CASE STUDIES | TEA PROTOCOLHelping an incentivized testnet acquire 1M+ new users 2.5 months after launch
About the project
– Year: 2023 - 2024
– Duration: 4 months
– Engagement type: Founder Designer - Contract
Envisioned by Max Howell, creator of Homebrew, the tea Protocol offers a decentralized rewards system for open-source developers, enabling them to earn recognition and compensation for their contributions to the software ecosystem. By staking TEA tokens, users can support projects, participate in governance, and receive rewards, thereby enhancing the security and sustainability of open-source software.
The protocol’s “Proof of Contribution” ranking algorithm (CHAI) quantifies the impact of each project assigning a score (teaRank), rewarding developers based on their influence and usage across the ecosystem.
– Ecosystem Audit
– Brand Audit and scaling
– Research
– Information architecture
– UX strategy
– User flows & wireframes
– Product Design
– Technical Documentation
– Interaction design
Activities
– Brand guidelines
– 0-1 Design system + Components Library
– Web App and Testnet Design
– NFT Design
– No-Code Website Design
– Marketing Collateral
– Usability Testing Report
– Mainnet Ideation
Deliverables
“Tea.xyz is pioneering a way to reward software developers based on the actual usage of their code.”
Outcomes
The tea testnet was announced on December 18, 2023, and went live on February 21, 2024. During this period, the following results were achieved:
100K
generated leads in 2 months, during the waitlist period.
1M+
registrations in 2.5 months after testnet release.
40+
feature quests tested with weekly canary releases.
The initial sip
– Example of workshop outcomeWe began by analyzing the current state of tea’s identity. An evaluation of the existing brand design was conducted, and weaknesses were addressed to reduce implementation flaws. Virtual workshops were held to redefine the branding strategy and develop additional branding assets.
✅ Current digital ecosystem audit
✅ Current brand design
✅ Future desired state of the protocol
The Result
MAX HOWELL - FOUNDER PKGX / TEA PROTOCOL“Lucas has a somewhat intimidating work ethic, attention to detail and commitment to delivering both beauty and usability. I don’t recommend people lightly but I recommend Lucas easily.”
Brewing the fundamentals
DESIGN & VISUAL SYSTEMSOnce the branding was ready, visual systems were implemented. A collection of design tokens was assembled and applied using Tailwind. Additionally, a visual system for illustrations was developed to conceptualize complex concepts and mechanics related to the functioning of the protocol.
The tea cup
MEDIA CREATIONWe leveraged the concept of the tea cup to create an imagery collection for the challenges used during the testnet, and the NFTs that users would receive as proof of donation. The cups resembled different types of infusions and materials, reflecting the thresholds of the donations.
– tea Cup asNFTs as 'Proof of Donation'per package manager: pypi, npm, rubygems, crates, homebrew, pkgx, 
– concept to name weekly Challenge Rounds: Jasmine, earl grey, matcha, chai, chamomile, oolong, etcDesigning a tasty tea
THE TEA APPOn the product front, we worked directly with the CPO and CTO to define the implementation strategy, processes, and user flows. We also fine-tuned the quality of deliverables to support a rapidly expanding development team.
We traveled to Toronto for all-hands sessions to establish UX fundamentals and align them with the product roadmap. Understanding user personas helped us prioritize the features to be released in sync with the quests calendar.
challenges & leaderboardBuilding trust with web2 OSS developers
key challenge– How to build trust trust with web2 developers?
– How to deliver a experience that invites them to participate
– How to encourage them to participate and register their projects
– How to build a experience that feels familiar
All these goals and considerations were considered from the definition of the user flows, to all the participation methods available in the UI.
USER FLOWSANNOTATIONS & UI COMPONENTSMULTISIG TRANSACTION VALIDATION FLOWCLAIM PROJECT REWARDS FLOWSUPPORT SCREENSWEB DESIGNFreeing Up Developers’ Workload with No-Code Production
One of the biggest challenges we faced with PKGX team, was the speed at which the project needed to be built, and the need for a flexible way of scaling up.
To allow the core dev team to focus on the product, we decided to own a great quality no-code implementation website using Webflow. This decision gave us 10x speed on frequent updates, blog publishing, and relief some of the stress the CPO and CTOs had.
Impressions from Users
“My experience so far has been pretty positive. It was pretty easy to just kind of import all of my projects. I like that I can just add them all instantly...
the gamification been really good as well, to actually kind of get me like using the platform...
quite like often companies don't add that to like kind of very late in the game, so it's been quite fun just almost as like completing the bounties and it's been actually teaching me how to use the platform.”
– Matt LewisA vision for tea’s mainnet
FUTURE STATEDuring testnet, a series of usability resting sessions where conducted, and insights where gathered alongside with the feedback we received from the communi’tea.
These outcomes lead to a reframe of core mechanisms, and the introduction of the mobile web app with a reduced feature surface.
As of February 2025, Tea’s testnet is still running with a new roadmap. Some of the mainnet artifacts may no longer be used in this new direction, but it was exciting to push the extra mile to get here.
marketing supportSupporting Marketing Initiatives
Additionally, we supported marketing efforts by developing various assets and strategies to promote the tea Protocol and engage the community effectively.
"Lucas brings an exceptional blend of professionalism, efficiency, and creativity to every aspect of his work. He quickly grasped complex product requirements and translated them into intuitive, impactful designs that truly resonated with our users.
Beyond his design expertise, Lucas was incredibly proactive and deeply committed to the product’s success. He engaged with the entire team, fostering collaboration and making himself available for feedback at every stage. His speed and dedication to quality consistently exceeded expectations, making him a standout contributor to our team’s success."
– THOMAS BORREL | FORMER CPO - TEA ASSOCIATIONMORE PROJECTS
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