Role

Product Designer

Year

2019-2020

Industry

Blockchain

BitTorrent Speed

uTorrent is the world's most popular torrent software with over 170 million users. BitTorrent Speed is an integrated feature that lets users earn BTT tokens by seeding files and spend them to boost download speeds. This project focused on redesigning the BitTorrent Speed onboarding flow, wallet creation, and dashboard experience. View live

Terminology

BTT: BitTorrent blockchain-based digital token

Torrent: A computer file of .torrent that contains metadata holding various information

Seeding: Is the uploading of already downloaded content for others to download from

Crypto wallet: Allows you to send, receive, and spend cryptocurrencies and to store private keys within

BTT: BitTorrent blockchain-based digital token

Torrent: A computer file of .torrent that contains metadata holding various information

Seeding: Is the uploading of already downloaded content for others to download from

Crypto wallet: Allows you to send, receive, and spend cryptocurrencies and to store private keys within

Problems

Many existing and new users of BitTorrent/uTorrent users don’t really know the BitTorrent Speed exists, and when they know, unique selling points which are BitTorrent Speed value propositions are not introduced instantly through the setting up process. Besides that, all the core features are difficult to understand at first glance and there weren't any strong call-to-action, including wallet creation flow, wallet import flow, exchange features, earning - spending, seeding, import-recovery. 

Wallet Access Survey

The survey was conducted to gather feedback from existing users on the previous added features of BitTorrent Speed including Speed dashboard and wallet.

Survey Questions

The survey was conducted to gather feedback from existing users on the previous added features of BitTorrent Speed including Speed dashboard and wallet.

1. Can you explain what it means to “seed” files?

a. When I download content using a torrent client
b. Leaving my torrent client open after I’ve finished a download to help others download the file
c. Ordering files by download priority
d.  I’m not sure


2. How often do you seed files (keep your client open to help others to download files from you)

a. Always"
b. Usually - around 75% of the time when I use torrents
c. Sometimes - about 50% of the time when I use torrents
d. Rarely - 25% or less of the time when I use torrents
e. Never
f. I’m not sure


3. Can you explain what a digital token or a crypto token is?

a. A digital asset or unit of value that I can exchange, e.g. for currency
b. A unit of measurement that tells me how fast I’m downloading
c. An access key to encrypted files
d. I’m not sure


4. Have you ever used a digital wallet (or e-wallet) to make electronic payment transactions?

a. Yes, I use it very often
b. Yes, but very rarely
c. No, I haven't. But I know what this is and how to use it
d. No, never
e. I’m not sure


5. Can you explain what an Exchange (Digital Exchange) is?

a. This is the process of file exchange between two and more torrent users/clients
b. A service that helps transfer digital money from one wallet to another or buy and sell cryptocurrencies
c. It’s a service that allows users to exchange or trade any good online
d. I don't know

6. Action-based: Here is the special version of "Torrent Client with Speed". Click on the button below to download, and then move to the rest of this survey. This will not impact your current downloads.

6.1. Have you experienced any problems during the installation?

a. The client successfully installed and launched
b. There were issues with downloading, installation, or launch

6.2. Try to launch BitTorrent Speed. How easy was it for you?

a. Very easy. Intuitive
b. Easy, but took some time to figure out
c. It was not easy to understand how to start
d. I miss guidance and help

7. Action-based: "Please add any torrent files to your client, or use any of these 3 free torrents. Please, do not delete the files until the download is complete.

7.1. Look at BitTorrent Speed performance widgets. On a scale from 1 to 5, how clearly do you understand what the numbers and bars indicate?

a. Absolutely Don't Understand
b. Don't Understand
c. Have Some Questions
d. Understand
e. Clearly Understand


7.2. If anything is confusing in the Speed performance widget, or if you have any additional feedback regarding this feature, please describe it here: ...

8. Action-based: Click on the Wallet tab and walk through the wallet setup flow. How easy was it for you?

a. Very easy. Intuitive
b. Easy, but took some time to figure out
c. It was not easy to understand how to start
d. I miss guidance and help


8.1. If anything is confusing in the Wallet setup flow, or if you have any additional feedback regarding this flow, please describe it here: ...

