New technology and trends excite us at Pollen. Many of us have dabbled in cryptocurrency and as a business we’ve explored the potential opportunities of decentralized technologies for a variety of industries. We thought we were reasonably well versed in cryptocurrency, until we met DEXTF.

DEXTF is a Decentralized Finance, or DeFI, fund management startup. Simply put, it enables people to invest in cryptocurrency managed funds. As we initiated our 3-day design sprint we soon realised the complexity involved. The sprint was focused on solving one of their primary customer pain points.

DeFi is a complex concept and DEXTF was currently serving their advanced investors well, by providing highly detailed dashboards and in-depth user flows. The opportunity lay in making the platform more accessible to those newer to managed funds as well as the complex and fragmented world of crypto. Our aim was to simplify the DeFi experience for these people.

We launched into our adapted version of the Google Ventures 3 day Design Sprint. A lean, highly collaborative process that validates assumptions quickly with design solutions. Each day had a focus, the first being to learn and define the opportunity, the second to ideate and design, the third to prototype & refine. Each day included collaboration with the key stakeholders including lean validation and ended with a broader team feedback session.

The lightbulb moment occurred during a remote feedback session towards the end of day 2. We workshopped a sketch that demonstrated the two ways new users could get involved. We then designed and shared it with DEXTF's very active and engaged Twitter community. Providing us fast feedback and validation at scale with existing and prospective users.

The solution broke the complex new user onboarding experience down into simpler, easy to digest workflows. Segmenting people allowed us to guide and support new users through the initial investment phase. Whilst providing the same 'high-fidelity’ experience to the more advanced investors.