Velocity Markets
Velocity is a digital asset technology company based in NYC. I worked with Velocity and Type/Code to design a full-fledged cryptocurrency exchange.
The project is still in development, head over to their marketing site to get a preview.
My Deliverables
Stakeholder Interviews
Precedent Research
Interaction Design
Wireframing
Handoff to UI Designers
Timeline
14 weeks
Problem
Cryptocurrency exchange platforms are complex by nature. Velocity approached us to design a platform that will be friendly to users who are less familiar with cryptocurrency technology while still delivering an experience that wouldn’t turn away users who wanted access to some complex trading functionality. The main challenge was designing a system that appealed to this user group while providing an experience that was accessible to people who were less experienced with cryptocurrency exchange technology.
Project Summary
The timeline was very tight considering the size and complexity of the project. We went from nothing to a complete concept within a dozen weeks. UX design responsibilities were split by feature between myself and another UX designer. We worked closely with a team of UI designers to build a UI system while we were iterating on wireframes.
Discovery
Myself and everyone on the team (including UI designers, creative directors, and a strategist) had a series of discovery sessions with key stakeholders. From research that velocity provided, we learned about our target user groups, Velocity’s goals for the project, and other competitors in the space that we should study.
High Level Project Objectives
Our main objective was to design a simple cryptocurrency exchange for users who had anywhere from no familiarity to some familiarity with cryptocurrency exchanges.
Most cryptocurrency exchanges at the time did not have usable representations of their product for mobile viewport sizes. We were directed to take a mobile-first design strategy to capitalize on this opportunity.
User Groups
For online trading specific to cryptocurrency exchanges, we classified users into three groups based on their familiarity with cryptocurrency exchanges: Beginner, Novice, and pro traders (who we decided to not target). We also identified a fourth user group with the help of the client that I’m labeling as Privacy-Focused traders. Velocity had developed technology targeting this user group that they wanted to include in the final product.
Beginner
Little to no experience trading crypto assets.
Risk averse - they’re unfamiliar with the technology and want to avoid making a mistake and losing lots of money.
Might not be familiar with trading in any context, may need heavy-handed assistance
Novice
Some trading experience with crypto assets.
Need some complex trading features (complex order types, etc.)
Privacy-Focused
Some trading experience with crypto assets.
Want to use trading functionality to exchange cryptocurrencies between private wallets.
All Users
Need assurance that assets are secure on the platform.
Need transparency around any fees.
Competitive Analysis
I began looking at cryptocurrency exchanges and related crypto products to refresh my knowledge of the space and to build an understanding of how competitors had designed features for our identified user needs. I compiled a document analyzing these points and shared it with my team. We then created a presentation to discuss our findings with the client, I’ve included the notes from this presentation below.
Sitemap
After discussing precedents, stakeholders and the project lead settled on a feature set. I then collaborated with other members on my team to create a sitemap showing the high level structure of the application. This is a finalized version of the sitemap.
Sketching
I created a series of rough sketches for each of the main application sections to start identifying how functionality was going to be presented to the user. Below, I’ve included the final versions I created before moving to digital wireframing in Sketch.
Wireframing
I started by focusing on asset pages and the homepage and then moved on to the kyc process, cryptocurrency transfers, trading flows between internally managed wallets, and trading flows between users’ private wallets. After a few rounds, I created wireframes for a resources (FAQ and news) section. I created user flows for many of these sections, but unfortunately I’ve lost the documents.
I collaborated with another designer who took ownership of the user’s asset portfolio, account settings, and transaction history which I have left out of the .pdfs below. Additionally, some of the work on trade flows were split between myself, another UX Designer, and a design manager.
The bulk of this work was completed in 3 sprints (6 weeks). The following 6 weeks were comprised of implementing small UX updates, assisting the UI team, and writing wireframe annotations.
Site Sections
UI Handoff
UI design began about 6 weeks into the wireframing process. At this point, most major functionality had been designed and approved by the client. Because of our limited project timeframe, The UX and UI teams met and compiled a list of screens which contained every unique UI element. I then worked closely with UI designers answering questions that came up around various pieces of functionality.
Product Launch
The platform has been in a closed alpha since late 2019. I’ve linked to a marketing site that shows the status of the project.
Learnings
The timeline for this project was crazy short considering the complexity of this type of application. My biggest takeaway from this project was the value of teamwork and collaboration.
Ask for help when needed. Design suffers when rushed.
The first round of designs for this project was demanding. I loved the interaction design challenges that this project posed and I wanted to have as much ownership as I could. I ended up with too much on my plate. I worked through the weekend and was able to deliver, but I think the overall quality of my initial designs would have been better if I would have asked for help and have been realistic about my own capabilities.
Don’t rush to convert sketches to wireframes.
I jumped into digital wireframing too quickly, I should have spent more time working out design problems on pen and paper. In the first design round, I lost time making revisions to wireframes that could have been prevented with more sketching.
Complexity isn’t so complex when it’s broken down into component parts.
This project was intimidating at the beginning, but big things are made up of little things. I discovered that complex systems can be built by regular people with enough time, effort, collaboration, and domain knowledge.