iOS & Android
Silo
A Non-Custodial Web3 Finance App
The Backstory
Around May 2022, my co-founder Pranav (CS major at UMD) and I came up with the idea for a platform that enabled anyone to own shares of private companies, not just accredited investors. Having grown up in a Silicon Valley household with investor parents, I was exposed to the private side of investing from an early age, seeing companies go from conception to IPO. I also saw the potential these companies had to create wealth, with returns magnitudes greater than those in the public markets.
While we were still in the ideation phase, our plan was to create a platform where companies could lock up equity and in place deploy a token which would be available to retail investors, acting as a "share", with a 1:1 ratio of tokens to shares. This way, as the company scaled, the holding value of the locked shares went up, and in turn, drove the token value up at the same rate. Once we had created a business plan and pitch deck, we applied to the Replit Ventures incubator under the startup Taga, and were 1 of 13 startups accepted globally.
Over the Summer, We:
Designed and platform and brand from the ground up.
Developed the frontend and backend for this platform.
Created smart contracts to facilitate custody, trading, and more.
Pitched investors and demo'd our product in front of many VCs.
First drafts of the Taga web platform.
Challenges
Despite this progress, we encountered many challenges, both logistical and legal. Given the sectors we were involved in (Web3, Private equity) our platform was built on the fragile framework that tokens with utility that weren't directly pinned to a price-point weren't securities. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for too long.
When the crypto space became volatile towards the end of last year, the SEC became an issue for many crypto projects. Tokens were being ruled as securities with even stronger foundations than our plan, and it became evident that being on the edge of legality would pose issues for raising money, launching the platform, and more. This is when we decided to pivot.
The Design Process
For the new platform, I took my typical approach but went straight to direct user interviews on top of the research to gather as much information about my target market as possible. I used vessels like Discord, my schools blockchain club (which I cofounded!), and more to understand the needs for an easy-to-use web3 integrated asset management platform.
Research: As mentioned above, I used channels like Discord, Reddit, and in person connections to interview as many users as I could on what they would need for an app like this. I researched the highest friction points, downloaded 7+ existing wallets to identify what they did well and what could be improved on, and compiled data to incorporate into my designs.
User Personas: Since this platform was non-custodial, the target audience would likely not be people who were very new to web3. As you had to import your various financial accounts, I created user personas ranging from teenagers involved in crypto to adults trying to manage all of their assets in one unified place.
Prototyping: After I thought I had a solid grasp on the user and their needs, I did more user interviews to validate my personas, then continued to iterate in Figma. After around 5-6 days I had high fidelity prototypes which I ran by many target users and people I interviewed to get feedback on, then made changes based on that. I kept iterating until I was ready to bring the product into development.
Testing: After the mockups were finished and an interactive prototype was created, I began sharing what I had, and developed a usable MVP. I was gathering data on usability, interface feedback, task completion rate, clicks until completion, and more KPIs. I factored this in and worked on refining the user-flow to reach a streamlined point, put it out for testing again, and continue to do so.
Design Shots + Mockups
Contact
hello@reidcarolan.com
iOS & Android
Silo
A Non-Custodial Web3 Finance App
iOS & Android
Silo
A Non-Custodial Web3 Finance App
The Backstory
Around May 2022, my co-founder Pranav (CS major at UMD) and I came up with the idea for a platform that enabled anyone to own shares of private companies, not just accredited investors. Having grown up in a Silicon Valley household with investor parents, I was exposed to the private side of investing from an early age, seeing companies go from conception to IPO. I also saw the potential these companies had to create wealth, with returns magnitudes greater than those in the public markets.
While we were still in the ideation phase, our plan was to create a platform where companies could lock up equity and in place deploy a token which would be available to retail investors, acting as a "share", with a 1:1 ratio of tokens to shares. This way, as the company scaled, the holding value of the locked shares went up, and in turn, drove the token value up at the same rate. Once we had created a business plan and pitch deck, we applied to the Replit Ventures incubator, and were 1 of 13 startups accepted globally.
Over the Summer, We:
Designed and platform and brand from the ground up.
Developed the frontend and backend for this platform.
Created smart contracts to facilitate custody, trading, and more.
Pitched investors and demo'd our product in front of many VCs.
The Design Process
For the new platform, I took my typical approach but went straight to direct user interviews on top of the research to gather as much information about my target market as possible. I used vessels like Discord, my schools blockchain club (which I cofounded!), and more to understand the needs for an easy-to-use web3 integrated asset management platform.
Research: As mentioned above, I used channels like Discord, Reddit, and in person connections to interview as many users as I could on what they would need for an app like this. I researched the highest friction points, downloaded 7+ existing wallets to identify what they did well and what could be improved on, and compiled data to incorporate into my designs.
