A UX CASE STUDY FOR A DECENTRALIZED CRYPTO WALLET APPLICATION — NULO WALLET

Allen Yakndara

Published in

Coinmonks

6 min readApr 29, 2022

Role: User Researcher, UI Designer, UX Writer

Time frame: 5 weeks

INTRODUCTION

With the world fast embracing the concept of blockchain technology and the use of cryptocurrency, the need for Decentralized Exchange(DEX) wallets has become very necessary. However, most wallets have a confusing user experience and that led me to designing this. The main aim of this design is to make DEX wallets easier to use and to improve the user experience of DEX wallets, so the average user who has no idea of cryptocurrency is also carried along. The app is also meant to provide a better and clearer onboarding experience for first-time users.

THE UX DESIGN PROCESS

I applied design thinking to solve the problem throughout the process in 5 phases;

Empathize — Empathize with users. This phase allowed me to put myself in the user’s thoughts in order to realize their pain points and needs. In order to achieve this, I interviewed two types of users( Professional crypto traders and Regular wallet users). I asked about their experience with DEX wallets and the issues they face while using them. This led me to discover that;

a. DEX wallets are not usually user-friendly and therefore tend to be very intimidating to newbies trying to use the app.

b. Users complained of having to use several crypto apps for certain purposes.

c. Users wished they had a single app that allows them to manage their crypto assets easily in their day-to-day day trading activities instead of having to switch between multiple apps.

2. Define — With the information gathered in the empathize phase, I set my goals for this wallet; which is to design a simple, easy-to-use multipurpose wallet app that aids crypto traders exchange, send, receive or buy crypto assets. In this phase too, I defined who I’m solving the problems for — Newbies, as most DEX platforms do not cater for the needs of people who are new to the concept of cryptocurrency and blockchain as a whole.

3. Ideate — This phase required a lot of thinking and brainstorming in order to come up with solutions to the problem. After several brainstorming sessions, I came up with several ideas.

a. I created several onboarding screens to ease newbies into the app and let users know what services the application offers.

b. I provided the option that lets users have multiple wallets so they can store multiple coins and digital assets in this single app thereby eliminating the need to switch between two or more apps.

c. I created market charts and graphs based on market analysis to help traders make well-informed decisions without having to switch between several crypto apps.

d. I also created a built-in browser dApp.

4. Prototype —

This phase involved me coming up with actual design solutions to the problems identified earlier. These solutions were implemented by designing high-fidelity prototypes with the following goals in mind;

a. Designing informative and writing clear and concise copy on the onboarding screen so newbies who are new to the crypto industry and returning users have a good idea of what the DEX wallet has to offer them.

b. Create an easier and less stressful way for users to store multiple coins and digital assets, and also have a built-in browser dApp thereby driving conversion with these features.

c. Reducing chances of traders running into a loss by creating market charts and graphs which will help traders make informed decisions before jumping into trades.

Typography and Colors

I created a design system that consisted of the elements I was going to use to build the hi-fidelity prototypes.

Onboarding Screens

Onboarding screens are screens that take users through the core features of the application and provide information about the basics of crypto for newbies — This solves the problem of newbies feeling lost when using a crypto wallet for the first time.

Wallet Creation & Seed Phrase Screen

New Users are taken through a series of steps to create a new wallet, which includes the generation of a seed phrase or an option to import an existing wallet for returning users. Users are made to key in their seed phrase. This aims to ensure that they have written it down somewhere safe. Users are also made to understand that if they expose or lose their seed phrase, they can lose all their assets.

A minimalistic and aesthetically pleasing Home Screen

Send Coin, Receive Coin, and Swap Coin Screens

Market Chart and Graphs

I designed market charts and graphs to help traders make well-informed decisions based on their market analysis without having to switch between several crypto apps.

A built-in dApp Browser

I designed an inbuilt Web3 browsers which allows users to access the decentralized web and dApps, integrate cryptocurrency and provide faster browsing, while focusing on user privacy.

Settings Screen

MORE MOCKUPS

User Testing

The next step was to carry out a test of the prototype with users to identify any confusion with navigation, ease of usability and probably make more iterations to the existing product.

During this phase, 80% of users interviewed agreed that the product was easy to navigate, and overall had a good User Experience for newbies totally new to the crypto industry.

Conclusion

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency has so many use cases, and in order for people to embrace this new technology, it is essential for products to have good UX. I learnt a whole lot and did a whole lot of research during the phase of this project and my mind was opened to the possibilities of blockchain. I really loved this process, as I tried to bridge the gap between good design and blockchain.

Thanks for reading through my case study.

If you would love to work with me or love custom designs, reach out to me on allenyakndara@gmail.com

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A UX CASE STUDY FOR A DECENTRALIZED CRYPTO WALLET APPLICATION — NULO WALLET

INTRODUCTION

THE UX DESIGN PROCESS

Typography and Colors

Wallet Creation & Seed Phrase Screen

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Written by Allen Yakndara