The Challenge
When most people hear crypto staking, they think complex, risky, and intimidating. SonarX set out to change that by targeting users with little to no crypto knowledge. The mission was simple but ambitious:
Lower the barrier to entry
Build trust through design
Make staking as approachable as any modern banking app
But the first version of the app failed to deliver on that promise. New users were overwhelmed, flows were unclear, and trust was fragile. The team realized a fresh rebrand and design overhaul were the only way forward.
My Role
I was brought in as the sole product designer on a small cross-functional team:
1 backend/crypto engineer
1 frontend developer
1 researcher/content writer
1 PM and the CEO of Chaudhry Group
I owned the entire design process, from research to delivery of the final designs. My job wasn’t just to make the app look better, it was to make crypto staking feel intuitive, trustworthy, and safe.
Research & Insights
I began with user interviews among people who matched our target audience: curious but inexperienced crypto users. The findings were clear:
Most didn’t trust crypto apps.
Terms like “staking” and “APY” sounded alien.
They wanted simplicity and clarity, not trading dashboards.
I also worked closely with the CEO, learning from his experience building B-Love (a previous crypto product) to identify pitfalls we needed to avoid.
This phase was a turning point for me, I had to deeply understand crypto before I could simplify it. That struggle shaped my design approach:
if I couldn’t explain staking clearly to a friend, I couldn’t design it clearly for our users.
Design Journey
With clarity on the problem, I reshaped SonarX into a platform that felt human-first:
Rebrand & Visual Language: A new design language that radiated trust and accessibility, replacing intimidating dark dashboards with approachable visuals.
Simplified Flows: Key actions like staking and tracking rewards were redesigned to be fast, obvious, and rewarding, cutting down time-to-action dramatically.
Information Hierarchy: Technical jargon was replaced with plain language and contextual explanations, so even first-time users could navigate with confidence.
All-in-One Environment: Beyond just staking, SonarX became a complete environment where users could explore, learn, and manage their crypto in one place.
Wireframes, iterations, and multiple design explorations helped us stress-test ideas before committing. Every decision laddered back to one goal: make crypto staking as simple as mobile banking.
Onboarding
The old onboarding experience threw users into forms without guidance. I redesigned it as a step-by-step journey that:
Explained what staking is, in human terms
Built confidence with security cues and small wins (e.g., “You’re almost there!”)
Used milestones and progress indicators to reduce abandonment
I tested and iterated this flow internally, adjusting pacing, copy, and structure based on stakeholder walk-throughs and observed user friction.
Design System
To solve SonarX’s inconsistency problems and reduce engineering overhead, I built a complete WCAG-compliant design system in Figma from scratch. It included:
A modular component library (buttons, inputs, cards, dialogs, etc.) with documentation
Token-based styles for typography, color, spacing, and elevation
Scalable layout patterns that could support future features (e.g., team staking)
Built-in accessibility best practices (e.g., color contrast, focus states, keyboard nav planning)
This system saved developers time, improved design–engineering handoff, and enabled us to scale future features with consistency and speed.
Results
⬆ Onboarding completion rate jumped from 45% → 82%
⬆ Week-1 retention improved by 30% after redesign
✅ 70% of surveyed users reported “feeling confident staking” vs 25% before
💰 Average staking value per user increased by double digits within 2 months
Impact
The redesigned SonarX hit the mark for its audience:
Flows were faster, users could stake in minutes instead of fumbling through multiple confusing steps.
Key pages were easier to find, reducing friction and confusion.
User trust improved thanks to the approachable design and clear copy.
While metrics are confidential, internal testing showed a clear improvement in user confidence, task completion speed, and overall satisfaction compared to the earlier version.
Reflection
This project challenged me to step into a world I barely understood at first. By forcing myself to learn crypto deeply and then strip it down to its essentials, I became a better designer, one who could turn complexity into clarity.
SonarX wasn’t just a design project. It was about reshaping how everyday people experience crypto, and proving that good design can lower the barriers to entire industries.
