Blixt Wallet Case Study

[mouxdesign]

For the Blixt wallet design sprint we are in the process of creating a case study so that this can be added to the bitcoin design guide.

A draft has been created so far.

Blixt Wallet Case Study

[mouxdesign]

The Blixt wallet design sprint has been wrapped up and I'm now in the process of creating a case study for it.

We have tested the prototype we created and noted down the main observations here.

Now in the process of presenting the findings and insights in a visual way that is easy to understand.

[mouxdesign]

[mouxdesign]

Updated the screens and rephrased the suggestion section in the form of a question: how might we...

![Uploading Presentation Mobile.jpg…]()

[mouxdesign]

Blixt Wallet: Summary of Key observations

Personalization

Personalization in usability is usually seen as a positive thing which allows users to make changes to the interface which can allow them to “make it their own”. There are different forms of personalization, some could be allowing a user to switch from dark to light mode or allowing them to select a different font type. It could also include a user being able to add their name to the interface. From the usability tests some users found the adding of their name at the beginning of the onboarding journey to be something unusual, most testers reacted with surprise. Adding a user name which is linked to all lighting transactions might make a user feel that their privacy is not protected.

Opening a channel

Opening channels is something unique to lighting wallets and an essential first step during the onboarding process. For users completely new to lightning, opening a channel in itself is something that is new and unique to them. It is then nice to explain to users the reason as to why a channel should be opened prior to presenting them with the channel opening screen. An example of the text could read:

Explaining the concept of opening a channel to a user that has never used a lightning wallet

“First things first to use your lightning wallet, you’ll need to set up a channel. Think of a channel as your electricity connection to the lightning network. By opening a channel you are able to make transactions.

To open a channel first we will need to add some bitcoin to it. Once that is done you will be ready to make your first transaction.”

How can we?

• How can we use simple language to explain to a user who has never used a lightning wallet they reasoning as to why they need to open a channel as an initial step during the onboarding process

• How can we explain to users that first they need to fund their wallet with btc and why that is necessary

Setting expectations at the beginning of the onboarding process

How can we?

• How can we set clear expectations to users that they may need to:

1. Open a channel

2. Fund the wallet

3. Back up the wallet

• How can we determine which of the steps in the onboarding process we can allow users to possibly skip and only come back to after the first transaction?

Funding a wallet

How can we?

• How can we simplify the funding process in the user flow while at the same time keeping the terminology used to being as simple as possible and easy for the user to understand?

There are various ways in which a user can initially fund a wallet:

1. By buying btc

2. By sending btc from another lighting wallet

3. By sending btc from an onchain wallet

Providing Confirmation

How can we?

• How can we provide confirmation to users that they have copied the btc address to their clipboard?

• How can we make the fee on the QR code screen clear to users before they proceed with the transaction?

Confirmation of the address being copied seems to be something that users are familiar with from other Lightning wallet interfaces.

Home: Send/Receive screen

Overall users who tested really liked the overall design of the homescreen. It was also something that was also very familiar to them as they have seen it in other lighting wallets.

Some additions which we could think about are: Adding a toggle on the base currency so that even if the wallet auto selects the currency initially, a user will still have the freedom to change it to another currency of their choice.

How can we?

• How can we create a greater sense of urgency for a user to back up a wallet?

Ideas might be to add in a modal overlay on this home screen that prevents users from clicking the buttons, instead nudging them to back up their wallet first before transacting.

Back up Channels Screen

How can we?

• How can we allow users the freedom to skip the backing up process if they would like to come back to it later.

An idea might be to back up the wallet only after the first transaction has been completed.

• How can we add in information that the backups are encrypted?

• How can we ensure that the interface provides clear feedback to a user that they have selected a particular backup option?

Confirmation screen

Although lightning fee amounts are small it might be an idea to also allow users the ability to see the fee in their own currency.

How can we?

• How can we show the total amount which includes the fee on this screenstate?

Sent screen

How can we?

• How can we make first time users feel confident that their first transaction successfully went through?

[mouxdesign]

Initial idea for the case study which could then be added to the case study section of the bitcoin design guide

How do we help new users to open lightning channels?

Blixt Wallet is a non-custodial open-source Bitcoin Lightning Wallet for Android and iOS with a focus on usability and user experience.

Blixt is has a goal of serving users who new to lightning but are familiar with bitcoin but want to try out the lightning network for the first time. The current userbase of Blixt tend to be more advanced users and Blixt would like to move towards catering more for users who want to try out the lightning network as well.

What does Blixt do?

• Onboard someone quickly over lightning so they can have a channel already provisioned to receive funds

• Automatically open channels anytime the user has on-chain funds (Auto pilot)

• Automatic channel creation during initial deposit of funds

• Support for custom LSP
  

Since Blixt is an open source wallet we collected user research simply by going on their Discord channel and collecting comments and questions from users.

We discovered that Blixt users were mostly struggling to open lightning channels.

We created alot of different user flows, and eventually settled on this one.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was… Helping users to onboard themselves quickly and easily even if they have not used a lightning wallet before

Here's how we solved it

.....

Then we tested to check if our solution was the right one

We did this by doing some usability tests, to do those usability tests we first:

1. Created a prototype based on the userflow the Blixt wallet interface that we re-designed
2. Narrowed down our scope in terms of who we wanted to test as well as the goals of conducting the tests
3. We then conducted the test, simple quick 30 minute video calls with volunteers who then tested out the prototype live

We gained alot of insights by doing these tests...we learnt that....