Reducing payment failures by increasing crypto adoption by 25.1%
Payment UX
Educational onboarding
Drop-off reduction
Overview
This project was part of my work at Mystino, an online casino platform for the Japanese market. The goal was to redesign the crypto payment experience to make it approachable and understandable for users.
My role & Design focus
I led user research and created educational content (writing and video), focusing on simplifying complex crypto concepts and reducing cognitive load through clear structure and plain language.
Collaborated with
Frontend developers - implementation
Outcome
25.1% of surveyed users completed their first crypto payment
A significant reduction in support inquiries
Design overview
Problem
No onboarding for first-time crypto users
Scroll-heavy content made the payment process hard to follow
Solution / Approach
Designed a beginner-first crypto onboarding experience
Structured steps and short videos to guide users confidently use crypto
Background
How can we offer smooth, reliable payments to our users?
Problem
Challenge
User goal
Complete payments smoothly
Business goal
Increase crypto payment adoption to reduce payment failures
Research & Hypotheses
Users hesitate because crypto feels unfamiliar
To identify why users struggle with crypto payment, I conducted:
User surveys
Analysis of support inquiries
Review of PostHog screen recordings
Review screen recordings on PostHog
Survey insight
Crypto concepts were confusing
Users wanted a step-by-step guide
Behavioral insight
Users repeatedly switched between the cashier and info pages
They seemed willing to try but hesitated
These showed that users had intent but lacked confidence. The core barriers were unfamiliar concepts and uncertainty at key steps.
Users fail because the concepts are unfamiliar
Terms like “exchange,” “wallet,” or “address” caused hesitation.
Confidence is the key success factor
Users don’t need to fully understand crypto. They need reassurance and clarity at each step.
Ideation
Create a beginner-friendly crypto guide to provide clarity and reassurance at payment
The guide includs:
Simple explanations (exchanges & wallets)
Step-by-step instructions with screenshots
Sign up for an exchange & wallet
Purchase crypto
Make a crypto payment to Mystino
1st crypto guide design
Remove cognitive barriers with a beginner guide
prioritized plain language and concrete examples to make ideas easier to grasp
avoided unnecessary explanations and deliberately simplified the content
Guide content draft
Unexpected constraint: Selecting the right exchange and wallet services
Many global platforms lacked Japanese language support, while most domestic services didn’t support overseas transfers or had limited currency compatibility.
To ensure availability and reduce friction for beginners, I evaluated multiple services and narrowed the recommendations based on the following criteria:
Accessible from Japan with Japanese language support
Beginner-friendly interfaces
Positive reputation among Japanese users
Support for overseas transfers
Final design
I created a static guide through our CMS, prioritizing fast release.
Pros
Fast to ship
Great for collecting early reactions
Cons
Long scrolling
Harder to find specific steps
Outcome
18.1% of surveyed users completed their first crypto payment - but many still struggled or dropped off.
2nd crypto guide design
Reduce cognitive load, simplify decisions
After release, I led a follow-up survey and analyzed behavioral data from PostHog to identify remaining friction.
Follow-up survey insight
“Exchange vs wallet” distinction was too confusing
Users wanted video tutorials
Behavioral insight
Users hesitating at technical terms like “destination tag” during payment
Uncertainty peaked right before the final step
These showed that users needed fewer concepts and clearer next steps, rather than more detailed explanations.
Ideation
Remove the wallet concept
We simplified the flow to: exchange → Mystino. This reduced the cognitive load and the paths users needed to make.
Make the guide more interactive and easier to navigate
We shifted from explaining crypto to guiding behavior.
New guide includes:
An interactive structure allowing users to choose their path
Step-by-step tutorial videos to reduce reliance on reading
Users can choose their own path
I created tutorial videos with Figma prototyping
Final design
Outcome
25.1% of surveyed users completed their first crypto payment successfully
Significant reduction in crypto-related support tickets
Users reported:
Increased confidence
Better understanding of the overall payment flow
Remaining challenge:
The crypto purchase step remained the biggest barrier - the next focus area for future iterations.
Retrospective
I learned that the key to improving crypto payments is reducing uncertainty - not adding more explanation. Users didn’t need more information; they needed the right information, at the right moment.
Screen recordings were especially valuable. They revealed hesitation and behavior the team hadn't anticipated, which was very helpful in designing the guide.
This project reinforced a core principle in my design approach: Clarity reduces fear. And when users feel safe, they act with confidence.
