How do you build a good website with minimum information from the client? This is a fairly common challenge for web designers. So what can they do?
Here’s a tip: find the missing puzzle pieces and your own unique style.
We know that the more input data the designers have, the easier it is for them to meet their client’s demands and satisfy the audience. But it’s not always attainable in real life, especially when dealing with startups. Still, there are ways to solve a problem with unknown quantities and get great results. This is one of them.
Staking service provider for blockchain projects.
Task: To design a website for staking services for blockchain projects. A minimalist website with easy-to-use functions to view every network/platform by following understandable steps that will allow users to begin staking on this platform.
Bold, young, contrasting, fresh, serious.
Young people who want to invest in cryptocurrency.
The project is a successful and promising startup. Staking (earning rewards for holding bitcoins) is quite popular at the moment, so the company has found its niche in the crypto market. To further expand the business, the client needed a website where users could find simple explanations and begin staking (earning rewards).
Our client had a website concept that was very informative when it came to the company’s advantages, work process, and user benefits. However, we had no user profiles to go on and thus no clear understanding of our target audience. We couldn’t analyze and get a feel for the people we were designing for.
“People who want to invest in cryptocurrency” was all we knew of our audience. Trust us when we say it’s nowhere near enough.
It’s not our first year of dealing with the subject of cryptocurrencies, so we do have some understanding of the audience. Nevertheless, it keeps changing and growing every year. In this case, we couldn’t figure out which user group our project should be geared toward. Back when crypto was just beginning, it was presented as something new, daring, mysterious, and cosmic. For example, one of our clients envisioned their website as magical polar lights. But after a while, cryptocurrencies became mundane. Here’s a superbly designed crypto website that any housewife can use to make money: Case Study: Real Bitcoin. Its color palette implies activity, but one that is prudent and definitely not frenzied.
As the cryptocurrency market expands and gains new audience groups, it starts losing its air of mystique. With that in mind, we tried to find an optimum solution that would work today: a kind of one-size-fits-all concept suitable for different users.
When we lack all the relevant information about the target audience, we must design for the uninitiated, i.e. users that are unfamiliar with the subject. This in no way means that the product must be primitive or simplistic. It means maximum clarity and ease of use at every step so that any visitor to the website can quickly figure out how to proceed.
That’s why we decided to make the subject of earning through staking simple and transparent, easy for an average person to grasp. This meant accessible and simple UX aided by an enjoyable, minimalist UI.
There was also another problem: separating from the competition. Our client wanted a website similar to letzbake.com or stake.fish. Except of course it had to be better, more fun, and more effective. And that’s what we wanted, too!
We analyzed competitors’ websites: clean, minimalist, with no mysterious spacey themes. We had to follow the same path but also find something unique and special to make our website different from its counterparts and memorable for its users.
Thus the final concept was born: simple steps, clarity, well-defined structure, and logical hierarchy. This was the main thing. The lack of information encouraged us to develop a very thorough UX relying on ease of use, simplicity, and rationality.
We designed a functional and easy-to-use page for each network. We divided the page in two so that users can clearly see the name of the network and the number of steps they need to take in the left-hand panel. The right-hand part of the page contains scrollable step-by-step instructions on how to begin working with a specific network. All the necessary information is logically arranged for easy interaction (such as following links or copying). Unlike competing websites, where users get treated to a solid block of text, we broke it down into separate steps with detailed descriptions, thus enhancing functionality for users.
We also used small sections with interactions/motion to make interacting with the website more fun for the users. This was a way to avoid monotonous scrolling.
The interior page helps users quickly figure out what to do, where to start, and what buttons to push on any given platform. The handy design and step-by-step instructions speed up this process:
Our overarching objective was to make the visuals simple, understandable, and fresh. We needed to guide the user from A to Z through visual hints so that he or she would have time to consider the offer, gain trust in the company, understand the underlying principle, and get excited about the idea of making money through staking.
In our case, the client wanted us to use a specific color, which was a solid choice. Lime green is more active and intense than pale green. But it still has the mental effect of green, signifying trust, vitality, potential, growth, and hope (after all, it’s the color of new growth). Color is what people see and perceive instantly, within seconds. It sets the mood right away.
The blocks are visually separated and ordered according to the logic of the project. Even a user who knows nothing about crypto will have no trouble navigating the website. It’s visually clear, structured, and easy to understand.
Custom line drawings became the element that sets our website apart from similar ones. Good illustrations make the project more human, so people intuitively trust it more. It’s a signal to the users: someone made an effort, drew the pictures, and put their heart into it. It’s not a soulless template; it’s a website designed by caring people with attention to detail. (This implies they’re also attentive to their users.) Of course, there are many styles of illustration to choose from, so this matter requires careful consideration. We put a lot of thought into our drawings before arriving at the perfect concept.
Our client did not want “cartoon-style” illustrations, and that was the right strategy. Together, we found the perfect style: thin lines, aesthetic presentation, and zero cartoonish silliness. This style is not accidental: it signifies attention to detail, it’s simple, neat, and even somewhat strict. All these things are important for crypto. It’s as if we are saying, “Everything we do is clear, precise, neat, and correct.”
The small elegant drawings transformed the website, made it more fun to use, more attractive, and enjoyable for the users. More importantly, none of the competitors have them! :) There’s another benefit to using drawings: they are memorable, so an illustrated website quickly becomes familiar and recognizable.
The drawings do a delicate but powerful job: they add smartness, taste, and style to the project. And that’s very important if you want to go one better than the competition.
I have good reasons for making it a separate paragraph. Cleanness is paramount in design. A clean design is more than simply a neat design with no clutter. It’s more than space and light. It’s a way to make a deliberate psychological impression on the user. “Our actions are transparent; we do everything perfectly and precisely.” This is what people should feel when they see a minimalist, clean, fresh design. Anything that is not immediately understandable is explained, revealed, and demonstrated. This makes users trust and like the product a lot more.
Outcrowd developed and designed a new website for a staking services provider from scratch. We worked on the graphics and site maps, corrected all the mistakes, and then presented the final version. Our client was pleased with the result, just as we enjoyed working with them. After launching the new site, the client noticed a significant increase in traffic and received praise from various stakeholders regarding its design.
We are grateful to every project we work with. It’s always a challenge and a valuable experience. And so it was with this one, where we had a task with some missing puzzle pieces. It was really interesting! Our client’s project is thriving and growing, and we are happy to have contributed our creative piece of the puzzle.
More case studies from Outcrowd:
Dotcal. Web Design for a Booking Service
Satsback. Example of Blockchain Brand Development
CloudSpot. Logo Redesign for Photographers Gallery
