X-Ray is a research project by the Sustainable Ecosystem Scaling Core Unit at MakerDAO. Our mission is to support the sustainable growth of one of the key MakerDAO protocol moats, the workforce, via research. We believe that in order for crypto to truly reach its potential, we must be able to scale up and onboard significantly more developers and technical talent into the ecosystem β€” in a sustainable, repeatable, and systematic way, devoid of crypto market cycles. Therefore, our focus lies on reducing the barrier to entry for developers into the ecosystem, as well as efforts to keep these contributors engaged and participating in the long run.


🎯  Project goals

Helping Maker have the best & most successful onboarding experience for new participants. With the highest retention rate in the industry.

βœ… Established standards for developer onboarding & retention for MakerDAO protocol

βœ… Live & accurate overview of the tech talent onboarding & retention model

βœ… Prospective future projects for addressing detected bottlenecks


πŸ“Research highlights

<aside> πŸ’‘ Read the full report on the X-Ray research on the developer journey:

Making crypto/Web3 more attractive & accommodating for developer contributors

SES X-Ray Developer journey survey results - long deck

Screenshot 2022-03-02 at 12.13.29.png

</aside>

<aside> πŸ’‘ Explore the specific developer profiles & their journeys:

The Crypto Curious developer profile

https://app.pitch.com/app/presentation/72d0ff81-20ef-403e-bd48-ab79d0393f5b/316bfd9a-4ff5-459b-9762-3a86ebe8e54a

The Current Crypto developer profile

The Current Crypto Developer

The MakerDAO developer profile

The MakerDAO Developer

</aside>

<aside> πŸ™‹β€β™‚οΈ Crypto/Web3 developer journey survey highlights (CALL CLOSED)

Participants: crypto developers (incl. past & current Maker devs) & developers interested in a crypto/Web3 career

Screenshot 2022-02-08 at 17.21.42.png

Perks from survey participation: Β  ❀️‍πŸ”₯ unique POAP NFT (your Web3 dev cred NFT) Β  πŸ’Έ funding towards grants in Gitcoin GR12 (each dev submission = Dai donated by us to dev aligned projects) Β  πŸ€Β  Bonus: awesome raffle prizes incl. MakerDAO swag packages (10), tickets to Devcon (1), ETHCC (2), ETHRio (3), Spagett-ETH (3).

<aside> πŸ’‘ Read the full report on the first X-Ray objective **Benchmarking the best practices in crypto developer onboarding & retention:**

Can crypto cross the chasm?: sustainable ways to attract, onboard and retain developer talent in the crypto ecosystem.t

Screenshot 2022-03-02 at 12.39.26.png

</aside>


🧐 Does X-Ray impact the crypto ecosystem beyond MakerDAO?

This study, conducted by SES core unit, does not yield the results for MakerDAO exclusively. In the spirit of the values we share as an ecosystem, our research is done in collaboration with the broader Web3/crypto community, and the insights we derive from it, are shared in the same spirit with the community. Just like this initiative benefits from external participants and collaborators, we want to ensure that it benefits the community at large. Together, we can answer the questions that can help us make this space more attractive & welcoming for the new joiners, and keep the current contributors happy & engaged in the long term AKA sustainable developer growth.

https://youtu.be/pJtWmKuBFbI

Watch the talk Buidl Sustainably! (decentralized workforce intel πŸ€“Β ), where Lenka is sharing the X-Ray insights towards achieving sustainable and exponential developer growth in Web3/crypto.

ETHDenver 2022: Buidl Sustainably! Decentralised Workfor...

Slides: https://static.sched.com/hosted_files/ethdenver/1f/BUIDL sustainably! ETHDenver.pdf

ALSO RELEVANT:

Read the **report on the best practices in talent onboarding & retention** we have done in the past.

Our second report covers the Why questions surrounding the developers considering to join & those working in crypto already.


πŸ€“ X-Ray Library

Project documents & updates

Project folder

Status update - Expert interviews (Aug 13 '21)

Status update - Benchmarking (Oct 22 '21)

Status update - Developer journey (Feb 11 β€˜22)

Public pages & databases

Strategic opportunities for MakerDAO's tech talent strategies (X-Ray)

Crypto & adjacent ecosystem developer benchmarks (X-Ray)

Further research questions for MakerDAO to consider (X-Ray)

πŸ““ X-Ray Benchmarking results (full report)


πŸ’Œ Team members & contact info