Author Experience
What authors can do
Why it removes friction
Solution Overview
Library Catalog
2025
Author Dashboard
2025
→
Hi, Recruiter I’m Tyrice Hicks 👋🏾
Knovel Protocol
Knovel Protocol
On-chain publishing & social reading platform
Role
Founder & Product Designer
Tools/ Skills
Product Vision, UX architecture
Duration
2024-Current
Overview
Knovel Protocol is a creator-first publishing platform that reimagines books as ownable, social digital assets. I led product design and strategy across research, systems design, and execution—bridging Web2 usability with Web3 ownership. The result is a publishing ecosystem that gives authors control, transparency, and direct relationships with readers.
The System
Reader Experience
Social discovery
Ownership Layer
“Invisible by default”
Only mention blockchain once
Why Existing Solutions Failed
- Why existing platforms weren’t enough
- Amazon / Web2 = distribution without ownership
- Web3 = ownership without usability
- Social platforms = discovery without permanence
Why This Was Hard
Design challenges
- Balancing Web3 ownership without intimidating non-crypto readers
- Designing trust in a space associated with scams
- Supporting two very different users: authors and readers
- Avoiding “NFT-first” framing
Insight: Existing platforms optimize for scale and control—not trust. Authors accept broken systems because switching costs are high and alternatives lack credibility.
How It Works
Author flow
- Write → publish → editions → earnings
Reader flow
- Discover → collect → share → support
Why this structure
Design principle: Blockchain handles trust and ownership, while the interface prioritizes familiarity and ease—ensuring authors never feel like they’re “using crypto.”
Design Decisions & Tradeoffs
What began as a quiet passion project in a public library — Elibra — is now evolving into something much more powerful: Knovel Protocol.
I spent months here, surrounded by the scent of books and the whisper of ideas, testing Elibra to bring the soul of libraries into the digital age. But I realized the future of knowledge-sharing couldn’t be confined to one platform. It needed to be collective, composable, and sovereign.
So Elibra grew — into a protocol, not just a product. A foundation where authors, publishers, and readers can write their own rules, publish freely, and preserve human wisdom on-chain.
A Quiet Idea That Roared: From Library Corners to Web3's Center Stage
Among AI-driven super-apps and on-chain community tools, Knovel Protocol rose to the top, winning the pitch competition and capturing the imagination of the SocialFi movement.
❗️The Problem
- Ownership vs distribution
- Discovery vs algorithms
- Publishing vs community
Through customer interviews and market analysis, we identified five systemic failures in modern digital publishing:
Customer Testimonials
Author
Cookbook Creator
I tried Gumroad and several NFT platforms, but none let me publish my cookbook without sacrificing creative control or waiting months for approval. Knovel let me publish instantly and own the relationship with my readers.
Author
Children’s Book Writer
“Writing my children’s book was easy. Getting paid for it wasn’t. Knovel gave me a way to put my work directly in front of readers and earn reliably, without relying on gatekeepers.”
Dev Doodlebug
Independent Author
“I’m constantly debating whether to crowdfund just to keep my book alive. After a year of work, publishing shouldn’t feel this fragile. Knovel made ownership and distribution feel sustainable.”
📚 User Testing Insights
part of refining the transition from Elibra to Knovel Protocol, I conducted hands-on user testing sessions to observe how real users interact with the platform. We explored everything from account setup and profile creation to searching for books and using reading lists. I received valuable feedback on text formatting, paragraph structure, and citation needs—especially from authors and academic users. We also discussed the complexity of indexing and the opportunity to automate that process with smarter tools. This session affirmed the need for Knovel to not only support author monetization and reader engagement, but also to respect the craft of publishing—down to the typesetting.
Early Traction & Market Validation
150+ books published on-chain
300+ active readers and authors
Thousands of reading interactions recorded
Repeat engagement across multiple sessions
Organic discovery driven by social signals, not paid acquisition
Partnerships (OnePiece Labs, CAMP)
Despite limited marketing, Knovel demonstrated strong early signals across content creation, community growth, and engagement.
Business Model
- In our first 6 months post-beta, Knovel Protocol became a living library with measurable traction:
- +100 authors onboarded with verified smart contract ownership
- +500 books minted as NFTs, including multi-format bundles (ebook, audiobook, annotated editions)
- 19% author-to-reader engagement via comments, bookmarks, and follows
- 43% of readers returned within 7 days, signaling strong UX and content stickiness
- Author NPS: +67 — driven by ease of use, revenue transparency, and ownership confidence
- Zero reported royalty disputes thanks to transparent smart contract automation
- We validated our vision not just in user numbers, but in culture:
- “This is the first time I’ve felt seen as a writer online.” — Early Knovel Creator“Feels like a writer’s co-op for the digital age.” — Reader Feedback
Traction & Impact
Improve reader onboarding
Expand community discovery tools
Refine trust & moderation systems
🎉 Final Product
View demo
View Site
Design System & Brand Alignment (Supporting)
Eyebrow text to label this content
🧠 Reflection & Senior Impact
Designing Knovel Protocol reshaped how I think about ownership, trust, and product responsibility. Through direct conversations with authors, I learned that most publishing pain emerges after launch—when creators lose visibility, leverage, and control.
