Empowering users to get to their first trade quickly and compliantly.
Project type: 0 to 1 • My role: Product Design • Timeline: 10 months
Looking for the trading interface?
Task: Derivatives Experience
Design a derivatives trading experience for Gemini’s international users.
Problem: Onboarding
How do we simplify a complicated onboarding process while being compliant?
Team:
1 Product Designer, 3 Front End Devs, 1 Product Manager
Solution: Dynamic Onboarding
I led the design of dynamic onboarding that recognized a user's account state and served them the right path forward.
Gemini is a crypto company focused on unlocking the next generation of financial freedom.
CONTEXT
Derivatives extends that mission — giving users leveraged access to markets they already trade on, with more ways to participate.
Each user began their derivatives journey at a different place and had different needs.
PROBLEM
The platform treated them all the same. New signups, BTC-holders, and fiat-holders each needed a distinct path to a funded derivatives wallet: deposit and transfer, transfer only, or swap and transfer. No system directed them to the right one.
I audited our existing onboarding flow and along with my PM ran competitive analysis of top crypto derivatives platforms. I presented all the findings to engineering and led the brainstorm session that followed.
PROCESS / KEY INSIGHTS
KEY INSIGHT #1
The audit revealed prospective users had no direct path to Advanced Trading, where the derivatives platform would eventually live.
KEY INSIGHT #2
From the brainstorm emerged a dynamic account-funding modal, driven by a background checklist: is the user verified, do they hold BTC, do they hold fiat.
KEY INSIGHT #3
Legal required users to pass a quiz on how the derivatives platform worked before they could trade.
BEFORE: ONBOARDING FLOW
Due to a fixed timeline and resource constraints, we proposed 3 options for onboarding new users so leadership could weigh effort against impact.
PROPOSAL
We used t-shirt sizing to highlight the engineering lift and explained the impacts.
Small: Auto-flag ActiveTrader/Derivatives signups into advanced trading mode.
Medium: Instant fiat→BTC conversion on onboarding; user still manually moves BTC to derivatives wallet.
Large ("North Star"): All of Medium, plus auto-transfer converted BTC directly into the derivatives wallet.
AFTER: DYNAMIC ONBOARDING FLOW
Onboarding: New user
Prioritizes BTC deposit — it's the fastest path to a funded wallet. Fiat stays available so no one's blocked. Speed follows where the money already is.
DESIGN 1/4
DESIGN 2/4
Onboarding: Existing user w/ fiat
Buy-then-transfer collapses two steps into one flow. External deposit still works for BTC held elsewhere. Fewer steps beat more options.
Onboarding: Existing user w/ BTC
Surfaces transfer first, since the BTC is already there. External deposit remains an option for anyone funding from elsewhere. The wallet where funds sit dictates the flow.
DESIGN 3/4
Onboarding: Compliance
DESIGN 4/4
Required before trading: legal and risk needed proof users understood the mechanics, not just accepted a disclaimer. Users also self-attested their income and net worth as part of the same flow. Passing proves you engaged with the material, not just clicked through.
