Blockchain Services
Cross-functional Team Collaboration
UX Strategies
UI Design
On-brand Design System
Handover to Development
Quality Assurance
Berlin
2022-2023
What I did
I partnered with the LUKSO brand and engineering teams to design a solution enabling B2B customers to seamlessly integrate the LUKSO blockchain into their brand experiences while ensuring smooth user onboarding. Leading the UX and UI design, on-brand UI Guidelines for the MVP, and multiple partner campaign launches, I contributed to the growth of 28k Universal Profile platform-independent blockchain accounts and a robust network activity with 104k active validators on the LUKSO blockchain.
Universal Profiles and the LUKSO Partner Toolkit: Simplifying Blockchain Onboarding
The LUKSO blockchain introduced Universal Profiles, blockchain accounts fully owned and controlled by their users. These profiles function as public digital identities and enable interactions with decentralized applications (dApps). Users can store digital assets, including NFTs and tokens, within these profiles. To enhance user accessibility, the Universal Profile Extension, a browser extension, was developed to manage digital identities and assets on the LUKSO blockchain, facilitating seamless interactions with dApps.
The LUKSO Partner Toolkit was designed to onboard brand partners and users to the LUKSO blockchain, addressing key challenges in adoption. Universal Profiles are the primary method for interacting with the LUKSO blockchain and its applications, but the process of creating these profiles is complex for brands. Many brand partners are reluctant to direct their users outside their ecosystem, as downloading apps or installing browser extensions often results in high drop-off rates.
For non-crypto-savvy users, the lack of incentives and a complex onboarding process creates significant barriers. On the other hand, crypto-savvy users, accustomed to tools like Metamask, need compelling reasons to switch to a new solution. While existing market tools targeted B2C end-users, the LUKSO Partner Toolkit aimed to bridge the gap, simplifying the process for both partners and individual users.
The core issue is that blockchain interactions still depend on wallets. Although Universal Profiles simplify the connection between wallets and accounts, creating a Universal Profile still requires a wallet, leading to the same onboarding challenges. These challenges are avoided when Universal Profiles are created for the user, highlighting the importance of the LUKSO Partner Toolkit in simplifying blockchain integration.
Potential Solutions
Develop the Partner Toolkit with Universal Profiles and focus on educating partners and users on how to utilize it effectively.
Simplify the onboarding process by “hiding” Universal Profiles, creating profiles on behalf of users to eliminate friction..
Collaborate with partners to create exciting experiences on the LUKSO Blockchain, encouraging users to complete the onboarding process.
Build the Partner Toolkit with Universal Profiles while integrating other solutions, such as wallet/account-agnostic tools, as they become available.
To encourage users to complete an onboarding flow that involves some level of friction, strong incentives are necessary. The LUKSO Whitelabel and Claim Experience aims to make access to crypto products easier, allowing users to get started with minimal barriers. These early incentives increase the likelihood of users eventually completing the onboarding process.
Solutions for Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
The objective was to develop a solution enabling B2B customers to seamlessly integrate LUKSO into their own experiences while providing a frictionless onboarding process for their users to the Blockchain.
Our solution focused on simplifying how brands could create LUKSO blockchain-based experiences within their ecosystems. Partners receive a code package from LUKSO that allows them to leverage our backend and Web3 setup while customizing their frontend user experience. The frontend is hosted on the partner’s domain (e.g., partner-name.com/claim (does not have to be a link)), while the backend and Web3 services are managed by LUKSO. We also provide a visual guide and implementation workshops to support the brand.
The solution also streamlined the onboarding process for Universal Profiles for end-users. Users are onboarded to LUKSO directly within the brand’s ecosystem. For example, using a Nike ID: when a user claims a digital asset via their Nike ID account in a Nike-branded experience, a Universal Profile can be registered on their behalf and linked to their Nike ID profile. By creating profiles on behalf of users, we eliminate the friction of requiring a browser extension during onboarding.
Essential Features
Creation of Universal Profiles on behalf of the users, login functionality, deployment of smart contracts (LSP7/8), minting various token types, token claim user journey, relayer integration (gassless blockchain transactions), verified co-creators, profile collections.
Usability Testing with Early Adopters
We conducted usability testing with early adopters, recognizing it as a critical step in refining the product before its broader release. Early adopters, often tech-savvy users eager to explore new products, proved to be an excellent resource for identifying potential usability issues, gathering feedback, and validating core features. Our early adopters included brands and their creators from BoysClub, MLYX, and DEMAT. Items were sold and gifted during public events, for example, at the Net Gala, allowing product validators to test the experience with users in real time.
Supporting the LUKSO Mainnet Migration
The LUKSO Partner Toolkit played a pivotal role in the LUKSO Mainnet Migration. Users who purchased NFTs on The Dematerialised (DEMAT) marketplace can sell their DEMAT NFTs on the secondary market once their assets have migrated to the mainnet and the Universal Profile tools are launched. Users who choose to keep their NFTs on the LUKSO Testnet are unable to trade them on secondary marketplaces.
Creating On-brand UI Guidelines
One of the biggest challenges I faced was creating on-brand UI guidelines that would apply not only to the LUKSO Partner Toolkit but also across all LUKSO digital products. These guidelines formed the foundation for the future Design System and were based on LUKSO Branding Guidelines. Specific rules were established to meet both user interface design standards and accessibility requirements for visually impaired users. This task was especially challenging due to the extensive color palette introduced by the new brand.
The UI Guidelines documentation was developed to clarify design elements and streamline the implementation process, supporting both designers and developers. The Figma project captured the core elements and their hierarchy, and Atomic Design principles were applied wherever possible to build UI components.
I have included a few examples of these UI Guidelines to illustrate the complexity and challenges I encountered throughout my work.
A team
LUKSO assigned a team of experts to build this application from scratch. A huge thanks to everyone involved for their exceptional collaboration: Brand Lead Anna Babol, Art Director Alex Azevedo, CTO Samuel Raub, developers Oleg Yarin and Alexander Ryazanov.