Web3 apps have enormous potential, but for most users, using them still feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. Just as no one needs to understand TLS handshakes to send a WhatsApp message, no one should need to wrestle with seed phrases or gas to mint an NFT or use DeFi.
At EmergentX, we believe it’s the developer’s job to carry this complexity, not the user’s. This article shares six foundational strategies that make dApps feel like web2: intuitive, seamless, and ready for a billion users.
This article outlines core strategies that can make web3 apps feel like web2—clean, fast, and frictionless—and unlock adoption at a TikTok or Instagram scale. While platforms like TikTok boast 1.9B users and Instagram sits at 2B+, the entire web3 ecosystem still floats around just 560M. There’s work to do.
The Pillars of Consumer-Focused Web3 Apps
To build dApps that attract mainstream users, developers need to shift their mindset. We’re no longer building for early adopters and crypto-native users. We’re building for everyone.
That means focusing on the following six UX pillars:
- UX Magic with Account Abstraction (AA) or EIP-7702
- Real-Time Execution
- Indexing Data with Subgraphs
- Multichain Experience
- Wallet Address Abstraction with ENS
- In-App On/Off-Ramp Integration
Below, we explore each pillar and how it transforms the web3 user experience.
The UX Revolution: Account Abstraction
Web3’s current UX often overwhelms users with complex wallet management and gas fees. Most dApps force users to handle private keys, download browser extensions, buy ETH, and sign every move they make. That’s not onboarding - it’s more like a survival challenge. Account Abstraction (AA), particularly through standards like ERC-4337 and the newer ERC-7702, simplifies this by enabling:
- Familiar Login Methods: Allow users to sign in with email, passkeys, Face ID, or social logins using embedded wallets (e.g., thirdweb connect, privy, web3auth, reown/appkit). This eliminates the need for seed phrases, making onboarding as easy as signing into a web2 app.
- Sponsored Transactions: Remove the need for users to acquire native tokens (e.g., ETH) to pay gas fees. Developers can sponsor transactions and offer paid plans based on supported chains, ensuring a frictionless experience. We see a shift nowadays where the gas fee sponsorship has become a user acquisition cost.
- Batched Transactions: Combine multiple actions (e.g., ERC-20 approve and transfer) into a single transaction to reduce user steps. Tools like Porto Ithaca enhance developer experience (DX) by streamlining this process.
By abstracting technical complexities, AA creates a web2-like experience, making dApps accessible to non-technical users.
Real-Time Execution
Users expect instant feedback, like swiping a card for coffee and getting it immediately, even if settlement takes longer. But on most chains finality isn’t instant. It can be delayed due to chain reorganizations (re-orgs), where blocks on the canonical chain are replaced.
Even though all transactions within the reorganised blocks will be resubmitted in the mempool, there still is a potential of altering transaction outcomes, due to different order execution.
Here’s how different chains perform:
Though we see a lot of new projects touching sub-second finality (like MegaETH or Monad), the number of L2s/L1s having a time until safe >1min is still large. Therefore, when building for the masses, we should account for re-orgs.
An elegant solution is to make use of webhooks to monitor & get notified in real-time on onchain activities. With Moralis Streams API one can setup dedicated Streams that listen for custom events coming from smart contract addresses of interest. For each webhook request, all activities can be stored as transactions in a database with a confirmed flag set to false by default and updating to true when finalized. This allows dApps to provide real-time feedback (e.g., “transaction pending”) while ensuring reliability once confirmed.
Indexing Data with Subgraphs
Subgraphs act like Google for your users data, enabling efficient data indexing without creepy ad tracking. For hybrid dApps that combine onchain and offchain data, subgraphs optimize data retrieval. For example, tracking all USDC transfers for users with smart accounts deployed via a custom AA factory can be cumbersome. A non-optimized approach involves listening to all USDC transfers across multiple chains, filtering by user addresses, decoding logs, and storing data manually.
However, there’s a better way to handle this process:
- Use a subgraph indexer to efficiently aggregate onchain data (e.g., USDC transfers) and mix it with your offchain database.
- Use subgraphs that support dynamic contracts/factories patterns to handle complex data structures, for example Envio or The Graph.
- Leverage performance benchmarks to ensure scalability and test according to your needs.
Subgraphs simplify data management, enabling real-time, user-friendly experiences.
Multichain Experience
Web3 users shouldn’t be confined to a single chain. Each blockchain has unique strengths, like cities with distinct vibes, for example Italy for food or Spain for sun. If you want low-cost transactions and fast execution, chains like Base, Arbitrum or Optimism are the way to go. On the other hand, if you’re running a high-stakes business and want best-class security or liquidity, Ethereum should be the answer.
If your app can be deployed across chains, do it. Let the users choose where they want to operate. Do not enforce that.
Therefore, one can use SDKs purposely built with cross-chain interoperability in mind, such as LayerZero, Axelar or Across for cross-chain swaps.
If your app leverages Account Abstraction, you can natively support multiple chains. By deploying users’ smart accounts at deterministic addresses, they can easily switch networks and benefit from a seamless multichain experience.
Wallet Address Abstraction with ENS
Because of their complex 20-bytes representation, Ethereum addresses usually confuse users. By using the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), dApps can easily assign human-readable names to each users’ wallet, simplifying everything.
For example, each dApp can purchase a .eth subdomain (e.g., mydapp.eth) and issue free or paid ENS subdomains to users upon joining.
If you’re worried about the cost of issuing sub-ENS domains for every user, solutions like Namestone’s Durin project enable L2-based ENS subdomains issuance at a low cost. At the same time, the subdomain can be configured to resolve to the same address across chains when paired with smart accounts. Your users can get the same *.mydapp.eth subdomain which can be used interchangeable across all deployment chains.
This makes wallet interactions intuitive, even for non-technical users like “grandma.”
In-App On/Off-Ramp Integration
Users dislike leaving dApps to buy or sell crypto. Integrating fiat-to-crypto on/off-ramps (e.g., Transak, MoonPay, Coinbase, Alchemy Pay) allows seamless conversions (e.g., USD to USDC) within the app. For example, a DeFi app can let users buy USDC with a credit card, stake it, and cash out profits—all without leaving the platform.
Pair on/off-ramps with gasless transactions (through AA) and users don’t even need native tokens to start, further lowering entry barriers.
Real-World Example: Werk
We’ve built werk.pro, a web3 platform for freelancers and companies, with all these principles in mind from day zero: no seed phrases, gasless and batched transactions through Account Abstraction. By using the most common auth methods such as email, passkeys or social logins, Werk feels like any other web2 app but supercharged with web3 powers.
Werk gives every user their own onchain Space — a personal hub to track web3 activity and thrive toward their goals. From paying and getting paid instantly without middlemen to managing digital assets in one place, users stay in control. Werk is multichain by design, allowing seamless switching between Base and Ethereum. Deployed deterministically across chains, each Space can operate on the user's preferred network.
Don’t trust us! See it in action at werk.pro.
Conclusion
To attract millions of users, web3 apps must prioritize UX through Account Abstraction, real-time execution, subgraphs, in-app on/off-ramps, multichain support, and wallet address abstraction. By hiding blockchain complexities, developers can create dApps that feel as intuitive as web2 apps, onboarding the next wave of users.
Hide the blockchain, surface the value. That’s how we onboard the world.