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Last active June 5, 2025 18:22
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Prior Contributions:

  • Ecash Design Guide: I wrote, designed, and developed the ecash section of the Bitcoin Design Community’s design guide. This was completed as part of a small grant provided to me by the Bitcoin Design Foundation.

  • eNuts: UX Review, and various design updates. I also conducted some “guerrilla” user research where I asked users on X and Nostr for their feedback, thoughts, and impressions on different eNuts designs and features.

  • Athenut: Built the front-end of Athenut, a privacy-preserving web search powered by Kagi and Cashu.

  • Cashu.space: Built and shipped the website for the Cashu protocol.

  • OpenCash Association Website: Built and ship the website for the OpenCash Association.

  • Various Cashu Wallets: Contributed to various Cashu wallets such as Cashu.me, Minibits, and eNuts. I provided high-fidelity designs or prototypes and developers took these designs and used them as a reference when building new features.

Project Description:

My name is Erik, I'm a UX Designer focused on bitcoin. I have over seven years of professional experience as a UX designer in both private and open-source areas. I’ve dedicated the last two years to ecash, specifically focusing on Cashu. I am seeking a full-time grant to advance ecash design within the Bitcoin Design Community and contribute to the overall improvement of Bitcoin ecash UX across various projects, covering both the Cashu and Fedimint protocols.

Over the next 12 months, I plan to split my efforts equally:

  • 50% on the Bitcoin Design Guide and Community: I aim to promote ecash education, serve as a design mentor to a fellow from the Bitshala program and help establish ecash design best practices within the Bitcoin Design Community. This includes continuously updating the Bitcoin Design Guide as new ecash features (e.g., Cashu payment requests, blind auth, fee HTLC interceptors, etc.) are introduced.
  • 50% on contributing to Cashu Design and general bitcoin ecash UX: Continue contributing to existing Cashu wallets such as Cashu.me, Minibits, and eNuts as they add new features. I will also design a mobile Cashu wallet based on CDK, striving to make it the best-in-class Cashu wallet and serve as the reference implementation for Cashu mobile wallets. It’s important for the CDK wallet to integrate seamlessly with Nostr. Making sure that the combination of ecash and Nostr is emphasized will be a key focus of this work. I also plan to contribute to the design of upcoming open-source Fedimint wallets, which will hopefully increase in number due to the recently launched Fedimint Web SDK.

In addition to the talented engineers who are developing ecash applications, we need equally talented designers focused on user experience and usability. Poor UX has hindered user adoption and smooth usage across many bitcoin tools. Prioritizing design and UX is key to allowing everyday people to use these freedom tools, especially in countries where people face more stressful and critical circumstances.

Project Timelines and Potential Milestones:

CDK Mobile App

Goal: Lead the design of the Cashu app built with CDK, assisting developers like thesimplekid and callebtc.

Months 1-3:

  • Work closely with Cashu core developers to define the scope of the CDK mobile wallet.
  • Identify and prioritize core features for the first release.
  • Design the UX/UI for agreed-upon core functionalities.
  • Create hi-fi prototypes for developers.
  • Conduct remote and in-person user testing to ensure designs meet real user needs.
  • Host public calls through the Bitcoin Design Community to share design ideas and gather feedback.

Milestones / deliverables for months 1-3:

  • Completed high-fidelity designs for the core functionalities.
  • Conduct six in-person user testing sessions and six remote user testing sessions to evaluate the design and user flows of the defined core functionality.
  • Deliver a detailed report summarizing feedback from the user testing sessions.

Months 3-6:

  • Incorporate feedback from the first user research report into designs.
  • Design the UX/UI for advanced functionalities.
  • Conduct additional user testing sessions on the designs for advanced wallet functionalities.
  • Work alongside developers to address edge cases.

Milestones / deliverables for months 3-6:

  • Handed off designs covering all advanced application functionalities (e.g., P2PK lock, multi-mint swaps).
  • Delivered a detailed summary report of user testing for the advanced features.

Months 6-12:

  • Continue to enhance the wallet design based on user feedback and new feature integrations.
  • Prepare for upcoming releases by planning additional features.

Milestones / deliverables for months 6-12:

  • TBD based on project progress.

Advancing Ecash Design in the Bitcoin Design Community

Goal: Promote ecash education and establish design best practices within the Bitcoin Design Community, enhancing the overall UX of Bitcoin ecash applications.

Months 1-12:

  • Continue developing the ecash section in the Bitcoin Design Guide.
  • Support the Bitcoin Design Foundation in its initiatives, including UX bootcamps, design fellow mentorship, and various in-person and online events.
  • Conduct on-the-ground user testing at Bitcoin conferences, hackathons, and events.
  • Provide guidance and support to designers entering the ecash space.
  • Keep the community informed about advancements, challenges, and opportunities in ecash design.

Milestones / deliverables for months 1-12:

  • Create four educational videos on ecash design insights.
  • Add ecash design guidelines for upcoming features as they are merged, such as blind authentication, keyset rotations, and others.
  • Share insights and findings regarding ecash design with the wider bitcoin community.

How does your project relate to HRF's mission?

Bitcoin allows people to take control of their money, and ecash simplifies this process by making bitcoin easier and more accessible to use, despite its custodial trade-offs. When combined with Nostr, it allows for private, censorship-resistant transactions and communication. These tools help reduce the surveillance and control that governments and corporations often impose. My goal is to make these tools easy to use so that more people, especially those living under oppressive regimes, can benefit from them. This directly supports HRF’s mission to protect human rights and privacy by giving individuals the power to manage their own money and communication freely.

Why should HRF fund your project?

Ecash has so much potential to make bitcoin more private and easier to use, but without good design, it’s often too complicated for many people to adopt. My work focuses on making these tools simple and practical so that anyone, not just developers or people with technical expertise, can use them. With this funding, we can take ecash tools to the next level, turning them into something truly accessible for everyday people, especially those who need privacy and freedom the most.

Costs & Proposed Budget:

$75,000 USD. This will fund my full-time work as a UX/UI designer on the projects above.

Has this project received any prior funding?

The Cashu protocol and certain projects under the Cashu umbrella have received funding, but no funding has been specifically allocated to UX/UI efforts.

References:

  • Calle: npub12rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sf485vg
  • Christoph Ono: chri@sto.ph
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