Transforming complex blockchain technology into a trusted consumer payment experience

I led the redesign of the MobileCoin brand and the end-to-end creation of Moby, a private peer-to-peer payments platform built on the MobileCoin blockchain. My work spanned brand strategy, product UX architecture, onboarding, compliance-driven flows, and partnership prototypes including Signal and Western Union.

The goal was to make encrypted digital payments accessible to everyday users, not just crypto-native audiences.

Overview

The Challenge

MobileCoin was built on advanced cryptography and privacy-preserving blockchain technology. While technically strong, the product faced significant adoption barriers.

Key problems included:

  • Crypto terminology created confusion for non-technical users

  • Wallet creation and address copying created friction for peer-to-peer payments

  • Users struggled to understand why privacy mattered in payments

  • Onboarding involved background KYC processes with unclear wait states

  • Brand perception felt technical, abstract, and difficult to trust

  • Visual identity lacked hierarchy and clarity

  • Partnerships required consumer-grade UX that did not yet exist

At the same time, the company was preparing for:

  • Signal payments integration

  • Stablecoin launch (eUSD)

  • Consumer product launch (Moby)

  • Potential Western Union partnership

  • Regulatory scrutiny and investor expectations

The stakes were high. Adoption and credibility depended on making complex technology feel simple, trustworthy, and human.

My Role

I worked directly with:

  • Bob Lee, Chief Product Officer

  • Josh Goldbard, CEO

  • David Ackerman, Head of Compliance

  • Razan Hantash, Product Manager

  • Engineering, legal, and security teams

  • Signal product and design teams

    I led a small design team of two designers.

Primary ownership included:

  • UX architecture

  • Design system creation

  • Brand direction for MobileCoin and Moby

  • Onboarding and wallte creation flows

  • Visual language and iconography

  • Product interaction patterns

  • Partnership prototypes

Core UX Problems I solved

1.

Most users did not understand:

  • What a wallet is

  • Why they needed one

  • How blockchain works

I designed onboarding that framed wallet creation as a simple account setup rather than a technical process.

Explaining Wallets Without Crypto Knowledge

2.

Users interacted with familiar payment metaphors:

  • Contacts

  • Amount entry

  • Confirmation

Blockchain operations occurred in the background.

Hiding Blockchain Complexity

3.

4.

5.

Compliance checks created delays that felt confusing.

I designed status messaging and progressive feedback to reduce uncertainty and abandonment.

KYC Wait States

We introduced eUSD to solve volatility concerns. I created visual and interaction patterns that clearly distinguished stable value from crypto assets.

We enabled sending to phone numbers or contacts even if the recipient had not yet created an account. Funds appeared once onboarding was complete, reducing friction.

Stablecoin Education

Sending Without Recipient Wallet

Key Design Contributions

We trademarked PrivatePay to make encryption understandable.

UX strategies included:

  • Clear labeling of private transactions

  • Subtle visual treatments such as blurred sensitive data

  • Consistent iconography signaling security

  • Plain language explanations

The goal was confidence without fear.

Communicating Privacy Simply

Signal Integration

Western Union Prototype

One of the most complex and high-impact initiatives was embedding MobileCoin payments inside Signal.

I designed the in-message payment experience while collaborating with Signal’s design team.

Constraints included:

  • Funding wallets inside Signal

  • Sending to users without activated payments

  • Interacting with external wallets

  • Maintaining Signal’s design principles and privacy standards

  • Ensuring the feature felt native to Signal

This required deep cross-company collaboration and careful UX decisions aligned with Signal’s brand philosophy.

I worked with the executive team to design a prototype demonstrating how users could:

  • Convert MOB or eUSD to cash

  • Transfer funds through Western Union

  • Withdraw at physical locations

The prototype supported partnership discussions and strategic alignment.

While detailed analytics are confidential, the work contributed to:

Results & Impact

Launch of Moby in January 2023

Simplified onboarding and wallet creation

Support for major partnerships including Signal

Launch of eUSD stablecoin in February 2023

Reduced technical friction for non-crypto users

Unified brand across product and marketing surfaces

The product continues today as Sentz.

Reflection

This project strengthened my ability to translate complex technology into accessible experiences. Designing at the intersection of finance, privacy, and compliance required deep collaboration across engineering, legal, and leadership teams.

It also reinforced the importance of trust as a design outcome. Users adopt financial tools when they feel safe, not when they understand every technical detail.

Acknowledgment

Bob Lee was not only the Chief Product Officer on this project, but also a dear friend and mentor to me. His belief in building technology that empowers individuals shaped the direction of this work and my growth as a designer.

After Bob’s passing in 2023, I chose to step away from the company to process the loss and take time for reflection. Working alongside him remains one of the most meaningful experiences of my career, and his commitment to accessibility, generosity, and human-centered technology continues to influence how I design today.