Business Challenge & Scope

Haste was already a live product with an active player base and growing ecosystem, but its rapid evolution had created inconsistencies across experiences. Existing games and products had been designed independently, there was no shared component library or design system, and the visual identity needed to mature alongside the platform.

The challenge was to improve the experience without stripping away the personality that made Haste distinctive—while creating a scalable foundation for new products, features, and games as the ecosystem continued to grow.

Research & Discovery

To better understand how Haste should position and communicate its experience, I conducted competitive research across gaming platforms both within and outside the cryptocurrency space. I analyzed how competitors described their products, communicated their value propositions, and introduced potentially unfamiliar concepts to players.

I paired this research with a survey of existing and prospective Haste customers to better understand their level of cryptocurrency literacy. The survey also included open-ended questions that gave participants an opportunity to share feedback about Haste and the broader experience.

Key Findings & Opportunities

Key Insight

Users were interested in gaming—not cryptocurrency.

The platform introduced blockchain concepts before users had an opportunity to experience its value.

Designing an Ecosystem, Not Just a Product

Before addressing growth challenges, I needed to establish a scalable foundation for the entire Haste ecosystem.

The company operated two distinct products:

• Haste Arcade, a play-to-earn gaming platform focused on broadening adoption beyond crypto-native audiences.

• Take It, an NFT marketplace designed for users already familiar with blockchain technology and digital ownership.

Haste Ecosystem

Although Haste Arcade and Take It served different audiences, they shared core platform experiences including accounts, rewards, leaderboards, commerce, and navigation. Designing each product independently would have created duplicated effort and inconsistent experiences as the ecosystem grew.

I approached this as a platform problem, creating a shared foundation that could support both products while allowing each to maintain an identity appropriate for its audience.

Design System Strategy

To support multiple products without duplicating design effort, I created a multi-tiered design system architecture.

Foundry served as the shared foundation for accessibility, interaction patterns, and reusable components. Product-specific systems inherited these foundations while applying distinct visual identities.

To support multiple products without duplicating design effort, I created a multi-tiered design system architecture. Foundry served as the shared foundation for accessibility, interaction patterns, and reusable components, while product-specific systems inherited those foundations and extended them with their own visual language and specialized patterns.

Shared interaction patterns and component foundations allowed multiple products to maintain consistency while expressing distinct visual identities.

Extending the System to the Marketplace

Take It served a more crypto-native audience than Haste Arcade, but creating an entirely separate experience would have duplicated much of the same underlying product logic. We extended the shared design system foundation while evolving the visual language to better align with its audience.

Take It applied its own visual identity while inheriting shared interaction patterns and component foundations.

Designing for Trust

Research consistently revealed that trust was one of the platform's biggest challenges.

For many users, Haste represented their first interaction with a cryptocurrency product. Before users were willing to connect wallets, create accounts, or deposit funds, they first needed confidence that the platform was legitimate.

Rather than relying on educational content alone, we focused on creating trust through the experience itself.

Design Principles

• Prioritize credibility over novelty

• Use familiar interaction patterns whenever possible

• Introduce complex concepts progressively

• Allow users to experience value before requiring commitment

Applying Trust Principles to the Marketing Experience

One of the first opportunities was Haste's public-facing homepage. The existing experience led heavily with cryptocurrency concepts, asking visitors to understand blockchain terminology before they understood why Haste was worth using.

The redesign reversed that hierarchy, leading with competitive gameplay, rewards, and social proof before introducing the underlying cryptocurrency mechanics.

Homepage redesign focused on clarifying the value proposition, communicating legitimacy, and reducing perceived risk for first-time users.

Removing Adoption Barriers

With the ecosystem foundation established, I shifted focus toward acquisition and onboarding. Our research showed that Haste was asking users to commit too early—creating accounts, connecting wallets, and learning blockchain concepts before they had experienced the value of the platform.

The onboarding strategy needed to reverse that sequence: experience first, commitment later.

Challenge 1: Immediate Gameplay Access

Requiring account creation and wallet connection before gameplay created unnecessary friction. We hypothesized that allowing players to experience a game first would reduce perceived risk and improve conversion.

Haste Arcade Quick Play Experience

Solution: Quick Play

I introduced a quick-play experience that allowed users to play without first creating an account or connecting a wallet, giving prospective players an opportunity to experience Haste's core value before making a commitment.

Challenge 2: Reducing Registration Friction

Once players chose to create an account, the next challenge was minimizing the friction between that decision and getting back to gameplay.

Simplified Sign Up Experience

Solution

The signup experience was redesigned around speed and familiarity. We collected only what was necessary to create an account, deferring optional setup until after players entered the Arcade.

• Social authentication options

• Reduced required fields

• Streamlined account creation flow

• Deferred profile customization

The redesigned flow reduced the number of steps required to create an account and allowed players to reach the Arcade sooner.

Challenge 3: Progressive Onboarding

Users needed to understand platform rewards and opportunities without feeling overwhelmed by cryptocurrency terminology.

Haste Arcade Onboarding Experience

Solution

I designed a skippable onboarding experience focused on communicating value rather than educating users about blockchain technology.

The onboarding sequence introduced:

• Modes of play

• Reward opportunities

• Referral incentives

• Deposit matching programs

• Daily competitions

Rather than teaching blockchain concepts directly, I framed rewards and incentives through familiar gaming concepts and kept each step intentionally brief and skippable. This allowed players to understand what Haste offered while maintaining control over how much onboarding they wanted to complete.

Results & Impact

Following these initiatives, Haste saw measurable improvements across acquisition, engagement, and monetization.

Together, these improvements validated the broader strategy of reducing friction, building trust, and allowing users to experience value before commitment.

Lessons Learned