LEAVE THE INTERNET BEHIND.
Urbit is a genuinely new way to compute and use the internet. However, user adoption was a little stunted. Mainly due to the lack of pattern matching between the internet people knew and the internet it introduced. There was no “app store” or anything else for that matter. They needed developers to log on to the platform and start building for users. So I worked with their team on a messaging strategy, catered to the developer audience.
Urbit is…a little hard to describe. It’s a virtual computer, hosted on your own server or a custodian you trust with one, that you access with a (sort of) NFT token called a “Planet”. Once you’re “on” Urbit, you get a message app, a Bitcoin wallet, a clock and a Chess app. Users need to find communities on Urbit’s peer-to-peer network if they want to download more apps. In this way, Urbit mirrors real life as one might meet real friends.
Planets are grouped within to “Stars” (also an NFT) which belong to “Galaxies” users can join. Each one is owned by a person or community that has like-minded members. This is the finite, digital real estate Urbit provides.
Since your Urbit is hosted on your own server or by someone you trust, your entire internet is private. This allows you an immense amount of freedom to create and communicate how you want; without governance by Zuckerberg.
Given the spectrum of users and Urbit’s lofty ambition, we decided to “design for the extremes” by researching a variety of people. Product Managers, CEOs, Blockchain speculators, investors, and even an artist who started a Crypto religion. We went to talks, meet-ups and even Urbit’s annual conference dubbed Assembly. We were determined to understand the molten core of “why Urbit”.
Our messaging strategy had to convince devs that creating on Urbit was worth their time. What resonated most in our manifestos and language, was that Urbit was creating a community of creative developers. Our value propositions included a mix of authentic socializing on its peer-to-peer network, liberating oneself from the surveillance capitalism found in Instagram or other social networks, and the opportunity to pioneer something completely original. In essence, Urbit is making“A better society for programs”.
Urbit implemented our verbal strategy on its website, user docs, marketing materials, and even on an aerial banner for its Assembly conference.
While Web 3 is going through some growing pains, Urbit remains at the vanguard of doing something completely new. Their ambition to overturn the internet remains unmatched. Some might call it crazy but for their mighty team, it’s the most human way to enrich our lives.
