Blackwing
Cultivating a trusted and engaging space for traders to invest
I led 0-to-1 design in collaboration with PM and Eng to design a new Onboarding and Rewards platform experience for Blackwing, a crypto trading platform.
Ahead of our “Airdop date” (like an IPO for traditional companies), we wanted to provide users a platform that allows them to invest in Blackwing before we “went public”.
DURATION
1 month
(Feb-Mar’24)
1 month
(Feb-Mar’24)
ROLE
Lead Product Designer
Lead Product Designer
TEAM
PM, Founding Engineers
PM, Founding Engineers
RESPONSIBILITY
Web and Mobile Design, Research, Stakeholder management, Content Strategy
Web and Mobile Design, Research, Stakeholder management, Content Strategy
CONTEXT
Capturing a loyal user base for the launch of a big product pivot
Previously, Blackwing focused on trading for entertainment but struggled to find product-market fit, leading to stagnant growth and low team morale. To address this, we pivoted our product direction towards providing utility to meet the current needs of the crypto market.
In the past, our Onboarding was a simple Typeform survey that gathered user information. To prepare for the launch of our new MVP, we wanted to build a new Onboarding experience that engages users, encourages them to deposit funds before the MVP launch, and motivates users to return to our platform to be a part of our community and earn Blackwing rewards.
The goal is to capture a strong user base to launch our MVP to, not only to compound the success of the MVP, but also because our trading product needs strong liquidity to be successful.
Liquidity is how easily and quickly a security can be bought or sold. More concretely, it is the amount of money in a platform that is available to trade (Total Value Locked, aka TVL) and the number of active traders. A strong user base is users who are ready to trade and deposit money into our platform
PROBLEM
Lack of trust and short attention spans in crypto
Challenge #1: Although crypto traders quickly jump on profit opportunities, the crypto space is notorious for scams and low-quality products.
Trust and reputation are key to cultivating a loyal user base. Trust is built through shipping thoughtfully-designed product experiences, collaborating with reputable partners, and being a constant presence in the space.
Challenge #2: Crypto traders have short attention spans. The crypto industry is volatile and it is difficult to hold a user’s attention without a compelling rewards program.
BUSINESS GOALS
Build trust and an engaged user base for MVP launch
1 )
Cultivate trust and community
Blackwing’s Onboarding launch is also the company’s first launch to the public as a stealth company.
Blackwing’s Onboarding launch is also the company’s first launch to the public as a stealth company.
2 )
$20M TVL in Month 1
High TVL is a leading indicator of strong liquidity and community-engagement with a product.
High TVL is a leading indicator of strong liquidity and community-engagement with a product.
3 )
Encourage retention
We want to drum up hype and a dedicated user base leading up to the MVP launch.
We want to drum up hype and a dedicated user base leading up to the MVP launch.
SOLUTION
A web and mobile platform that gamifies Onboarding and rewards users for engagement and building community
Before
A simple Typeform survey for gathering user information
After
A platform for users to invest into Blackwing that fosters engagement through gamifying the Onboarding experience, creating transparency by exposing potential rewards, and encourages retention through a streamlined and varied Rewards program.
IMPACT
$25M TVL in 1 month and +20k Twitter followers
Our goal was to hit $20M TVL in the first month, but exceeded expectations by $5M.
This occurred after our initial launch of the Onboarding and Rewards Platform. V2 is still being built.
Check out the full story here ⤵
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