I have recently become intrigued by the crypto products that have seen mass adoption in the past year. Every tech company is scrambling to include NFTs, the "metaverse" or crypto in their lineup. However, if you try to use these web3 products instead of just investing in them you'll find they feel primitive. In a sense, it feels like the early days of the internet. In terms of adoption, the data suggests it is early.

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These products feel clunky, cumbersome, hard to understand, and generally poorly designed. I wanted to think about the most used crypto wallet "MetaMask" and design what it could look like 5-10 years from now?

🌎 Discovery - Time to Diverge

Research

I generally start my design process in text, asking whichever questions come to mind, and jotting down any ideas or assumptions I find. This helps me uncover a larger range of opportunities than when I start projects visually. After reading the prompt, there were a few questions that come to mind immediately.

What's the goal of MetaMask? What are we optimizing for? What does success look like? Engagement with the app? Transaction Volume? Becoming a platform for the future of the internet? Ease of use?

I'd assume the goal is a combination: ease of use, transaction volume, and enabling access to the decentralized products of the world. Most importantly adoption. I took a look at MetaMask's press releases and they often mention the number of wallets. This leads me to believe the goal is adoption. Overall, I see it as the iPhone 4 of the crypto world - it could unlock access to the next version of the web "web3".

What are the pain points today? What do the users dislike? What is impeding the product from achieving this future state?

Trust
- Crypto is based around verification not trust but if you don't trust the wallet you are using it becomes an impediment to the experience. The MetaMask UX, branding, and UI feels like a developer application with tons of fields that can't be understood. The cognitive friction makes it difficult to establish this sense of trust because users tend to become wary if they don't understand concepts.
- This is my general hypothesis. I wanted to see if my initial intuition was related to what real users have to say. On Twitter, I've found tons of comments about the poor UX of Metamask.
https://twitter.com/mmalisani/status/1465611296561369092?s=20
Cognitive Load
- Using new products comes with the need to learn new concepts (especially in crypto). MetaMask does no onboarding in the app and requires prior knowledge. Even if users have some knowledge about the space, the app does little to guide them. Based on the principle: Recognition Over Recall - It's easier to recognize things than recall them from memory
Unappealing Aesthetics
- It might seem trivial but as we know that aesthetics matter. Due to the psychological principle: Aesthetic-Usability Effect - People perceive designs with great aesthetics as easier to use.

What is the value of a crypto wallet today and what is the value of it in the future.

A Passport - Identify and Validate
- Many might think and use a crypto wallet for holding and transferring coins but the way things are going with web3, a wallet is much more than what we might think a real-life wallet is used for. These web3 wallets are used to sign in to accounts on apps like OpenSea and securely validate if you own something. I think it is much more similar to a passport. It grants you access to your online persona - the digital places you want to go, the things you own, your preferences, and your communication.
An App Store - Curation, Discovery, and Direction
- There is a growing number of amazing use cases in the crypto product world. However, it is difficult to understand what might be useful to me. It is also incredibly difficult to even discover what is out there? The wallet could do this heavy lifting and provide a safe place to uncover the products that are valuable and interesting.
A web3 OS - Browser, and Infra Tools
- Wallets give you access to the web apps you need to use much like the web browser or even how iOS is a foundation of the tools you need to access the rest of the internet.