8.2. Look at the Wallet Exchange dashboard. On a scale from 1 to 5, how clearly do you understand how it's supposed to work?

a. Absolutely Don't Understand
b. Don't Understand
c. Have Some Questions
d. Understand
e. Clearly Understand


8.3. If anything is confusing on the Exchange dashboard, or if you have any additional feedback regarding this flow, please describe it here: ...


Thank you note: "We want to thank you for your participation, and reward you with 100 BTT. Please, provide your public TRON Wallet address to get to the distribution list."

1. Can you explain what it means to “seed” files?

a. When I download content using a torrent client
b. Leaving my torrent client open after I’ve finished a download to help others download the file
c. Ordering files by download priority
d.  I’m not sure


2. How often do you seed files (keep your client open to help others to download files from you)

a. Always"
b. Usually - around 75% of the time when I use torrents
c. Sometimes - about 50% of the time when I use torrents
d. Rarely - 25% or less of the time when I use torrents
e. Never
f. I’m not sure


3. Can you explain what a digital token or a crypto token is?

a. A digital asset or unit of value that I can exchange, e.g. for currency
b. A unit of measurement that tells me how fast I’m downloading
c. An access key to encrypted files
d. I’m not sure


4. Have you ever used a digital wallet (or e-wallet) to make electronic payment transactions?

a. Yes, I use it very often
b. Yes, but very rarely
c. No, I haven't. But I know what this is and how to use it
d. No, never
e. I’m not sure


5. Can you explain what an Exchange (Digital Exchange) is?

a. This is the process of file exchange between two and more torrent users/clients
b. A service that helps transfer digital money from one wallet to another or buy and sell cryptocurrencies
c. It’s a service that allows users to exchange or trade any good online
d. I don't know

6. Action-based: Here is the special version of "Torrent Client with Speed". Click on the button below to download, and then move to the rest of this survey. This will not impact your current downloads.

6.1. Have you experienced any problems during the installation?

a. The client successfully installed and launched
b. There were issues with downloading, installation, or launch

6.2. Try to launch BitTorrent Speed. How easy was it for you?

a. Very easy. Intuitive
b. Easy, but took some time to figure out
c. It was not easy to understand how to start
d. I miss guidance and help

7. Action-based: "Please add any torrent files to your client, or use any of these 3 free torrents. Please, do not delete the files until the download is complete.

7.1. Look at BitTorrent Speed performance widgets. On a scale from 1 to 5, how clearly do you understand what the numbers and bars indicate?

a. Absolutely Don't Understand
b. Don't Understand
c. Have Some Questions
d. Understand
e. Clearly Understand


7.2. If anything is confusing in the Speed performance widget, or if you have any additional feedback regarding this feature, please describe it here: ...

8. Action-based: Click on the Wallet tab and walk through the wallet setup flow. How easy was it for you?

a. Very easy. Intuitive
b. Easy, but took some time to figure out
c. It was not easy to understand how to start
d. I miss guidance and help


8.1. If anything is confusing in the Wallet setup flow, or if you have any additional feedback regarding this flow, please describe it here: ...

8.2. Look at the Wallet Exchange dashboard. On a scale from 1 to 5, how clearly do you understand how it's supposed to work?

a. Absolutely Don't Understand
b. Don't Understand
c. Have Some Questions
d. Understand
e. Clearly Understand


8.3. If anything is confusing on the Exchange dashboard, or if you have any additional feedback regarding this flow, please describe it here: ...


Thank you note: "We want to thank you for your participation, and reward you with 100 BTT. Please, provide your public TRON Wallet address to get to the distribution list."

Conversion Funnel

1. Email sent: 1950

2. Opened: 2914

3. Clicked: 943

4. Landed: 893

5. Started: 447

6. Downloaded: 434

7. Finished: 281

User Screening Findings

  • >80% of users understand the concept of "Seeding"

  • ~35% of users don’t seed or seed rarely

  • >80% understand crypto, and >50% are active users of a crypto wallet

  • 70% of users understand the concept of crypto exchange

10% of users experiences troubles with launching BitTorrent Speed

26% of users experience troubles with understanding Speed widgets

31% had troubles with understanding how to set up the Wallet

23% experienced troubles with understanding Exchange interfaces

Real Feedback

Note: These are real comments with original punctuation and grammar.

