Stages
Overview
Research Goals
Methodology
Recruitment
User Interviews
Analysis & Synthesis
Outputs & Deliverables
Impact & Next Steps
Concluding Thoughts

Team
UX Design Co-Lead, UX Researcher - Leah Heifetz
Team of 20+ in product, research, dev, content, design

Tools
Notion
Figma + Figjam
Zoom
Google Forms
Useberry
Excel

Duration
8 weeks

Skills
Project Management
Agile Methods
Generative Research
User Interviews & Surveys
Competitor Benchmarking
Data Synthesis
Analytical Thinking
Storytelling & Presentation
Prototyping + Wireframing

Project Summary

Crypto and blockchain technology are intimidating and difficult to understand for new users. Tech Fleet Community DAO is on a mission to take the guesswork out of crypto currency and lift the veil on cross-chain functionalities so that the technology is accessible to all.

My Role & Team Collaboration

I was a Design Co-Lead and managed 3 designers in Scrum in one-week sprints. We implemented design iterations based on insights from phase 1 research, did a comprehensive competitive analysis, and conducted two rounds of usability testing. 

We were part of a larger cross-functional team of 20+ people in product, research, content, and development. The pace for this project was fast and very hands-on:

• 2 design meetings a week

• leads meeting

• retro, sprint planning, and demo

• daily whole-team standups and cross-team meetings for requirements gathering, user stories and dev handoff

What we think we know

• crypto & blockchain are very difficult for new users

• people want to get into the technology

• people are intimidated by its complexity

We want to learn…

…how new and experienced crypto users interact with the Kadet Wallet to improve its usability and likelihood of adoption.

1. Discover crypto users current processes/decision-making about using crypto wallets and buying/ trading NFTs

2. Understand current pain points, frustrations, and barriers for accessing crypto and NFTs and how to improve the process

3. Uncover competitor tools and users’ experience with those tools. Prioritize areas of opportunity to improve tools, especially for new-to-crypto users

4. Understand what being in crypto means to people and why it is important

Research, democratized

Kadet Wallet had a dedicated research team that I so desperately wanted to be a part of:) They were swamped with user interviews so they tasked the Design team with research. We used a few methods for different research initiatives:

Moderated usability testing

We tested new iterations from phase 1 and talked to users to get feedback on designs. It worked out that the design team was tasked with the first round of moderated usability testing since we knew the product well and knew the areas of design that we wanted to gain insights on. We tested 7 users in 30 minute sessions.

Competitor benchmarking

Looking at six other NFT platforms helped us understand the NFT playing field - we learned what others are doing, seeing what customers enjoy, finding opportunities to improve current products out there.

Unmoderated usability test

Myself and a teammate continued usability testing after the project was complete. We did all this design work and wanted to validate it for the team coming in, but really for ourselves! Our goal was to see if what we thought would work actually did, and if the new changes we made resonated with users and made their experience with crypto and NFTs easier. We tested 9 users over Useberry to see how they navigated through the product.

We recruited participants interested in or already using crypto from our personal networks on LinkedIn and Slack. Participants answered demographic information prior to testing to know who we were speaking with and their experience with crypto. This would help us better understand their results and tendencies in the tasks.

We asked demographic questions, some being: 

• I would describe myself as: 

• A new user to crypto wallets and blockchain

• A crypto wallet user, but new to the Kadena blockchain

• A crypto wallet user, who is familiar with the Kadena blockchain

• amount of time they've been using crypto

• what coins they are familiar with

In our unmoderated session we utilized Useberry to make the testing as seamless as possible. We input background questions, tasks and scenarios, and uploaded the prototype for interaction.

Tasks:

1. Imagine you’ve installed the Kadet Wallet browser extension for the first time. When you’re ready, go ahead and set up your account.

2. On this wallet, you have 3 accounts set up. You made some money in your account called “Investment.”

   Transfer 500 Babena from your “investment” account, to your other account called “Rainy Day.”

3. You want to send a gif NFT from your Investment account. Locate and send the gif NFT "Party Duck" from the Kadena Bulls Collection.

Listening to crypto users

For moderated and unmoderated testing, we wanted to:

• understand the participants background and experience with crypto

• have participants complete a series of tasks with the prototype

• provide a platform for open-ended responses

We measured success through:

• observations

• path success

• time on task

• easiness rating

Determining feasibility by importance & difficulty

We watched replay of moderated tests and took notes per screen of pain points, likes/dislikes, suggested features, etc. We then created a rainbow sheet to categorize issues by priority, looking at what is has been an issue for most users, and what will be the easiest to fix.

What is actionable and will provide the biggest impact?

Analysis as interdisciplinary team effort

We presented findings to the whole team and facilitated an analysis/ brainstorming session on how findings can impact our product.

We highlighted competitors:

• Unique Value Proposition

• Company advantages/ disadvantages

• Key takeaways

We left with:

• Areas of prioritization for product iterations

• Identified unique selling points of Kadet

Don’t leave data on the table

While most methods were qualitative, we utilized heatmaps and click-tracking footage as supportive data. We wanted to cross-check what users were saying with what they were doing and see the difference in behavior between types of users.

We created a compare-contrast chart to show the different experiences in the app between new users and experienced users based on their knowledge and familiarity with crypto.

We also created a usability test scorecard to highlight clicks per task, time on task, and satisfaction scale. We did this to gain quantitative data on qualitative methods and cross-check what our users said.

Defining our target audience through insights

Noting observations and offering recommendations

We then made a general findings board, as well as a board with screenshots that highlighted specific pain points and recommendations.

Summarize and handoff

From here, I created a written report for the stakeholder team: CEO, the head of product, the phase 2 team, and the incoming phase 3 team. It outlined our process, insights, and recommended next steps for the design, research, and content teams, as well as pinpointing areas of change to impact business KPIs.

Biggest Impact

Through our competitive analysis of NFT wallets, we made a big discovery - users need to leave the NFT wallet and navigate to another platform in order to trade and buy NFTs. So we asked, "Why should users need to leave their wallet to trade NFTs?”

Kadet Wallet, a first of its kind, will allow users to conduct in-wallet NFT buying and trading and will set Kadet apart as a forerunner in the NFT world.

What else did we learn?

• Onboarding. Both new and experienced users benefit from the onboarding help provided in the Kadet wallet web extension.

• Secret Recovery Phase. Both new and experienced users still need a better understanding of the importance of storing their Secret Recovery Phrase. Further research may be needed to understand how competitors handle this.

• Gas stations. Users are still confused about paying/ not paying for gas on the Kadena blockchain.

• Multichain and any chain summary. Users were confused about what chains are and what to do with them during a transaction.

What’s next?

• Phase 3 design iterations based on our research findings and insights

• Realign with Stakeholders to confirm goal post and uncover other areas of exploration within the product space

• Discovery research of other complex crypto products to learn how they target all users - experienced, new, etc.

• Conduct preference testing on the Kadet Wallet landing page as well as the Kadet logo

• Perform usability testing on DEX aggregator and Testnet after wireframes and flows are solidified