{"id":784,"date":"2022-05-26T07:25:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T07:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oqtacore-blog-473533498.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com\/?p=784"},"modified":"2022-12-15T16:29:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T16:29:01","slug":"ux-ui-design-for-todays-blockchain-platforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oqtacore.com\/blog\/ux-ui-design-for-todays-blockchain-platforms\/","title":{"rendered":"UX\/UI design for today’s blockchain platforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

The popularity of blockchain and Web3 is witnessing an exponential boom right now. <\/span>Insider Intelligence<\/span><\/a> has reported that the number of U.S. adults who own at least one cryptocurrency will surge to 33.7 million by the end of 2022, up 19% over last year. The report also shows that 3.6 million people will pay with crypto in the US, up 68.6% over the year 2021. According to\u00a0 <\/span>Blockchain.com<\/span><\/a>, the number of crypto wallets increased from 44.71 million in 2020 to 80.26 million in 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier we talked about what UX design<\/a> is and why it is important for any digital product. Today, we’ll look at the specifics of UX and usability for Web3 digital platforms and blockchain-based apps. <\/span><\/p>\n

OQTACORE will talk about why UX\/UI design largely plays a crucial role for such digital products. We will also touch on the existing design principles and patterns for decentralized digital products.<\/span>
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<\/span>Why can’t any blockchain project succeed without top-quality UX design?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

For now, decentralization can\u2019t replace the more traditional and popular technologies, for example, in the world of digital and internet banking. However, it is already penetrating deeply into the life of the average user. Very soon, blockchain-based platforms will become commonplace among users.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OQTACORE have highlighted three reasons why UX is essential for decentralized digital products:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. New users would always want to trust a product.<\/strong> Blockchain offers a new financial system in the form of cryptocurrency, new art in the form of NFTs, and a new form of social interaction in the form of metaverse. However, people usually view new technology with skepticism. Here, financial products are the worst affected. So, the user needs to adapt to the new environment and ask themselves the question, “What if they scam me?” UX and UI design has a strong influence on user trust. A study by researchers from the <\/span>University of Surrey<\/span><\/a> has shown that users’ judgments on website credibility are 75% based on a website\u2019s overall aesthetics. According to <\/span>MyTechnology<\/span><\/a>, 94% of users don’t trust outdated or poorly designed websites. Therefore, today’s blockchain app designers need to pay more attention to user experience and how users will interact with the product.<\/span>
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  2. Users care about comfort and ease of interaction.<\/strong> If a person wants to use some product on a daily basis to solve their tasks, that user expects that the product can be used without struggling to figure out what to do. Convenience and comfort, to put it differently, usability and user experience, are directly related to the speed of performing a user task and the frequency of using the product in general. For example, if a person wants to add a new token to their NFT collection, they expect that the NFT marketplace would allow them to buy a token in just a few clicks, without complex navigation, long search for the right buttons, and so on.<\/span>
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  3. New users prefer a distinctive product.<\/strong> Each of the categories of blockchain-based products always share a few basic features. For example, in most crypto wallets, you can manage and view your crypto assets, control your private keys, send and receive cryptocurrency, etc. However, these basic features do not make all crypto wallets the same. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be such diversity on the market. UX makes your product stand out from competitors. In the blockchain business, your UX design is often your unique selling proposition. That\u2019s why you would see a crypto wallet with a well-functioning chatbot and a user-friendly menu, and another that clearly visualizes data and displays transaction information to the user in detail, but in a simple way. Therefore, from all the market offerings, the user will choose for themselves the wallet that suits them most.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, we have figured out the reasons why high-quality UX is not just important but necessary for new blockchain-based apps. Now let’s move on to the design features. What’s different about UX and UI design for such apps?<\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span>Blockchain Design Principles<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

    OQTACORE uses 3 principles of UX\/UI design that allow you to design a quality user interface for blockchain-based projects:<\/span>
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    Consistency<\/b><\/h3>\n

    This is a universal principle of UX\/UI design, but it has its own peculiarities for decentralized products. <\/span>Consistency originally means repetition of elements in design, which allows the user to apply past experience to the current product. This is mainly done through common elements in UX \u2013 layout and positioning of menus, checkboxes, cards, radio buttons, and so on, as well as strict use of grid in layout, color, and typographic hierarchy in UI design. <\/span>A designer uses available templates in the interface and lets the user know how to interact with the interface. Since the user has already seen common elements many times on other sites or in mobile apps, they will comfortably solve their tasks. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The peculiarity of consistency for blockchain-based apps is that the user does not yet have much experience with such apps. The user doesn’t have strong cues, so designers need to be careful in styling, especially when it comes to text and iconography. If you come up with a visual metaphor in your design (for example, an image of a completed transaction in a crypto wallet, when transferring currency using a cube depicting a block in a blockchain, with a green checkmark “done”), you should first check, through UX research methods, how well the user understands it.<\/span>
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    Simplicity<\/b><\/h3>\n

    Make your app as simple as possible. This will make the user experience easier because any decentralized digital product creates an almost endless stream of transaction data. This principle will also help the user more quickly understand how the product works. With that said, there are a few points to keep in mind when designing for blockchain, while keeping it simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Security and privacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This relates to entering login credentials (be it a strong password or biometrics) even with 2FA. Moreover, every page, file and transaction should give the user a sense of security through the UI, while keeping the design and navigation as simple as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n