Problem

Many people want to explore and try to acquire NFTs since they are popular these days, but most of them are unfamiliar with Web3, which includes the crypto world and NFTs. Furthermore, the majority of individuals think the threshold for entry into the NFT world is too high, and the process of purchasing NFTs is complicated.

Our Solution

Design an application that allows users to buy NFTs in a simple, fun, and easy way through their mobile phones.

I did the user research and conducted interviews with five participants to understand the users’ needs and pain points.

-Target audience-

People who are unfamiliar with crypto and the NFT world but desire to enter the NFT world and acquire NFTs in a different and easy way.

-Research questions-

1. Do you know what is NFT?
2. Have you ever bought NFTs?
3. What do you think about NFTs?
4. Can you describe your experience with buying NFTs?
5. Have you ever used any NFT trading platforms before?
6. What do you think about those NFT trading platforms?
7. Do you face any problems when you use the NFT trading platform?
8. Are there any difficulties that troubled you when you bought an NFT?

1 . Hard to buy NFTs

The process of buying NFTs is complex, and users can’t buy NFTs through an app on mobile phones.

2 . Can’t buy NFTs without connecting to a crypto wallet

Users can’t buy NFTs because they don’t know much about crypto, and they don’t want to create any crypto wallets just to connect to the NFT trading platforms.

3 . Don’t just want a JPG, they want an entertainment experience

Users don’t just want a JPG, they desire a dynamic and enjoyable experience for the whole journey.

I collected the data from interviews to create a problem statement and a persona representing the ideal user of the app. The persona helped me find the solution to deal with the user’s goals and frustrations.

I used 4 NFT trading platforms that are top-ranked in the world as competitors. All of them are providing a service to let users create, buy and sell NFTs.

After conducting a competitive analysis, We discovered various opportunities to build an NFT platform that stands out from the competitors.

1 . Sign up without connecting to the crypto wallet

Create a service for users to sign up without connecting to the crypto wallet.

2 . Buy NFTs through the app

Let users buy NFTs via credit card in the app.

3 . Play the game to get NFTs

Provide an experience for users to play the game to get NFTs.

We created a flow to illustrate how users will navigate through the application.

After thinking about several ideas to meet users’ needs, we decided to design a toy capsule machine to let users get NFTs by playing with it. Furthermore, I sketched each screen of the app on paper to make sure all the functions & elements in the wireframes would be well performed and addressed the user pain points.

I conducted a heuristic evaluation to find out the problems from 3 participants and iterate the design.

After conducting a heuristic evaluation and getting feedback from 3 participants, I digitized and made some changes to the wireframes.

Due to space constraints, I only present key pages of wireframes.

After designing the high-fidelity wireframes, I created a high-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow was to sign up by email, view the content inside the toy capsule machine, and play with the toy capsule machine, and this prototype would be used in a usability study.

I used a high-fidelity prototype to conduct an unmoderated usability study with 5 participants who used the prototype with the following tasks to see if the main flow of the app works successfully.

Tasks

1. Sign up
2. Log in
3. Find the toy capsule machine with the content of collectibles and cost $200
4. View the content inside the toy capsule machine [Success: Yes, No]
5. Purchase and play with the toy capsule machine[Success: Yes, No]
6. The toy capsule machine is easy to play [5-point Rating scale: Strongly disagree to Strongly agree]
7. View the detail of this NFT
8. See your own collection

Questions after finishing the tasks

• Is the app easy to use? Explain your answer.
• What do you think about this app?
• Will you likely use this app in the future? Explain your answer.

I changed some elements in the high-fidelity wireframes based on the users’ feedback and to meet their needs.

I Added the “tap me” label & “tap me” icon on the toy capsule machine, and perform A/B testing with 4 users on UserTesting.com to figure out if the label & icon I added to the toy capsule machine helped them to view the content inside.

After collecting feedback and analyzing the data from users, I made some changes to high-fidelity wireframes.

After doing several iterations, I created the final prototype in order to solve usability issues and meet users’ needs.

During this project, I’ve gained insights from usability tests and A/B testing. I’ve learned that, even if my design doesn’t appeal to every user, the key is to remain open-minded, prioritize feedback, and iterate to address the majority of users’ needs. Additionally, I’ve come to realize that the user experience in Web3 products is more different and complex than before.

When it comes to designing Web3 products, making complex things simple is important, and using terms that users understand becomes essential. This presents an excellent opportunity to delve into these innovative technological trends by conducting research and continuously learning about them.

1. Complete the app

Continue to work on new wireframes and prototypes for further functionality to complete the app.

2.Conduct more user research

Conduct more user research with the target audience in order to explore and identify their pain points & needs, that I had not yet identified.