Experience Design:

https://daoxd.xyz/

👇 Join my telegram channel by subscribing below 👇

*This entry is a continuation of 3 Role Types: Intro.

Thus far we have established that the foundational roles of someone looking to join a community are:

1. Observer role.

2. Participant role.

3. Contributor role.

Each role comes with its own context, expectations and appropriate actions; and if we can make those easy to understand, follow and execute it makes creating a wonderful experience more likely.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the Observer role.

This role’s purpose is to answer the fundamental question: is this a safe place for me?

Consider any unfamiliar social context one encounters. The natural response, even from the most gregarious personality, is to become silent and observe the context.

We become silent so that we have more energy to pick up on behaviors and language that signal safety or danger from other contexts we have engaged in. The duration of silence varies from person to person and how tuned into these signals they are.

If the new context poses no immanent threat to our survival we then can asses what risks are present if we were to stay. We understand that just because an environment looks safe, doesn’t mean it is safe. So we subconsciously cross reference signals of risk from previous communities we’ve engaged in.

After this process is complete the result is the ‘gut feeling’ we’ve come to trust (or to our detriment, ignore).

In web3 community development, friction is created when there is no space for ‘someone’ to engage in the Observer role and allow this processing to take place.

Often, the moment someone enters the Discord server they are bombarded with calls to action, awkward introductions, and ambiguous asks to contribute. When all they really want to do is make sense of the context they have just entered. And in web3 just about everything is unfamiliar - so our neuroception is on high alert.

One could say, “they don’t have to do anything, they can just observe and engage when they are ready”. However, in this traditional practice Observers are categorized as ‘lurkers’ - which is hardly a term that signals safety or belonging. Furthermore, the same context creates an expectation of engagement, and to implement any expectation before a healthy relationship with the context has been established, creates friction.

While in the Observer role, someone is also determining what the potential for belonging in this context is. The more risks involved, the less likely they are to experience belonging within this context.

The key is to give Observer the space to observe. Yet, this does not mean that this role is to be quarantined and ignored. “Hi! You’re new? Just stand over there and see how it’s done” is not the vibe we want to create.

By deploying Strategic Empathy towards the Observer in the web3 community context that is being created, we will discover what information needs to be highlighted. The goal is to signal safety to their neuroception as quickly and efficiently as possible.

If the gut says ‘yes these could be my people’, we have a green light to move to the next role: Participator.

*********

Learn more about DAO Experience Design:

https://daoxd.xyz/

👇 Join my telegram channel by subscribing below 👇