Case Study
Making crypto investments feel simple and trustworthy
Utilising banking patterns to design a familiar experience
Summary
🏦 Crypto speculation → trustworthy financial planning
💡 Banking patterns that make Bitcoin feel safe
🎯 52% increase in daily users through trust-building design
🔒 Bridging the gap between crypto innovation and financial security
💡 Banking patterns that make Bitcoin feel safe
🎯 52% increase in daily users through trust-building design
🔒 Bridging the gap between crypto innovation and financial security
Overview
Bitstocks was the UK's first Bitcoin advisory service, established in 2014. Following years of crypto market volatility and public skepticism, we needed to transform how people perceived cryptocurrency investing.
I designed an experience that made crypto complexities feel intuitive while building the trust necessary for users to make their first investment. The app's launch resulted in a 52% increase in daily active users, 23% increase in KYC completion rates, and 66% decrease in time to first use.
I designed an experience that made crypto complexities feel intuitive while building the trust necessary for users to make their first investment. The app's launch resulted in a 52% increase in daily active users, 23% increase in KYC completion rates, and 66% decrease in time to first use.
Highlights
Beautifully simple
No-frills investing
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Beautifully
durable
durable
aerospace-grade
aluminum
aluminum
Beautifully
durable
durable
aerospace-grade
aluminum
aluminum
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Pots for fiat and crypto
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3 Fantastic Colors
Blue
Pink
Black
Featured screens
An end-to-end mobile experience that transformed crypto complexity into banking-familiar patterns, focusing on trust-building over feature showcasing.
CONTEXT
The crypto trust crisis
Hacks, lost wallets, and scams.
Bitcoin had crashed from $20,000 to $3,200. Stories of exchange hacks, lost wallets, and ICO scams dominated headlines. Most people viewed crypto as digital gambling, not legitimate investing.
THE PROBLEM
How do you design for trust in a crypto winter?
A cascade of user anxieties
"I don't understand what's happening to my money"
- Complex wallet addresses and transaction IDs
- Unclear fee structures and processing times
- No familiar reference points
- Complex wallet addresses and transaction IDs
- Unclear fee structures and processing times
- No familiar reference points
"I don't want to be scammed"
- Lack of human-centred design and clarity
- Unclear amount of control of your own account
- Lack of human-centred design and clarity
- Unclear amount of control of your own account
"Does this count as gambling?"
- Volatile price movements without being alerted
- Lack of educational resources at decision points
- Volatile price movements without being alerted
- Lack of educational resources at decision points
THE CHALLENGE
With regulation catching up to crypto, how can design preserve its innovative spirit while fostering user trust and compliance?
Understanding the trust gap.
A huge confidence cliff
Through interviews with 24 potential users (mix of crypto-curious and crypto-experienced), I discovered a pattern: users were willing to learn about crypto, but unwilling to act on that knowledge. The high profile scams and fraud had deepened this fear.
Analysing what already exists
Feature-rich crypto apps but initimidating to new users
Banking apps that don't have crypto as their main focus
THE OPPORTUNITY
To design a product that bridges the experience of crypto innovation and investment with intuitive banking trust signals.
Jobs-to-be-done framework
PRODUCT DESIGN
Making complexity feel simple.
The purchase flow
The core purchase experience was designed to feel like a bank transfer. Users could see there connected cards and even name them for true clarity and control
Price alerts
Users could set up there own price alerts - which had multple benefits of increasing daily active users and helping users feel in control of their account and assets.
Asset Management
Instead of trading references, we doubled down on 'assets' and 'balances', somewhat similar to banks, rather than 'portfolios' and 'profit/loss', similar to trading platforms.
KEY INSIGHT
A lot of users forget crypto can be spent, not just held.
Customer support, when they need it.
Bitstocks had zero security breaches but embedding trust and guardrails in places you would expect to see it in your online bank, helped foster trust with our community of users.
Considering restraints and edge cases
Don’t isolate a legacy web app users.
These users often possess valuable insights and institutional knowledge that can guide the development process. Instead of imposing abrupt changes, we should prioritise a gradual migration strategy to continue and build upon our trustworthy relationship.
Cross-collaborating for the best results
Insights from different perspectives
By fostering an environment of open communication and cooperation among product design, engineering, security, and customer support teams, we were able to leverage the unique expertise of each department. Regular brainstorming sessions and workshops encouraged the sharing of ideas and perspectives, ensuring that all angles of user experience were considered.
This cross-functional collaboration not only facilitated innovative problem-solving but also aligned everyone around a common goal: enhancing user trust and engagement in our platform. The synergy created through this teamwork ultimately led to more comprehensive solutions, resulting in a product that truly meets the needs of our users.
This cross-functional collaboration not only facilitated innovative problem-solving but also aligned everyone around a common goal: enhancing user trust and engagement in our platform. The synergy created through this teamwork ultimately led to more comprehensive solutions, resulting in a product that truly meets the needs of our users.
MORE FEATURES
Designing trustworthy and intuitive experiences
Simiplified Security
Unified login experience with multiple authentication options.
Transparency
Clear transaction histories with instant feedback on user activity.
Reassuring Alerts
Real-time notifications keep users in control of their money.
Gift control & integrations
Empower users with more control and visibility, and embed subtle but powerful integrations.
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