Overview
This project was created as a part of a course on advanced communication in the department of Human Centered Design and Engineering and the University of Washington. It was completed over the course of 10 weeks by a team of 5 students in the undergraduate program. The team of students was paired with a representative from Coinbase who provided the project prompt and assisted us throughout the project.
The Problem
Many people are unfamiliar with what Web3 is and how it works. Users doubt its potential benefits and distrust Coinbase.
Design Questions
How might Coinbase improve the onboarding process for users unfamiliar with Web3?
How can Coinbase help users understand nuances around identity and ownership in crypto?
Results
The results of this project are high-fidelity prototypes of a re-designed onboarding, learning dashboard, and chatbot focused on helping users understand web3 technologies and cryptocurrencies.
Research
To begin, we conducted primary research into Coinbase and competitors in the industry. This provided an understanding of current resources available for users, but we wanted to identify which current crypto educaction learning practices were working and which were not. We conducted a survey study with 46 participants by posting it to several blockhain/cryptocurrency channels to get user feedback.
Common Observations
73%
Participants (including both experienced and inexperienced users) are willing to spend less than 10 minutes learning about crypto.
60%
Experienced crypto users described their onboarding experience as being non-user friendly due to the complexity and information overload.
38%
Users thought short (<10 minutes) educational videos are the most helpful learning resource.
71%
Participants prefer using a desktop device for learning crypto materials.
User Pain Points
Users distrust crypto and Web3
High barrier to entry in crypto space (need money and time to trade)
Limited access to information and special connections as a beginner
Quantity of information is overwhelming and people don’t know where to start
Design Areas
Skills assesment quiz to provide users with most relevant educational content for their needs
Chatbot which provides brief answers to users' questions and provides sources to further learn about specific topics
Learning dashboard containing individualized articles and videos to cover crypto related information
Design
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Skills Assessment Quiz
Allows us to streamline relevant content to users
Chatbot
Provides quick access to definitions and resources
Learning Dashboard
Prioritizes content in order of most importance
Progress bar motivates users to complete videos
Survey insights indicated that short videos were most useful in learning about crypto
Usability Testing
These low-fidelity wireframes were tested with potential users to evaluate their usability and design. users were asked to complete a set of tasks within each wireframe. Our representative from Coinbase also reviewed these designs and gave feedback on areas of improvement. The following is a list of findings for the second iteration:
Beginner users found the terminology in the placement quiz to be confusing, and quiz content discouraged users from wanting to learn crypto.
The quiz is valuable for personalizing relevant content to the user; make the quiz mandatory instead of optional.
For chatbot design, model it similar to the chatbot available on the Coinbase help page.
Explicitly define the requirements or process of transitioning between the Learning Dashboards.
Prototyping
High-Fidelity Prototypes
Onboarding Process/Skills Assessment Quiz
Shortened assessment to 2 questions
Changed question to be action-driven to make it easier for users to answer
Simplified topic options to create a more welcoming experience
Added Coinbase’s trust resources and information
Users can gain trust before providing private information
Users can skip adding personal information
Users can access learning material without providing personal information
Chatbot
Prewritten topics are sorted into categories.
Chatbot responses will link to additional materials and learning resources
Introduction Learning Dashboard
“Learn and Earn” pulled out of “More” tab for easy access
Lock icon and CTA remind users to input SSN before trading crypto
News allows users to stay updated with the industry
Circle graph plays on the “coin” in Coinbase and motivates users to complete learning videos
Survey insights indicated that tokens are the most desired incentive
Trending coins gives users overview of current market
Chatbot is clear and accessible
Transitioning from Introduction to Advanced
Users have the ability to change the look of their landing page from "Introduction" to "Advanced". This can be accomplished after completing onboarding by either completing all educational videos OR setting the "Trade" page to the default landing page in settings (instead of "Learn and Earn").
Advanced Learning Dashboard
Gathers relevant learning materials based on watch history
Reorganizes with more relevant information for experts
Challenges
We all had differing levels of understanding about crypto, so we spent lots of time doing secondary research
Limited time and resources to do further user testing
Limited branding guidelines and design assets
Learnings
Learning to present a story: Our check-in with our mentor revealed a lot of insights about how to present our designs (i.e. being prepared for different use cases and providing context on how individual screens fit into the Coinbase flow)
Account for multiple use cases (ex. what if the user already knows how to trade but is sent to the learning dashboard)