User Personas: Since this platform was non-custodial, the target audience would likely not be people who were very new to web3. As you had to import your various financial accounts, I created user personas ranging from teenagers involved in crypto to adults trying to manage all of their assets in one unified place.
Prototyping: After I thought I had a solid grasp on the user and their needs, I did more user interviews to validate my personas, then continued to iterate in Figma. After around 5-6 days I had high fidelity prototypes which I ran by many target users and people I interviewed to get feedback on, then made changes based on that. I kept iterating until I was ready to bring the product into development.
Testing: After the mockups were finished and an interactive prototype was created, I began sharing what I had, and developed a usable MVP. I was gathering data on usability, interface feedback, task completion rate, clicks until completion, and more KPIs. I factored this in and worked on refining the user-flow to reach a streamlined point, put it out for testing again, and continue to do so.
First drafts of the Taga web platform.
Challenges
Despite this progress, we encountered many challenges, both logistical and legal. Given the sectors we were involved in (Web3, Private equity) our platform was built on the fragile framework that tokens with utility that weren't directly pinned to a price-point weren't securities. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for too long.
When the crypto space became volatile towards the end of last year, the SEC became an issue for many crypto projects. Tokens were being ruled as securities with even stronger foundations than our plan, and it became evident that being on the edge of legality would pose issues for raising money, launching the platform, and more. This is when we decided to pivot.
Design Shots + Mockups
Contact
hello@reidcarolan.com
iOS & Android
Silo
A Non-Custodial Web3 Finance App
iOS & Android
Silo
A Non-Custodial Web3 Finance App
The Backstory
Around May 2022, my co-founder Pranav (CS major at UMD) and I came up with the idea for a platform that enabled anyone to own shares of private companies, not just accredited investors. Having grown up in a Silicon Valley household with investor parents, I was exposed to the private side of investing from an early age, seeing companies go from conception to IPO. I also saw the potential these companies had to create wealth, with returns magnitudes greater than those in the public markets.
While we were still in the ideation phase, our plan was to create a platform where companies could lock up equity and in place deploy a token which would be available to retail investors, acting as a "share", with a 1:1 ratio of tokens to shares. This way, as the company scaled, the holding value of the locked shares went up, and in turn, drove the token value up at the same rate. Once we had created a business plan and pitch deck, we applied to the Replit Ventures incubator, and were 1 of 13 startups accepted globally.
Over the Summer, We:
Designed and platform and brand from the ground up.
Developed the frontend and backend for this platform.
Created smart contracts to facilitate custody, trading, and more.
Pitched investors and demo'd our product in front of many VCs.
First drafts of the Taga web platform.
Challenges
Despite this progress, we encountered many challenges, both logistical and legal. Given the sectors we were involved in (Web3, Private equity) our platform was built on the fragile framework that tokens with utility that weren't directly pinned to a price-point weren't securities. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for too long.
When the crypto space became volatile towards the end of last year, the SEC became an issue for many crypto projects. Tokens were being ruled as securities with even stronger foundations than our plan, and it became evident that being on the edge of legality would pose issues for raising money, launching the platform, and more. This is when we decided to pivot.
The Design Process
For the new platform, I took my typical approach but went straight to direct user interviews on top of the research to gather as much information about my target market as possible. I used vessels like Discord, my schools blockchain club (which I cofounded!), and more to understand the needs for an easy-to-use web3 integrated asset management platform.
Research: As mentioned above, I used channels like Discord, Reddit, and in person connections to interview as many users as I could on what they would need for an app like this. I researched the highest friction points, downloaded 7+ existing wallets to identify what they did well and what could be improved on, and compiled data to incorporate into my designs.
User Personas: Since this platform was non-custodial, the target audience would likely not be people who were very new to web3. As you had to import your various financial accounts, I created user personas ranging from teenagers involved in crypto to adults trying to manage all of their assets in one unified place.
Prototyping: After I thought I had a solid grasp on the user and their needs, I did more user interviews to validate my personas, then continued to iterate in Figma. After around 5-6 days I had high fidelity prototypes which I ran by many target users and people I interviewed to get feedback on, then made changes based on that. I kept iterating until I was ready to bring the product into development.
Testing: After the mockups were finished and an interactive prototype was created, I began sharing what I had, and developed a usable MVP. I was gathering data on usability, interface feedback, task completion rate, clicks until completion, and more KPIs. I factored this in and worked on refining the user-flow to reach a streamlined point, put it out for testing again, and continue to do so.
Design Shots + Mockups
Contact
hello@reidcarolan.com