Simplifying cryptocurrency trading and investments
What I Did
- UX Design
- UI Design
Platform
- Mobile
Timeline
- 2021 - Present
Industry
- Blockchain
Overview
Marble Wallet is a De-Fi (Decentralized Finance) Ethereum wallet that runs on mobile. It allows users to store, collect, invest, and trade crypto tokens and collectibles using fiat currencies through cards, bank accounts, or P2P transactions.
The Problem
Traditional banking systems pose several problems for conducting transactions and usually require an intermediary like banks or brokerages. De-Fi wallets have created a means for users to have sole control and access assets via crypto wallets. Yet, the challenges people face are usually associated with:
- Complexity of blockchain applications or ecosystem
- Uncertainty regarding the level of security & trust
The Goal was to look into the pains & frustrations experienced by users when using De-Fi crypto wallets and articulate my approach to understanding and solving the UX challenges with crypto wallets.
My Role
As a solo UX Designer on this project, I was responsible for gathering insights into problems faced by users through Market & User Research and delivering design output that showed the user flow and hi-fidelity solutions that improves user experience.
Gathering Insights into what problems I needed to solve
After researching the ecosystem and understanding how De-fi wallets work, I kicked things off by conducting:
- Market research to understand the current flow and offerings of common De-Fi wallets
- Heuristics evaluation to identify usability issues.
From my findings, it was crucial to get a deep level understanding of how people use and experience crypto wallets. I conducted user interview to validate my findings and assumptions about the problem.
The user research helped me identify 5 primary problems users faced when using crypto wallets:
- High barrier to entry for new users
- Account backup and recovery process can be daunting.
- Not easy to navigate because of the use of jargon and poor labelling
- Little to no transparency and feedback when performing transactions.
- Slow transactions and unpredictable fees.
Talking to the partcipants and identifying patterns also revealed users personas that were keen on adopting de-fi wallets & investing:
- The Newbie who wants to get started in investing & trading crypto tokens
- The Experienced users who have expertise and want better ways to experience de-fi wallets
Identifying Opportunities and Solving the Problem
From the key learnings and insights discovered, it was important to design solutions that would accommodate the personas identified. I converted our key problems into opportunities to solve based on user's needs and improve mass adoption issues.
User Flow
Solutions
Designing a convenient way to improve adoption
Most blockchain wallets or apps today focus on advanced users and don't explain processes well enough to onboard novice users. Non-custodial wallets don't provide acess to customer service therefore, an easy way to improve adoption is providing a clear setup process and FAQs that can help.
Designing a better way to keep user details secure and easily retrievable
Ethereum wallets require users to write down or copy their seed phrase which can be inconvenient because they may forget or not be fully aware of it's importance. By using email verification and biometric authentication, 2 Factor Authentication is enabled, keys are encrypted and stored on the users device, making sure no one has access without the users permission and can quickly initiate account recovery with the built in account backup function.
Designing for better app navigation and readability to improve user experience
Wallet addresses are too long and can't be remembered or recognized easily leading to transaction errors that can't be reversed. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) solves this problem by allowing users create unique readable domain names like "john.eth" that are easy to read and remember.
Using easy to understand text and labelling instead of industry specific, users can quickly understand the context of what they need to do to accomplish their goals.
Designing for transparency in system and transaction status
For every transaction on a De-fi wallet users need to pay certain fees depending on the network used. These fees can be high, so it is important to build trust by helping users see a clear context and breakdown of the network fees, be educated on what they mean, receive instant feedback on transaction status.
Learnings & Takeaways
My experience working in the Blockchain De-Fi industry allows me explore the never ending possibilities. The UX of blockchain is still complex and it is important to design solutions that are easy to understand and functional enough to help people stay in control & complete tasks.