KoinStreet

Project manager, scrum master and lead user research and testing in a group with 4 UX designers to create a mobile app that engages users of cryptocurrency and blockchain through social interactions while providing a platform for learning through copy-trade. Used all UX methodologies including research and user testing with mulitple design iterations.

Mid/High fidelity mobile app designed in Sketch. Utilized Marvel for click-ability.

This Case Study has been published on Medium: UX Planet.

The Client

A young start up company located in the Washington D.C. area, KoinStreet aims to create a platform that engages consumers of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology with real-time learning through “copy trade”, reward based social engagement and real-time industry news from leading social media platforms.

Design Objective

Our focus was to design an app centered around social engagement for learnability and reward based social contributions. We were also asked to create a simple, instinctive, and memorable experience. Allow users to easily understand the product, buy into the product and synthesize insights based on their company.

  • Consider how users find and learn about the product, navigate the site and what encourages them to download or sign up, helping them to find information and understand the services provided.

  • Assessing mental models or reasons for use and how that influences what they’re looking for

  • Evaluating and building out a UI/visual brand that helps focus on business insights and how to use the product

  • Provide recommendations for elevating the customer experience

Scope & Role

Length of Project: Two and a Half Weeks in a 4 person team

My Role: Lead User Research & UX Design

Contributions: User Interviews, User testing, Competitive Analysis, Affinity Mapping, Card Sorting, User Journeys, Personas. Contributed equally to all aspects of the project

Statistics

  • 39 User Interviews & Survey Responses

    (phone and in person / two rounds)

  • 5 Rounds of usability testing the

    current app

  • 6 Rounds of usability testing the

    redesigned app

  • 3 Rounds of card sorting

  • 11 competitors researched

    competitive analysis

  • 2 User Personas

  • 2 User Journey Map

Tools

  • Paper & Pencil

  • Sketch

  • Marvel

  • Excel

UX Methodologies & Deliverables

  • Secondary Research

  • Competitive Analysis

  • Wireframes

  • Mid/High Fidelity Sketch App Prototype

  • Usability Testing

  • Iterations

  • User Personas

  • User Journey Map

  • Style Guide

  • Screener Survey’s

  • User Interviews

  • Affinity Mapping

  • Card sorting

  • User Testing

  • Task Analysis

  • Site Map

Demystifying Cryptocurrency Through Social Engagement & Copy-Trade

Designing for learnability through social engagement. We began by gaining an understanding of KoinStreet’s capabilities and goals.

“KoinStreet is a social trading platform connecting experienced crypto-traders to passive investors, who are provided with communities, news, and incentives to engage with. KoinStreet enables those who want to have a stake in the cryptocurrency market to easily be able to copy the trading strategies of top traders in the industry and have their portfolios mimic the trader’s in real time. As the trader makes a trade, any user that is copying them will also have the trade automatically mirrored. KoinStreet is able to facilitate the copy trading functionality through smart contracts built on Ethereum, powered by a proprietary copy-trading engine.” - (KoinStreet)

In less than 3 hours of receiving the project brief, a teammate and I attended a Cryptocurrency & Blockchain MeetUP in Washington D.C.

As novice to the subject at hand, we were able to gain in-depth insights from experienced individual who are professionals in the field and also enthusiasts. Our research began immediately. To start, we dividing the project into 4 stages:

User Research

We interviewed 39 knowledgeable individuals that range from cryptocurrency business owners, casual consumers, experts, leaders in the community and novice individuals interested in learning more. We conducted two rounds of in person, phone and survey based interviews. The first round of interviews was to get a better understanding of current competitors. We also wanted to learn what incentivizes individuals to join a cryptocurrency platform. The second round of interviews was to expand our knowledge on social engagement platforms and learn about user behavior. Our questions were intended to provide us with specific knowledge on what users of crypto apps are engaging with and why. We also wanted to learn of crypto apps that implement social engagement if any in order to gauge what potential competitors are doing successfully.

1st round of interview questions:

  • What cryptocurrency do you trade? (if any)

  • What are the best cryptocurrency wallets or exchanges apps?

  • How easy are they to use/learn? Which is your favorite? Why?

  • What do you usually use the app for?

  • How often do you check it?

  • What would motivate you to use a new cryptocurrency app?

  • What are your resources for keeping up with cryptocurrency?

  • Who are the cryptocurrency influencers we should know about?

  • What is your comfort level with cryptocurrency?

2nd round of interview questions:

  • How did you hear about cryptocurrency and what got you involved?

  • What platforms do you use to interact with other cryptocurrency users online?

  • What kind of content do you engage with? (what are people/you sharing)

  • Have you ever been a part of any cryptocurrency groups online or in person?

  • Are there any cryptocurrency apps that utilize a social network, that you are aware of?

  • What are your favorite features of the social apps you use (Snapchat or Instagram’s 24 hr expiring stories, Twitter’s retweet feature, etc)

  • Would you prefer your content to be shown in chronological order or be prioritized by up-votes?

  • What incentivizes you to share content or comment on a post?

Our user interviews revealed many insights:

Apps Used:

Awareness

What we learned was that it is relatively uncommon for cryptocurrency apps to utilize much social engagement if any. Many of our users had no knowledge of existing crypto apps on the market that offer any form of socialization. In a few instances, a small number of individuals who knew of such apps didn’t express interested in using them due to a lack of clarity or ease of use with those apps. Users stated that these apps in particular appeared to be in need of further development. Some of the apps mentioned by our users that incorporate social aspects like live feeds from twitter, did not utilize “copy trade” and there is what separates KoinStreet from the rest.

