Amaano

Amaano is a blockchain application that allows for bitcoin transactions in parts of Africa that services like Paypal have barred.

The Challenge

Amaanos's challenges include:
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1 - Scalability. They plan to be big, so they need a design system that will last.
2 - Have an organized intranet to support future employee's.
3 - Educate their user base so that they can be financially sound.

Discovery

Jumping into Amaano was no easy task. The blockchain startup was on the cutting edge of the latest crypto technology, and it was my job to understand it all and improve it. Thankfully I was not alone. The design team at amaano was diverse, and brought many different perspectives to the table. In this stage we researched together, compared our research to other company strategies, and formed our own questions to test and explore.

Here we go!

Aha!

My aha moment came when I started to learn about the people that amaano would be affecting.

Considering their day to day experience opened up many considerations that would help build integrity into the experience.

- Would they have a lot of time to scroll on the internet? Or would they need an app that got to the point fast because its harder for them to find a power source to charge their devices?

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A company favorite photo that captures our users attitiude.

“How to we prepare our designs for the future?”

The Meat of It

My work at amaano was expansive. My team and I had done UX research, created animations, built a design system, designed screens, prototyped everything and even tested it.

Using the SCRUM method really helped my team get a lot done fast. Talking things through and combing through all the options was effective.

As I got to amaano I went in on the Slack assignments and completed the darkmode design within a few days.

Planning for the future

Our design system quickly became the source of truth for our designs. As time went by, we began to see the importance in standardizing everything, from spacings, to tone.

It was because of this desire that we created a design system that was beyond ourselves, so that anybody could join at any time and understand the vision we had, this was our true goal.

Snippet of the Amaano design system.

Front row seat

During my time at amaano, I had watched several designers come and go.

To me, this process was the true testament of our design system.

When Jack, a new designer, joined the team I watched as he deciphered the design system. It was the best thing that could've happened for our system, as it showed us the holes and shortcomings we didn’t consider.

Teamwork means being able to adapt to new situations with ease.

For next time

Although I am proud of the work I had done at amaano, my contract ended with me being hungrier for knowledge than when I came in. I still had a lot to learn, but amaano and its success on the app store put me in the right direction.

Amaano on the app store. Check it out here!

Conclusion

Organization and Communication are the most important skills I gained from this experience. I had learned to create lightweight assets, improve user satisfaction, and create a design system that will stand the test of time.But in a not so distant future, I had learned my true skill as a UI UX designer...