General

  • The way this asks to setup--follow the link in an email, download an .exe and install it, etc.--if someone asked me if they should do this--especially since it offers them the chance to make "money," I would tell them that it's a phishing scheme. Might want to find way to verify this is really from you better.

  • Need a way to reset your password!

  • can we import our own wallet instead of creating a new BTT wallet?

  • Where is the wallet? Ow can I find the wallet? (few similar comments, translated from Russian)

  • The way this asks to setup--follow the link in an email, download an .exe and install it, etc.--if someone asked me if they should do this--especially since it offers them the chance to make "money," I would tell them that it's a phishing scheme. Might want to find way to verify this is really from you better.

  • Need a way to reset your password!

  • can we import our own wallet instead of creating a new BTT wallet?

  • Where is the wallet? Ow can I find the wallet? (few similar comments, translated from Russian)

Wallet setup flow

I'm testing apps the second time - I know everything ...... why the password is not remembered after leaving the wallet tab?

  • after I successfully created wallet, the wallet is gone, where is it? and BitTorrent Speed still shows the window of Create or Import Wallet, does it want me to create another wallet, it is confusing

  • when i finished cofirmation of the wallet i didnt understand that its finished
    The password that I entered when creating the wallet is now incorrect. How can I create a new wallet?

I'm testing apps the second time - I know everything ...... why the password is not remembered after leaving the wallet tab?

  • after I successfully created wallet, the wallet is gone, where is it? and BitTorrent Speed still shows the window of Create or Import Wallet, does it want me to create another wallet, it is confusing

  • when i finished cofirmation of the wallet i didnt understand that its finished
    The password that I entered when creating the wallet is now incorrect. How can I create a new wallet?

Application interfaces

Widget should be inserted in main uTorrent app. 2 windows is not ok
Please don't open in a separate window, please open in a separate tab or pane.

  • Please make user interface design more responsive for microsoft surface tablets.\r\nThanks :)

  • I would like to know if there is a specific amount of boost ? How is used such as payment wise?

  • The interface/layout is a bit complex. It seems there's a zoom-in set all the time (large icons, large fonts, no scrolls), plus I cannot see the minimize/close buttons.

  • If there was a video / help section showing you in layman’s terms how to use torrents and BitTorrent speed.

  • I think it would be great to have some indication on the uTorrent UI that the torrent you are downloading is from a "BTT User"

  • The UI does not show what my wallet's on-chain address is. Also, it would be nice to show a graph of running balance over time.

  • I don't see any key management i.e. add on-chain wallet address etc. At first it would be good to keep key management as an "Advanced" feature, not even visible to the user until the user has actually accumulated BTT (eg. 10 TRX worth of BTT before you even see your keys) and then you have to do a small questionaire to make sure you know what to do with them before you can access the key management

  • Looks nice, needs a modern design, looks a little oldstyle. Could scare people away from using.

Widget should be inserted in main uTorrent app. 2 windows is not ok
Please don't open in a separate window, please open in a separate tab or pane.

  • Please make user interface design more responsive for microsoft surface tablets.\r\nThanks :)

  • I would like to know if there is a specific amount of boost ? How is used such as payment wise?

  • The interface/layout is a bit complex. It seems there's a zoom-in set all the time (large icons, large fonts, no scrolls), plus I cannot see the minimize/close buttons.

  • If there was a video / help section showing you in layman’s terms how to use torrents and BitTorrent speed.

  • I think it would be great to have some indication on the uTorrent UI that the torrent you are downloading is from a "BTT User"

  • The UI does not show what my wallet's on-chain address is. Also, it would be nice to show a graph of running balance over time.

  • I don't see any key management i.e. add on-chain wallet address etc. At first it would be good to keep key management as an "Advanced" feature, not even visible to the user until the user has actually accumulated BTT (eg. 10 TRX worth of BTT before you even see your keys) and then you have to do a small questionaire to make sure you know what to do with them before you can access the key management

  • Looks nice, needs a modern design, looks a little oldstyle. Could scare people away from using.

