SonarX Staking Redesign
Making crypto staking simple, safe, and trusted for everyday users
Crypto staking has always carried a reputation:
Complex, risky, intimidating.
SonarX (formerly B-Love) set out to change that by creating a platform for users with little to no crypto background. But the first version fell short. New users were overwhelmed, onboarding was broken, and trust in the product was weak.
I joined as Lead Product Designer (sole) from Oct 2023 – Mar 2024, tasked with reshaping SonarX into a platform that could be as approachable as modern banking apps while still handling millions of global transactions. My role spanned from user research and interviews to visual rebrand, onboarding redesign, and a scalable design system.
By the end, SonarX evolved from a confusing tool into a human-first staking experience — trusted, consistent, and ready to scale.
my role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
October 2023 – March 2024
WHAT I DID
Research
UX Design
UI Design: Rebrand, visual language, accessibility-first layouts
Systems: Token-based design system, modular components, Figma documentation
Trust You Can Measure
The redesign delivered clear outcomes:
82
%
Onboarding completion from 45%
+30
%
Week-1 retention
70
%
Users reported “feeling confident staking” (vs 25% before)
From Intimidation to Trust
Crypto staking was meant to feel rewarding,
but SonarX’s first version felt like a trading terminal. Users dropped off quickly.
Key challenges we faced:
- Barrier to entry too high: jargon like staking and APY scared beginners.
- Trust gap: users didn’t believe the app was safe or reliable.
- Cluttered UI: inconsistent design patterns and confusing flows slowed everyone down.
The mandate:
- Lower the barrier to entry for first-time users.
- Earn trust through clarity, not hype.
- Deliver a design system that developers could scale confidently.
Seeing Through Users’ Eyes
I conducted interviews with curious but inexperienced crypto users.
The findings were consistent:
- Crypto apps felt untrustworthy.
- Language was alienating and technical.
- They wanted an experience that felt like banking, not trading.
I also worked closely with the CEO, who had built B-Love, to identify the pitfalls of prior designs: complexity killed adoption.
The turning point was realizing: if I couldn’t explain staking clearly to a friend, I couldn’t design it clearly for our users.
This shaped the design principles:
- Trust cues at every step.
- Plain language over jargon.
- Simplicity without dumbing down.
Design Journey
Designing Human-First Crypto
Rebrand & Visual Language
Shifted from intimidating “crypto dark” to modern finance design, approachable colors, clear type, and consistent hierarchy.
Simplified Flows
Redesigned staking and rewards to be fast, obvious, and rewarding, reducing drop-offs and confusion.
Onboarding That Builds Confidence
Instead of throwing users into forms, I designed a step-by-step guided journey:
- Explain staking in simple terms.
- Use milestones and progress to keep users engaged.
- Reinforce security cues to build trust.
Completion rate jumped from 45% → 82%.
Design System
Built a WCAG-compliant system from scratch:
- Token-based typography, color, spacing, elevation.
- Modular components (buttons, inputs, cards, dialogs).
- Scalable patterns for future features (like team staking).
- Accessibility-first with contrast, focus states, keyboard nav.
This cut dev overhead, reduced errors, and made scaling reliable.
Reflection
Designing the Unknown
When I joined, I barely understood staking.
By forcing myself to learn crypto deeply and then strip it down to its essentials, I became a designer who could turn complexity into clarity.
Key lesson
Trust is the UX of crypto. Adoption doesn’t come from flashy features, it comes from confidence and clarity.
SonarX proved that design can lower barriers to entire industries, not just apps.
selected works 23'-25'
