Bottlepay
As the founding designer, I led the full design process from early MVP to launch. When we released the beta, the product gained over 20,000 users, and processed $2.4 million worth of transactions in its first month.
It later scaled and was acquired by NYDIG for $300M in December 2021.
Platform: iOS, Android
Industry: Fintech
Duration: Feb 2020 - May 2023
01
The Challenge
Business Challenge:
Our challenge was to design an experience that inspired confidence, stayed compliant with regulations, and could scale as Bitcoin adoption grew.
Our target users were financially literate but new to Bitcoin, mostly aged 25 to 45, based in the UK. Aside from Bitcoin beginners, we also aimed for tech-savvy users. They wanted clarity, ease of use, and a high level of security.
My Role & The Process:
As a solo designer, I led end-to-end product design which involves designing the MVP, testing, creating and maintaining the design system, and handling design handoffs. We adopted a Lean UX approach by shipping quickly, learning from users, and iterating regularly.
Working in a fully async environment meant tight documentation, clear handoffs, and constant alignment across product, engineering, and compliance.
Constraints & Success Metrics:
We worked under tight time and resource limits by shipping an MVP in under 6 months with a small remote team.
Research Inputs:
We gathered insights from Slack community conversations and casual user interviews to learn why people were hesitant about Bitcoin. This is also our main medium of feature-validation when we are working on new features and updates.
02
The Approach
Problem Statement:
New users feel intimidated by Bitcoin’s complexity and jargon making it inaccessible to a general audience. They need a familiar, simple experience similar to a banking app—one that builds trust and encourages adoption, leading to greater retention.
User Personas:
 | Sofia, 30s, New to BitcoinCurious about Bitcoin for occasional payments and savings. Doesn't like technical terms or jargons. |
 | Alexander, Mid 20s, Tech-savvyManages cash flow daily and uses online banking confidently. Needs trustworthy and compliant platform. |
Pain Points & How Might We:
These are some of common pain points from gathered insights from our bitcoin slack community:
To turn user pain points into opportunities, we framed key challenges as “How Might We” questions. This helped the team stay solution-focused and open-ended during ideation especially in a space as complex and fast-moving as crypto.
03
The Solution
Opportunities:
Based on early user feedback, the UK market context, and compliance needs, we saw clear opportunities to improve adoption, trust, and everyday use.
 | Plain languageFirst-time tips where needed, and a simple “What happens next” pattern after key actions. |
 | Step-by-step flowFlow with progress, time estimates, and clear reasons for each data request. |
 | Real-time payment statusClear receipts, friendly error states, and security cues like 2FA prompts and device notifications. |
 | Social elementsBy integrating emojis, messages, and social platform to drive emotional connection, and virality. |
Userflow:
Initial flows were kept minimal to avoid overwhelming new users: home, portfolio, trade, and profile. As features grew, I introduced tabbed navigation and contextual actions, optimizing for single-handed use.
UI Design Rationale:
We have decided to go for dark UI because we wanted to convey trust and control, especially for money-related tasks. Some highlights of design decisions made:
Friendly errors and useful empty states
Error copy is short and human, with a clear next step. New users see simple starter states with tips so they are not dropped into a blank dashboard.
Onboarding and KYC that feel doable
Signup is broken into short steps with progress, time estimates, and save and resume. Plain language explains why each item is needed. Inline checks catch errors early.
Clear and safe sending flows
The send flow confirms the recipient with a name and avatar, shows the last characters of the address, and surfaces fees and ETA before confirm.
Real-time status and simple content style
Every payment shows live status, then a tidy receipt you can copy, save, or share. A detailed modal lists amount, fees, network, and reference so support is easier.
Payments feel more personal & social
We saw an opportunity to reduce the transactional coldness of crypto by adding social layers like emojis or reactions to payment receipts.
Iterations & Trade-offs:
We replaced jargon with plain words, added short explainers where needed, and kept totals and fees readable in human language.
We started with a super simple signup: just enter mobile number, email, and a quick verification code then straight into the app. It felt fast and easy which was perfect for first-time crypto users having roughly 81% avg. completion rate when we first launch the app.
When new regulations came in, we had to add KYC to the signup flow. It slowed things down so I redesigned the experience to guide users through it step-by-step, with clear progress, and helpful cues.
It wasn’t as frictionless as before, and we saw our average completion rate dropped closer to 65–70%. But it kept us 100% compliant and avoided making people feel lost or overwhelmed.
Accessibility:
I ensure to check accessibility throughout my design process to make sure we adhere to WCAG guidelines. Whether it’s text contrast, focus states, or tap targets, I make a habit of reviewing the small details on every screen to make sure the product works for more people.
Design System:
As Bottlepay evolved post-MVP, I maintained and scaled the design system to keep pace with new features, team growth, and platform consistency. I audited existing components, standardized usage and introduced reusable patterns to reduce design-developer friction.
Testing & Validation:
I made user testing a core part of our design process to ensure decisions were based in real user behavior. When I explore ideas or features, I ran remote tests on anonymized Maze prototypes with a small group of external participants to test navigation clarity, error prevention, and comprehension.
For user flow validation, I tracked completion rates, time-on-task, and misclicks to identify friction points early. Note: Content and numbers are blurred to respect confidentiality.
04
The Outcome
Final designs with interaction:
I paired final screens with short motion prototypes so engineering saw the exact flow, timing, and states before build. These demos, plus notes in Figma, kept PMs, devs, and compliance aligned and reduced back-and-forth during QA.
Sending to a BTC address manually
Buying Bitcoin via Apple Pay
Trading fiat to Bitcoin
Sending to Bitcoin address via on-chain
Impact & Results
As the founding designer, my work focused on making Bitcoin feel simple, safe, and fast. That clarity showed up in the numbers and in how the product grew:
Acquired by NYDIG for $300M in stockA compliant, scalable user experience and a mature design system made integration more straightforward. Bottlepay was acquired by NYDIG for $300M in 2021. |
Raised $15M in seed fundingA polished MVP and narrative walkthroughs helped communicate the product vision. This contributed to the team raising $15M in seed funding in 2021. |
20,000 beta sign upsClear onboarding, plain-language UI, and simple send flows helped the beta reach 20,000 sign ups. |
App Store 4.4 ★Our thoughtful UX and constant testing supported an average 4.4★ rating across 300+ reviews. |
Learning & Reflection:
This wasn’t just another design project. It reshaped how I think about product design.
Small details matterWhat surprised me was how a simple change in copy or better validation could turn hesitation into confidence. |
Tight collaboration is the keyI wore many hats in a fast-moving, async team, and learned just how powerful clear docs and thoughtful handoffs can be. |
Listen to users and test oftenListening to users, testing often, and staying flexible helped us move fast without losing clarity. I also learned to stay flexible: regulations and technology moved fast, and so did we. |
If I could do it again, I’d invest earlier in structured research and tracking, and use async tools like Loom to align faster. The app was sunset after acquisition, but I still carry the biggest lesson with me: make the complex feel simple and always design for trust.
