Product Design
Summary
Designing a decentralized derivatives platform. Through comprehensive research, strategic user insights, meticulous risk management, and a refined design process, Longship emerged as an elegant, powerful, and sophisticated platform, set to revolutionize the world of trading.
My role building Longship was as the lead product designer and product manager. As the only designer on the team, I also did the branding, illustration, and recruiting and direction for design contractors when I needed support. I worked closely with all corners of the engineering team to distill their complicated smart contracts into beautiful interfaces that connect financial technology to everyday people.
Research
Embarking on the Longship project, I collaborated closely with our CTO to deeply comprehend the technical intricacies and features of the app, particularly its interaction with the Automated Market Maker (AMM). Over a month, I meticulously delved into the app’s capabilities, limitations, and the complex landscape of derivatives and leveraged trading.
User Research
User research for the Longship project spanned across four integral phases, each contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the target audience. In the initial phase, I adopted an observatory role, closely monitoring interactions and discussions within the communities of competitor platforms. By immersing myself in conversations across platforms such as Discord, Telegram, Twitter, and Reddit, I unearthed invaluable qualitative insights into user behaviour, communication patterns, and prevailing sentiments. This initial step provided a solid foundation for understanding the vocabulary, preferences, and challenges of the sophisticated trading community.
The subsequent phases deepened the user insights further. In the second phase, I engaged in quantitative vetting of users who exhibited familiarity with trading tools, providing valuable demographic and quantitative data. Moving into the third phase, I conducted written interviews with participants, allowing for detailed qualitative insights into their experiences, strategies, and emotions regarding leverage trading. This written approach provided a comfortable and insightful medium for participants to share their perspectives comprehensively. Complementing these stages, the fourth phase incorporated verbal interviews with a smaller cohort, offering qualitative depth and individual context that can be captured effectively through live conversations.
This multiphase user research approach effectively synthesized patterns, preferences, and behaviors across various user groups, culminating in a refined persona and insights that informed both marketing and UI/UX strategies. Through this in-depth research, I successfully pinpointed the nuances of the target audience, ensuring that Longship’s design caters precisely to the needs, preferences, and aspirations of sophisticated traders.
Risk Management
A pivotal discovery during my research was the potential for misuse in a leveraged trading environment. This realization prompted the creation of a detailed persona targeting responsible and experienced traders. A systematic approach to guardrails was established, introducing friction in the form of a rewards program that educated users on risk management and provided incentives and access to higher leverage for responsible trading.
Sketches and Mapping
Using Figma, I meticulously mapped the information architecture of both the app and marketing website. Employing Object-Oriented UX, I organized content into prioritized blocks. I crafted low-fidelity prototypes and flowcharts based on the technical specifications, collaborating extensively with the CTO and engineers to ensure accuracy. These prototypes were subjected to internal tests, enhancing usability and pattern refinement.
Visual Identity
Longship’s brand was meticulously designed to resonate with sophisticated traders. Evoking luxury and power, the brand featured opulent colors, 3D models, rich illustrations, and Viking-inspired typography. The visual design portrayed a lifestyle of wealth, status, and prowess that aligned with the aspirations of the target audience.
Design System
An extensive Figma library was built, featuring meticulously designed components adhering to the brand guidelines. These components, available in various states and devices, facilitated seamless handoffs to frontend developers.
Visual Design
Utilizing the designed components and low-fidelity prototypes, I crafted visually stunning screens that embodied responsible usage, catered to sophisticated traders, and facilitated effortless interactions.
Gestures and Animation
Through collaboration with frontend developers, I outlined gesture and animation specifications, ensuring that interactions were seamlessly integrated. Microinteractions and animations were detailed in a comprehensive document.
Motion Design
A skilled motion designer, Niko Papadimitriou, was enlisted to bring Longship to life for its public unveiling, showcasing its features and brand luxury. This collaboration resulted in a captivating motion design that complemented the platform’s essence.
Results
Longship is currently undergoing internal beta testing and is scheduled for public launch in early 2024, poised to transform the derivatives trading landscape.