Want to contribute to bitcoin design?

Working on a grant

Working on a grant means that you have full freedom to work on things you really enjoy. Work days and planning is managed by you. You get to decide on:

• Working hours
• Holidays
• Planning

It means having a hyperfocus in one specific area and improving that area in the bitcoin ecosystem. Grantees are given a huge amount of trust and freedom. We trust that you will produce and work on the tasks that you have set out for yourself. With trust comes the responsibility to produce incredible work that you are proud of, and that contributes to the broader ecosystem. While this sounds like a bunch of fun (and it is), discipline and planning and grit are some of the core characteristics you’ll be tapping into.

Grant types

Grants are usually uniquely tailored to each grantee and the work they will be doing. However, we have seen some patterns emerge and want to provide a simple framework on how to think about the shapes a grant can take.

1. Starter

If you’re fairly new to grant-based work and/or open-source bitcoin, it might be a good idea to start slowly. Working independently and navigating the ecosystem can be a learning curve that a starter grant can help you feel out, while making your first contributions. If you are more experienced, it can allow you to deliver a well-scoped task. These grants are often part-time for 3-6 months.

2. Contributor

This grant type is for designers who regularly contribute to one or more projects in the ecosystem, and actively contribute to the respective communities. These are often part-time for 6 months.

3. Champion

The most dedicated contributors often lead and shape larger projects and initiatives that make a dent in the ecosystem. These grants can be part-time or full-time for 6-12 months.

As mentioned above, these are not fixed categories, but meant to give you a starting framework for how to think about your grant.

Areas the foundation is looking to support

These are some of the areas where we observed a need and desire for more design contributions. You are more than welcome to share other ideas.

• UX best practices for cutting edge bitcoin technologies: Interest for cutting-edge bitcoin technology, to help identify and document UX best practices for BOLT12, silent payments, async payments, LSP specs, and similar technologies.
• Merchant interactions: Purchases, especially in-person ones, are extremely sensitive moments where technology and user interactions have to come together flawlessly.
• Ecash: Fedimint and Cashu are two protocols with very active ecosystems of builders.
• Key projects and collaboration support: Existing community collaborations and key projects to continue and deepen. The list includes Bitcoin Core App, Bitcoin UI Kit, Bitcoin Research Kit, Fedimint, Saving Satoshi, JAM and others.
• Accessibility: How can we improve accessibility in bitcoin wallets? During our research on accessibility in the bitcoin ecosystem, we found that many wallets have very basic accessibility issues that prevent users with those needs from managing their bitcoin.

Grant review process

The grant selection process involves the evaluation of multiple criteria. The 3 criteria that proposals are evaluated with are the following:

1. Bitcoin

The project has a direct benefit to the bitcoin community and ecosystem. It should be in areas of improving the user experience of software and tools. These improvements might include design, research, content, code review as well as contributions to specific projects.

2. Open-source

The foundation supports open-source software and tools. Open-source referring to software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Potential areas of interest include the Bitcoin Design Guide, the Bitcoin Design Community and project-specific work.

3. Open design

Funded projects and grantees are encouraged to work in public and to share their experience and journey with the community. We advise grantees to actively seek collaboration and mentor others who contribute to the project. Grantees are also encouraged to educate the community about the work they are doing.

Your proposal

A good proposal provides a full picture of the task or problem you want to address, why it is worthwhile, how you want to go about it, and why you are in a good position to tackle this task. It can be a 1-2 page text document and include visuals and videos and any other material you think helps communicate best. Proposals are often iterated on. Feel free to send us drafts for feedback.

We’ve created two documents to help you plan your proposal:

• The Project Fit Assessment helps you determine if your idea is generally a good fit.
• The Proposal Worksheet has lots of tips and questions to help you plan.

Once your application is submitted, we will review internally. We strive to keep this process simple and direct because we know your time is precious. We may come back with questions, or directly approve the proposal. In the latter case, we will reach out with the next steps for getting started and receiving the donation payouts.

Should you have any questions before applying, feel free to jump into the Bitcoin Design Community and ask in the #foundation channel.

Grant applications: apply@bitcoindesignfoundation.org

Thank you.
The Foundation team
Christoph, Mo and Daniel