DeFiChain Light Wallet 2.0: The redesign process

First launched in August 2021 (with its 1st birthday in August 2022), the DeFiChain Light Wallet was met with much fanfare from the community. Despite the warm reception, the Birthday Research (BR) team did not sit on its laurels, striving to push the boundaries of improving the wallet app’s user experience. Thus sparked the recent DeFiChain Light Wallet 2.0 design refresh exercise.

To understand the users’ pain points, a user research survey was conducted in early 2022. Below are the main objectives of the survey:

1. Understand user motivations and attitudes towards the app
2. Identify usability gaps and friction points
3. Validate user segments for better experience design moving forward

The survey received over 200 responses from newer to more seasoned users of the Light Wallet app. Key insights from the survey are as follows:

1. More than 80% of respondents use the app on a daily basis
2. The DEX as well as adding and removing liquidity are the most frequently used features
3. There was a real need to improve the design with a focus on learnability and intuitiveness, as many users faced difficulty navigating the app for the first time

For more information on the user experience survey, tune in to this episode of Tech talk show (time stamp: 16:22 to 33:20), where feedback was explained in greater detail.

Objectives of the Design Refresh

Based on the key insights gathered, the design refresh had three main objectives:

1. Tighten the feedback loop between actions and outcomes

To improve the feedback loop, the team looked into optimizing the amount of actions a user has to perform on the app, before they can successfully get to their desired outcome (such as swapping of tokens or creating a vault).

Apart from reassessing all user journeys, the team also had to evaluate which information should be displayed during user interaction.

2. Amplify learnability and intuitiveness of the app

To help users take charge of their decision-making process, the team needed to break down the steps and restructure the information architecture of every screen.

3. Serve as the anchor for all existing and future designs

Last but not least, the design refresh was intended to develop a common design language that would be applicable across all products. Armed with this common design language, the team would be better able to boost user intuitiveness across the entire ecosystem. In turn, the team would be well poised to consistently achieve success in future product developments.

Feature Release Strategy

The strategy taken for this feature release was simple yet effective. In essence, the release of core features was staggered and gradually rolled out in multiple waves. The team also eased into the overall process by deploying features that were:

1. Not widely employed by our users
2. Independent of other features

This approach achieved two objectives:

1. Issues and bugs can be quickly identified and isolated
2. Reduced instances of users being alarmed by abrupt design overhauls

Principal Considerations

In the design and implementation process of the DeFiChain Light Wallet, two principal considerations informed the team’s approach:

1. Be community-focused
   The community is at the heart of all that we do, and this design refresh was no exception. That is why the team has actively weaved community feedback into the final product.
2. Ruthless prioritization
   The team operates on a strict timeline, making it crucial to be crystal clear on the key components that constitute a Minimum Lovable Product (MLP).

Methodology for Tripartite Collaboration

From design to product to engineering, the work comprises of many moving parts. It is therefore of the utmost importance for the design, product and engineering teams to maintain seamless communication with each other. With this in mind, the process flow (image above) was adopted for every sprint, which ensured that:

1. Information conveyed to each team on the deliverables is clear
2. Team members understand their task(s) well
3. There are clear feedback loops to ensure that the UI/UX is optimized

This process flow also allowed the team to run a tight ship, which was imperative to meeting the timeline of every short sprint cycle.

The Journey in Visuals

Here are some snapshots from the newly redesigned DeFiChain Light Wallet 2.0.

Before:

After :

As the above timeline demonstrates, the DeFiChain Wallet process — from conceptualization to implementation — has been an arduous one. In all, the BR team toiled for nine months to complete the redesign of the Light Wallet.

The efforts of the BR team has paid off, as the community embraced the refreshed design of the DeFiChain Light Wallet. Heartened by this success, Birthday Research will continue to update the wallet to ensure that it delivers nothing but the best experience to the community.

About Birthday Research

Birthday Research is the blockchain R&D arm of Cake DeFi that develops best-in-class blockchain innovations, with the mission of enabling the next bound of Web3 through open-source blockchain research and development.

Birthday Research’s work spans cryptographic research, deep blockchain consensus development, and smart contracts development — with a laser-sharp focus on pushing the industry frontier while tackling the most demanding DeFi challenges of today.