Summary and Learned Points

Most of the feedback is positive. Respondents claimed that interfaces look “familiar” and intuitive, they don’t experience any troubles with understanding or taking any actions.

Though, the key areas for improvement are:

  • Education & help: security & safety rules, introduction to the product, daily tips, extended guidelines on the web, more customer support, etc.

  • Application visual style: should be minimized, be responsive, look more “sexy”.

  • Specifics of BT Speed: download speed, speed increase, peers, data is confusing, etc.

  • Spendings/earnings controls and reports: users want to have more detailed information.

Proposed Solution

BitTorrent Speed is for users so they can download faster as well as earn BTT for seeding torrents. While Speed functions individually as a new product, user onboarding, and user education were lacking, which in turn led to low user engagement. Introducing in-product onboarding to provide users a brief guide to cryptocurrency terminology and BitTorrent Speed core features along with improving dashboard interfaces, wallet creation flow, and wallet interfaces will believe to improve user engagement.

Personas

Based on survey results, we set up 2 personas. We referred to them throughout the entire product development process of in-product onboarding.

  • Classic user: earn as much as possible

  • Torrenting expert: Download faster. Get access to rare content

Classic User

Torrenting Expert

Market Research

Market research was conducted on four crypto platforms: Currency.com, Coinbase, Bison, and Bitfinex. The research focused on a number of areas which all combine to help determine what the best practices would be for BitTorrent Speed considering our personas' wants and needs.

Currency.com

Onboarding can be completed entirely via a mobile app or web, user can input or complete personal information, later on, to complete sign-up. To speed up onboarding, they use phone location to pre-populate geographical forms (e.g. Residence and Nationality), while the customer is kept aware of their verification status within the app (e.g Upload ID, Set up 2FA).

In short, the process was seamless. A great highlight is their referral program within onboarding.

Onboarding can be completed entirely via a mobile app or web, user can input or complete personal information, later on, to complete sign-up. To speed up onboarding, they use phone location to pre-populate geographical forms (e.g. Residence and Nationality), while the customer is kept aware of their verification status within the app (e.g Upload ID, Set up 2FA).

In short, the process was seamless. A great highlight is their referral program within onboarding.

Coinbase

The onboarding isn't seamless. Coinbase requires customers to verify themselves before providing any access to the platform. Validating email and password—with the password not validated until after, potentially sending the user back to start again if your password doesn’t meet Coinbase’s requirements. During the process, error messages bring customers back to the homepage, and the experience can be buggy when selecting mobile verification on desktop. The personal information and banking input process only happened after access is granted. 

The onboarding isn't seamless. Coinbase requires customers to verify themselves before providing any access to the platform. Validating email and password—with the password not validated until after, potentially sending the user back to start again if your password doesn’t meet Coinbase’s requirements. During the process, error messages bring customers back to the homepage, and the experience can be buggy when selecting mobile verification on desktop. The personal information and banking input process only happened after access is granted. 

Bison

Bison app offered some great mobile-centric UX elements such as Touch ID, push notifications relating to the setup, and a tutorial within the app. Bison allowed basic access gained before completing KYC, so users can complete personal information verification within the secure part of the app, while there is an extensive demo mode that can be explored before completing all the sign-up steps.

Bison app offered some great mobile-centric UX elements such as Touch ID, push notifications relating to the setup, and a tutorial within the app. Bison allowed basic access gained before completing KYC, so users can complete personal information verification within the secure part of the app, while there is an extensive demo mode that can be explored before completing all the sign-up steps.

Bitfinex

Bitifinex had an extremely long potential verification processing time, estimated at 6-8 weeks. They have stringent user input requirements, including requiring two forms of Government-issued ID. However, verification is only required for Fiat on/off ramping. Their intense verification process may be explained somewhat frustrations of many Bitifinex users had endured, so hopefully, their process continues to evolve. 

Bitifinex had an extremely long potential verification processing time, estimated at 6-8 weeks. They have stringent user input requirements, including requiring two forms of Government-issued ID. However, verification is only required for Fiat on/off ramping. Their intense verification process may be explained somewhat frustrations of many Bitifinex users had endured, so hopefully, their process continues to evolve. 