This project reinforced that blockchain is not the value; clarity is. The real design challenge was making complex systems feel invisible while giving users confidence in outcomes they can verify. Knovel taught me that the most impactful products don’t just introduce new technology—they correct long-standing power imbalances through thoughtful design.
Other Projects
See Project
→
See Project
→
Connect with us to explore your project's potential.
TYRICE HICKS
Knovel Protocol
Knovel Protocol
On-chain publishing & social reading platform
Role
Founder & Product Designer
Tools/ Skills
Product Vision, UX architecture
Duration
2024-Current
Overview
Knovel Protocol is a creator-first publishing platform that reimagines books as ownable, social digital assets. I led product design and strategy across research, systems design, and execution—bridging Web2 usability with Web3 ownership. The result is a publishing ecosystem that gives authors control, transparency, and direct relationships with readers.
Author Experience
What authors can do
Why it removes friction
Reader Experience
Social discovery
Collecting vs consuming
Ownership Layer
“Invisible by default”
Only mention blockchain once
The System
❗️The Problem
- Ownership vs distribution
- Discovery vs algorithms
- Publishing vs community
Through customer interviews and market analysis, we identified five systemic failures in modern digital publishing:
Why Existing Solutions Failed
- Why existing platforms weren’t enough
- Amazon / Web2 = distribution without ownership
- Web3 = ownership without usability
- Social platforms = discovery without permanence
Why This Was Hard
Design challenges
- Balancing Web3 ownership without intimidating non-crypto readers
- Designing trust in a space associated with scams
- Supporting two very different users: authors and readers
- Avoiding “NFT-first” framing
Insight: Existing platforms optimize for scale and control—not trust. Authors accept broken systems because switching costs are high and alternatives lack credibility.
Customer Testimonials
Author
Cookbook Creator
I tried Gumroad and several NFT platforms, but none let me publish my cookbook without sacrificing creative control or waiting months for approval. Knovel let me publish instantly and own the relationship with my readers.
Author
Children’s Book Writer
“Writing my children’s book was easy. Getting paid for it wasn’t. Knovel gave me a way to put my work directly in front of readers and earn reliably, without relying on gatekeepers.”
Dev Doodlebug
Independent Author
“I’m constantly debating whether to crowdfund just to keep my book alive. After a year of work, publishing shouldn’t feel this fragile. Knovel made ownership and distribution feel sustainable.”
How It Works
Author flow
- Write → publish → editions → earnings
Reader flow
- Discover → collect → share → support
Why this structure
Design principle: Blockchain handles trust and ownership, while the interface prioritizes familiarity and ease—ensuring authors never feel like they’re “using crypto.”
Solution Overview
Library Catalog
2025
Author Dashboard
2025
Design Decisions & Tradeoffs
What began as a quiet passion project in a public library — Elibra — is now evolving into something much more powerful: Knovel Protocol.
I spent months here, surrounded by the scent of books and the whisper of ideas, testing Elibra to bring the soul of libraries into the digital age. But I realized the future of knowledge-sharing couldn’t be confined to one platform. It needed to be collective, composable, and sovereign.
So Elibra grew — into a protocol, not just a product. A foundation where authors, publishers, and readers can write their own rules, publish freely, and preserve human wisdom on-chain.
📚 User Testing Insights
As part of refining the transition from Elibra to Knovel Protocol, I conducted hands-on user testing sessions to observe how real users interact with the platform. We explored everything from account setup and profile creation to searching for books and using reading lists. I received valuable feedback on text formatting, paragraph structure, and citation needs—especially from authors and academic users. We also discussed the complexity of indexing and the opportunity to automate that process with smarter tools. This session affirmed the need for Knovel to not only support author monetization and reader engagement, but also to respect the craft of publishing—down to the typesetting.
This exercise revealed that authors prioritize ownership and payout transparency over discoverability alone.
A Quiet Idea That Roared: From Library Corners to Web3's Center Stage
Among AI-driven super-apps and on-chain community tools, Knovel Protocol rose to the top, winning the pitch competition and capturing the imagination of the SocialFi movement.
Business Model
- I worked closely with the founding team to ensure monetization aligned with creator trust and reader value.
Early Traction & Market Validation
150+ books published on-chain
300+ active readers and authors
Thousands of reading interactions recorded
Repeat engagement across multiple sessions
Organic discovery driven by social signals, not paid acquisition
Partnerships (OnePiece Labs, CAMP)
Despite limited marketing, Knovel demonstrated strong early signals across content creation, community growth, and engagement.
What I’d Do Next
Improve reader onboarding
Expand community discovery tools
Refine trust & moderation systems
🎉 Final Product
View demo
View Site
Design System & Brand Alignment (Supporting)
Eyebrow text to label this content
🧠 Reflection & Senior Impact
Designing Knovel Protocol reshaped how I think about ownership, trust, and product responsibility. Through direct conversations with authors, I learned that most publishing pain emerges after launch—when creators lose visibility, leverage, and control.
This project reinforced that blockchain is not the value; clarity is. The real design challenge was making complex systems feel invisible while giving users confidence in outcomes they can verify. Knovel taught me that the most impactful products don’t just introduce new technology—they correct long-standing power imbalances through thoughtful design.
Other Projects
See Project
→
See Project
→
Connect with us to explore your project's potential.
TYRICE HICKS