STEP 4: Consult the crypto-curious
We did multiple prototype testing sessions of the Coinbase Learn design with our target audience: folks who have heard of bitcoin, but don’t know much about it and want to know more. The sessions gave us valuable feedback on the navigation and content, allowing us to iterate multiple times and make improvements to the experience.
Users’ overall reaction to the page validated our initial strategy. Participants told us that they liked the level of information and the modular design of the clickable topics. One participant said, “I like that it’s not a whole bunch of information, and I don’t feel completely overwhelmed.” Simplicity: check! They also liked that it “felt honest” — not like we were selling something — and that it “doesn’t make [me] feel like an idiot.” They reported feeling a higher degree of comfort with crypto after viewing the page, so we knew we were on the right track.
A user testing session over video chat
The sessions also uncovered a number of seemingly subtle UX fixes that had an outsized impact on the navigation experience. For example, initial versions of the site didn’t have an X at the top of each modal, so people had no idea how to “escape” a topic and felt a little trapped. The grey path was also a more recent addition. In the first version, it wasn’t clear that you had to scroll down to get to the answers, so people didn’t know where to go when they first landed.
All in all, the short and sweet answer strategy worked so well that we actually left users wanting more. Participants really understood and enjoyed the shorter and simple answers, so they learned a lot about crypto. The more they learned, the more interested they became — to the point where they requested more information to be accessible from the page. We’ll count that as a success! Eventually, we’d like build a bigger learning hub to support the next level of that journey.