Case study · Concept · Web and mobile

Trust before the first trade

A concept for a platform where people trade crypto and cash directly with each other, designed around one question: trust.

The peer-to-peer trading platform on a laptop

00 Overview

Problem: New traders found platforms confusing and worried about scams, and a payment that stalled ended their trust for good.
My role: Product design, end to end: research, the four flows and the interface for web and mobile.
What I did: Visible steps on every trade, assets released only after verification, guided first trades, and help inside the trade.
Outcome: Four flows designed end to end: buy, sell, fund and withdraw. A concept, not shipped.

01 Context

Trust is the product

In peer-to-peer trading there is no exchange in the middle: two people agree a price, one sends crypto and the other sends cash. Whether it feels safe decides whether anyone trades at all.

Scams make that harder. In 2024, people in the US reported losing more money to scams paid by bank transfer or cryptocurrency than by all other ways of paying combined (FTC, 2025).

Who it’s for

First-time tradersCurious and cautious, put off by jargon and by stories of scams.
Experienced tradersWant speed and control, not hand-holding.
Both sides of a tradeEach needs to see where the trade stands, at every step.

02 Research

Method

10+ interviewsThe source of the three jobs below.
4 core flowsBuy, sell, fund and withdraw, mapped end to end.

A wall of sticky notes in three clusters, a hand adding one to the middle cluster — Illustration: what people said, grouped into the three jobs.

What it showed

New traders found most crypto platforms confusing, and many worried about scams. That set three jobs for the design.

Make every trade safeSafe and transparent, for both sides.
Make the first trade possibleBring first-time traders in with confidence.
Handle what goes wrongUnfinished trades and payment problems, without losing trust.

03 Define

The question

How does a platform feel safe enough for a first trade, and still powerful for an experienced trader?

Principles

Show where a trade standsEvery step visible to both sides, all the time.
Nothing moves before it’s verifiedAssets are released only after full verification.
Help inside the tradeThe other side and support are one tap away, in context.
Guide the first timeShort tutorials for a first trade, then out of the way.

How success would be measured

First trade: Share of new traders who finish a first trade
Stalled trades: Share solved in the trade’s chat, without a support ticket
Withdrawals: Completed without contacting support

04 Explore

Four flows

Buying, selling, funding and withdrawing were mapped end to end first, so every screen had a place in a flow before it had a look.

The task flows for buying, selling, funding and withdrawing — The four task flows: buy, sell, fund and withdraw.

Key decisions

Confirmation steps on every tradeBoth sides see the same progress, so no one has to ask where things are.Instead of: a single pending state
Assets held until verifiedSafety built into the flow, not promised in a banner.Instead of: trust ratings alone
Chat beside the tradeQuestions answered where the money is.Instead of: a separate support page
Help in withdrawalsThe step where people worry most gets help one tap away.Instead of: the same help on every screen

05 Design

A trade, and a withdrawal

A trade shows its steps from the offer to the release, with the other trader’s chat beside it. A withdrawal shows its steps too, with help one tap away at the moment people worry most.

A trade in progress with its steps and a chat with the other trader — A trade, its steps and the chat.

The withdraw screen with its steps and a help panel — A withdrawal, with help one tap away.

Every flow

The same parts carry every flow on the web and on a phone, so a trader learns them once.

More screens of the platform — The rest of the flows.

A person on a sofa in the evening holding a phone, its screen turned away, before a first trade — Illustration: the moment before a first trade, the one the guided steps are for.

06 Details

Edge cases the design handles

A payment stallsThe trade shows the step it stopped at, the chat is beside it, support is one tap away.
Assets on holdNothing is released until the payment is verified.
A first tradeGuided steps, with each new term explained where it appears.

Accessibility: what I’d check now

White on blueText on the blue panels needs checking against contrast rules.
Status in wordsEach step should say its state in words, not only in colour.
Every sizeThe same flows from a phone to a wide screen, without losing a step.

07 Result

As a concept, the platform wasn’t shipped. It delivered the four flows end to end, for web and mobile, with the trust patterns built into each one.

Next: a clickable first trade, tested with people who have never traded.
A dispute flow designed with the same care as a trade that goes well.

08 Reflection

Clarity and reassurance matter most when money is involved: show where a trade stands, and who to ask when it stops.

The same idea, showing what happens and who gets what before anyone says yes, came back years later in my own app Bots, in how it asks before your words go to an AI.

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