Skane Wallet
My Role
UX UI | User Research | Testing | Branding
Timeline & Status
2024, 3 months
Overview
The Skane Wallet project is my Master Thesis that I developed while studying Interaction Design in Sweden. For more information about the research and specific parts of the project, feel free to download the presentation.
Start
Skane Wallet is designed to provide users with enhanced security features while simplifying and making the use of technically demanding web 3.0 wallets more transparent.
The beginning of the project was driven by a research focus on the rapidly evolving and technologically advanced Web 3.0 space. This space, although promising, is rife with scam projects, schemes, and bad actors, creating a risky environment for newcomers. My motivation was to create a safer and more user-friendly onboarding experience for new users entering the world of Web 3.0 and crypto assets.
My primary research question was: **How can Interaction Design tackle the current issues encountered by users during the onboarding process to Web 3.0 and crypto assets?** This question guided our exploration and informed our design decisions, ensuring that we addressed the most pressing challenges faced by users in this space.
Design Process
To address the challenges in the Web 3.0 space, I chose to use the Double Diamond design process, which is both easy to follow and effective. The process is divided into four key phases: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver.
Discover: In this initial phase, I conducted a comprehensive literature review to understand the current state of the field. Then, I held interviews with three experts from the industry to gain deeper insights. Additionally, I facilitated a workshop with beginner or occasional users to understand their pain points and experiences.
Define: During this phase, I analyzed traditional banking applications and compared them with the crypto exchange Binance. This analysis helped identify gaps and opportunities in the current onboarding processes, providing a clearer direction for our design solutions.
Develop: In the develop phase, I engaged in ideation and sketching sessions to brainstorm potential solutions. After this, I developed the first digital prototype, which was subjected to user testing. Feedback from these tests was crucial in refining and improving the prototype.
Deliver: In the final phase, I created a high-fidelity prototype that incorporated relevant feedback received from user testing. This prototype represents the proposed new Web 3.0 wallet, designed to offer a secure and user-friendly onboarding and usability experience.
User Research - Interviews and Workshop
I uncovered numerous insights, which were further analyzed to identify the main outcomes:
Situational Normality Theory: This theory suggests that new innovations or products should be designed based on familiar situations for users. Situational normality, characterized by the perception of a situation as normal or customary, can be enhanced by mirroring familiar online banking or payment systems.
Categorization of Users: Users can be categorized into rookies, hodlers, and cypherpunks, each with distinct motivations, risk perceptions, and fears in the crypto space. Rookies and hodlers are primarily motivated by financial investment and technical curiosity, while cypherpunks are driven by monetary revolution, decentralization, and freedom.
Behavioral Pattern of Beginner Users: I identified a common behavioral pattern among beginner users. They typically buy crypto, transfer it to their wallet (software or hardware), check their balance, and repeat this process monthly. This approach aligns with a Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) strategy and reflects a long-term holding mindset.
Transaction Sending Process: The transaction sending process poses a significant problem for new users. They struggle with checking addresses and often need to multitask, leading to fears of address poisoning attacks. This highlights the need for a more intuitive and secure transaction process.
Analysis and Comparison
The transaction sending process emerged as the most significant pain point for beginner users, prompting a detailed comparison between this process in the crypto space and traditional banking. Given the Situational Normality Theory, I analyzed current traditional banking applications, including Revolut, Swedish Swish, and Slovak Tatra Bank. Then, I compared their transaction sending processes with the one of crypto exchange Binance.
Main Takeaways:
Different User Flows: Traditional banking applications and crypto exchanges have distinct user flows. Traditional banks generally offer more intuitive and straightforward processes, while crypto exchanges often require additional steps and verifications.
Transaction History Preview: Traditional banking apps typically provide a clear and easily accessible transaction history, enhancing user confidence and ease of use. This feature is often less prominent or more complex in crypto exchanges.
Remembered and Saved Accounts: Traditional banking apps allow users to save and remember account details, streamlining future transactions. In contrast, crypto exchanges usually require manual entry of wallet addresses for each transaction, increasing the risk of errors.
Transaction Sending Process Structure: In traditional banking, sending funds is usually a seamless process within a single application. However, on crypto exchanges like Binance, users often need to check their wallet addresses by multitasking between two applications, which is problematic and can lead to confusion and mistakes.
By identifying these differences, the aim is to integrate familiar and user-friendly features from traditional banking into the design of the Skane Wallet, making the onboarding and transaction processes more intuitive and secure for beginner users.
Ideation/ Sketching/ Prototyping/ Testing
In the develop phase, I ideated possible solutions to address the current problems and pain points faced by beginner users. I began by sketching these ideas on paper and creating a low-fidelity wireframe structure. This initial framework helped visualize the core concepts and user flows.
Next, I developed the first digital prototype, incorporating the basic design elements and functionalities. This prototype was tested with participants from the previous workshop. The testing phase provided valuable insights, with participants offering positive feedback and suggesting several improvements. These suggestions were crucial for refining the design and were implemented in the final high-fidelity prototype.
Final Design
The final design of Skane Wallet incorporates every step taken during the design process, culminating in a secure and user-friendly solution for Web 3.0 transactions. Enhanced security measures were integrated for sending transactions to and from users' wallets, addressing key pain points identified earlier. By applying the Situational Normality Theory, Skane Wallet also aims to make Web 3.0 usage more social and intuitive, improving both the interface and overall user experience.
If you want to try it, feel free to scan the QR code or click on the button below. You can follow these tasks:
- Create a new wallet and experience the onboarding process yourself.
- Send BTC to your wallet.
- Send BTC to a new recipient.
- Send ETH to your friend Thomas.