Other research was also conducted on best onboarding examples outside of the blockchain fields such as Slack, Duolingo, Grammarly, Dropbox, and Pinterest.

Other research was also conducted on best onboarding examples outside of the blockchain fields such as Slack, Duolingo, Grammarly, Dropbox, and Pinterest.

Learned Points and Strategies

UX Patterns

1. Greeting

This is the first contact between the user and the application - introduction as it is an important moment to say a friendly “HI!”. This is when a mascot or character can become a direct subject of communication with users. This shall be made to be as short and quick as possible to not distract users too much from the essential info.


2. Information (the most precious part of the product onboarding)

"Aha moments" need to come in place.


3. Engagement

These builds are necessary for users to engage with the main features - buttons, dragging, tooltips, checklist, visually engage (gifs, animation). 


Tips

  • Tooltips & hotspots to draw attention to specific elements

  • Progress bar/ability to skip is important since users should know where they’re at and how long is the onboarding path.

  • Skipping option for users who do not need it/is already familiar with the application. This depends on the target audience.

Visual Strategies

1. Brand identity

Maintaining brand identity throughout the onboarding flow as applying a mascot/character or consistent visual style will help imitate the flow of real communication with the user and set emotional bonds.


2. Custom images or illustrations

Illustration becomes the center of the composition and its aim is to present a specific feature or benefit in an attractive and easily decodable way, especially for walk-throughs.


3. Animation (nice to have)

Catch user attention, make important details more noticeable. Downside: increase time and traffic to load. This might be pushed back due to implementation constraints.


Testing

  • PlaybookUX for messaging and visuals

  • Internal feedback for other illustration elements

Userflow

The user flow was determined, reviewed, and updated many times throughout the design process. Please disregard the inconsistency of this user flow compared to the final designs.

Medium-fidelity

Mid-fidelity was prototyped to visually reflect the user flows. It was used to present the proposed solutions to stakeholders for early feedback. It was also used for usability testing.

Usability Testing

After determining the onboarding flow, we conducted unmoderated usability testing on PlaybookUX with 3 participants to gather more feedback for better improvement. We also wanted to learn more about the initial reactions of the updates of the wallet creation flow. The testing helped us to withdraw many insights, and from there, we updated our high-fi based on participants' suggestions and our prioritized items.

Summary of insights

Onboarding
Adding 150 BTT rewards into onboarding flow. This will be deposited into the wallet when/if a wallet is created. (Version B)
Highlight wallet recovery information for personas who didn’t/forgot their seed phrase.


Dashboard
Additional sections of data info on Spending and Earning, including amount, the ratio of the amount per unit of data, and past statistics.


Wallet creation
Adding confirmation of seed phrase as a required step and include visual indications of the importance of keeping Seedphrase offline secured

Design Guidelines

The Design Guidelines were developed to maintain UI consistency across all screens. This was also the initial step in developing a global design system that would be used for all products within the BitTorrent ecosystem.

Onboarding and user activation

Value Proposition Screens

This step was to upgrade the first time user experience and driving towards user activation. Starting with user onboarding, we added value proposition screens to provide users information on the benefits of using Speed.

Next, we tested two onboarding experiments against the control (no onboarding). The A version was a traditional wizard-style tour ending with a CTA to set up a wallet. The B version was an action-based system + tour where setting up a wallet was required for users to continue using Speed.

Version A. Wizard-style onboarding

Version B. Action-based Onboarding

Results

Both A and B versions tested better than control but the action-based system. Version B however converted 66% better with our activation metric (creating a wallet) than the wizard-style tour, version A.

Deliverables

The deliverables are presented in two flows: Onboarding flow and Wallet Creation flow.

Action-based onboarding

STep 1

Step 2

Step 3

Gammification

Dashboard

Wallet setup flow if skipped from onboarding

Create Wallet

Import Wallet

Wallet Interfaces

Success metric measures

With the action-based onboarding launch along with the updates of speed dashboard, wallet creation, and wallet interfaces, we saw

2x the number of wallets created at a weekly average of 70k.

With the action-based onboarding launch along with the updates of speed dashboard, wallet creation, and wallet interfaces, we saw

2x the number of wallets created at a weekly average of 70k.

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