Case studies  |  AscendEX 2.0

Upgrading the branding and UX of a centralized crypto exchange in the most challenging industry landscape

AscendEX is a centralized crypto exchange (CEX) with active users present in more than 50 countries. Founded in 2018, the product grew and expanded its offering of features, to attract users and traders with different levels of experience and needs.

After November 2022, we had the opportunity to review the holistic brand and product strategy. While in Q1 2022, enhancements to the post-login experience were released with great results such as 300% increase in trading conversions by retail users; now it was necessary to implement changes across all steps of the customer journey, to be more relevant to the goals of our newly defined audience.

Duration: AscendEX / 2022-2023 / 4 months

About the project

– Usability testing
– Information architecture
– UX strategy
– Product & UI Design
– Branding

Role

– Brand guidelines
– Design system update
– Usability testing hypothesis
– User flows & wireframes
– Pre-login and post-login screens
– Interaction design

Deliverables

Before & after comparison

Pre-login: Homepage

Post-login: Dashboard

Post-login: APP

How did we get here

AscendEX’s current visual design

The challenge

AscendEX’s current branding was delivered in record time, back in late 2021, in the midst of an opportunity to stand separately from its previous stages. That redesign was done with some limitations, that impact the current user experience until today, mainly because:

  1. It does not build familiarity with the product. All images were conceptual illustrations.

  2. The storytelling is not focused on the differentiators of the platform. AscendEX needs to stand out in a saturated market.

  3. The current version of the port-login platform was revamped with very low available data. We had now over 5 months of user activity tracked.

Discovery & Planning

  • Usability testing - User interviews

    18 people with different levels of familiarity with crypto and AscendEX were interviewed on online calls, and in person. The script created for the interview asked for specific passive and active tasks to complete.

  • Usability testing - Hypothesis definition

    Based on the insights we got from our users, plus, our updated demographic, a list of quick wins and enhancements was determined and categorized by level of urgency. This was used to configure our Agile deployment.

  • Information Architecture 2.0

    Part of the new strategy required an update in the sitemap and the content architecture of some key pages. Even though the site structure was to remain 90% the same, we determined a better way to sell and cross-sell the platform’s offering.

  • New UX Strategy

    Branding, new features, and level of prioritization were the main topics of the 4 workshop sessions conducted to plan the execution of the plan. After that, design critic sessions were conducted to review wireframes and visual design.

Building the New AscendEX

1. Updating brand fundamentals

Based on market data, and the new landscape of the industry, it was decided to fix the delivery of the brand to appeal to our audience with new visuals, updated colors, and fonts, applied to the current design system.

2. New pre-login experience that builds familiarity

The new branding will be applied in phases, starting with the pages with higher traffic, and conversion rates. Here we were focused on being more product-centric, with the goal of building familiarity with the platform in the early stages of the user journey.

3. Post-Login aligned with users' goals

With the results from the usability testing, the feedback of the product was ranked by its level of urgency and execution efforts. This allowed us to schedule the delivery of the hypothesis by sprints and improve the usability from version 1.0.

Brand
guidelines 2.0

The 24/7 nature of crypto does not give the luxury of temporarily pausing the operations to conduct full brand overhauls and UX updates. “Fueling the plane while on flight” was the premise to enhance the branding and the design system that already existed.

Three main updates were introduced to the branding. A new typeface for headlines, a refresh in the accent, and secondary colors -with hue scales that suit better the use cases-, a new illustration style for pictograms and icons.

Pre-login
experience

Web Desktop

Mobile screens

Post-login
experience

Desktop Dashboard

New assets detail page, & more

Updated UI components

App 2.0

BONUS

Blue sky ideation

AscendEX Widget

The idea behind this widget is to give the user quick access to the tools of the product that require a low level of configurability, so that they can engage with AscendEX from the moment they unlock their phones.

Key functions:

  • The user can determine which tabs to show in the widget from the App settings.

  • The user can perform quick transactions without having to pen the app

  • The widget will remember the latest user preferences and incomplete journeys.

Ascend-AI

When trying to find ways to incorporate AI into the product experience, the most straightforward idea was to use the technology as an assistant.

The conditions, in order to avoid any potential legal barriers, required the LMM (Large Language Model) to behave as an executioner of instructions, rather than a market advisor for trades.

The LMM can also fetch relevant information and news about a token so that the user can make more informed decisions.

"Lucas …has a keen sense of how to craft compelling user experiences that connect with the audience on a deeper level."

– Raju Davé | Head of Digital Transformation @ AscendEX

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