With existing cryptocurrency apps on the market not utilizing social engagement, we must determine if this is a feature that users want. Is this aspect of KoinStreet viable? Here’s what we learned from our interviews:

What we now know is that all of the people we talk to use some form of social media to get real time updates and news regarding cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. All our users stay updated with crypto currency market trends, tips, tricks, learning tools and recommendations from experts via twitter or other forms of social media.

Affinity Mapping

Understanding all our collected research from our interviews, we began affinity mapping to help us organize the data into clear categories. We noticed 4 clear categories:

  • What currencies our users are holding

  • What were the preferred apps/platforms

  • Why they were using these apps/platforms

  • How often are they using these apps/platforms

Moving on to further understand our users needs, we conducted 3 rounds of open ended card sorting. This method helped us develop the information architecture when design the layout of our app. We were better able to understand how to organize our main navigation structure for concise user flow and develop a clear and intuitive menu that engages users and provides quick and familiar in app learnability.

Card Sorting

Competitive Analysis

Our in-depth competitive analysis looked at 11 leading crypto apps currently on the market. Our findings once again revealed that none of the existing apps utilize a robust social engagement aspect. Furthermore we found that Etoro was by far the closest match to KoinStreet in features. We noticed an almost 90% match in existing features. We found two opportunities to separate KoinStreet from Etoro: “copy trade” & “ranked influencers”. We made sure to prioritize these two particular features when designing for KoinStreet. In addition, non of the other apps matched social engagement as well as KoinStreet aims to.

User Testing The Existing KoinStreet App

With all our research synthesized, we were now ready to start testing with users. We started with testing the existing app to gain insights on what’s is or isn’t working. In total, we conducted 5 rounds of testing in this phase.

Some user pain points and confusion we discovered were a lack of understand the functionality of 3 primary icons used. We also discovered that users had a difficult time accomplishing the task copy trading within the app. Navigation proved to be lacking in an intuitive flow.

Some specific questions we asked were:

  • Identify what you believe each bottom navigation icon means without clicking on them.

  • On the discover page, are there any options that you think are missing? Elements that are not in the right place or order?

  • Try your best to copy-trade from the current user’s profile.

We took our user testing feedback and developed a plan to adjust features and prioritize functionality to build users retention through social engagement while developing a platform for KoinStreet that begins with an intuitive global navagation.

User testing points we addressed when redesigning KoinStreet’s app:

  • Prioritize social engagement as the key element that makes KoinStreet stand out.

  • Develop a more intuitive global navigation

  • Eliminate the “Kash” currency until KoinStreet is backed by an ICO.

  • Provide transparency by embedding sponsored content within the home feed to familiarize users with it’s existence and develop further trust.

  • Separate financial functionalities from the social aspect of the app.

  • Simplify content for easier usability. Keep core features to avoid user fatigue.

SWOT Analysis

Here we took the opportunity to organize our data from the interviews, competitive analysis, and user testing of the current KoinStreet app to develop a SWOT analysis and help us find opportunities and threats KoinStreet faces.

Problem & Solution

Finally ready to develop our solution with a more concrete understanding of what the problems were.

User Personas & User Journey Maps

Now ready to design with these goals in mind, we wanted to further empathize who KoinStreets potential users are. We developed two user personas. Frank the experienced cryptocurrency trader and Priya the novice investor. We took a closer look at who they are and what their pain points, successes and what their overall journey within the KoinStreet app may be.

FRANK IS THE “EXPERIENCED TRADER”. HE PERSONA IS DIRECTLY INSPIRED BY USER INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS.

PRIYA IS A NOVICE INVESTOR. HER PERSONA IS DIRECTLY INSPIRED BY USER INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS.

Sitemap, Wireframes, & Style Guide

Ready to build the app, we created a sitemap and wireframes to develop information architecture. This process was directly pulled for the card sorting exercise. A style guide was then created to keep visual design consistency.

User Testing of Redesigned KoinStreet App

In total, we conducted 6 rounds of user testing of the redesigned app.

We presented users with the following questions and tasks:

  • You’re signed in and want to see your own metrics, try and find them.

  • Find top traders to follow.

  • Where do you think you can find the content you’ve posted in the app?

Takeaways From User Testing

Searching for people on the discover page and markets page: 
(turn “trades” into “traders”)

  • Need a wallet section for each “crypto” page

  • Take out market value icons: (only 1 price needs to be displayed)

Redesigned Final Prototype of The KoinStreet App

Take a look at the KoinStreet app demo!

Final Thoughts & Recommendations for KoinStreet

  • Establish trust: Aim to get “Kash” as a native currency backed by an ICO prior to releasing and determine if “Kash” as a native currency is necessary

  • Onboarding: Develop an onboarding process for learanibility to address cryptocurrency, copy trade and social engagement

  • Motivate app adoption: Consider providing incentives for signing up

  • Consistency: Maintain UI consistency across KoinStreet website and app

  • Continue research: Further research gamification, continue user research, user testing, iterating & developing designs to keep up with industry

Takeaways From User Testing

Take the KoinStreet app for a spin!