Binance Mobile App
Onboarding new users
Binance Mobile App
Crypto
Product Design
The Binance app gives anyone access to buy, sell, trade and manage hundreds of cryptocurrencies from their phone. But for new users, the first few minutes decide everything. Crypto is unfamiliar, the stakes feel high, and every extra step between downloading the app and making a first trade is a chance to give up. I worked on the onboarding experience for new users, treating it as a conversion funnel rather than a set of screens. Using UX research and funnel analysis, I mapped the journey from sign-up through identity verification, account security and first purchase, finding where people hesitated, got confused or dropped out. The redesign focused on building confidence as much as removing friction. Clear, plain-language guidance explained why each step mattered, progress was always visible, and the path to a first purchase was shortened so beginners could get value quickly, while advanced traders could skip straight to the tools they wanted.
Challenge
The challenges Crypto is intimidating. Many new users had never bought crypto before. Unfamiliar terms like wallets, spot trading and order books made the app feel like it was built for experts, and fear of making an expensive mistake stopped people before they started. Trust comes before action. Users were asked to hand over personal details, ID documents and money to a platform they didn’t know yet. Without clear reasons for each step, verification felt invasive rather than protective. Identity verification on a phone is hard. Photographing an ID, taking a selfie and waiting for approval is fiddly on a small screen. Poor lighting, blurry photos and unclear rejections were common reasons people abandoned sign-up. Security adds friction. Two-factor authentication, strong passwords and anti-phishing codes are essential, but every extra step on mobile increases the chance someone drops out before finishing. Short attention, constant interruptions. People sign up on the go, between notifications and calls. If the flow couldn’t be paused and picked up easily, users lost their place and often didn’t come back. A global audience. Binance served users across many countries, languages and regulatory rules. Onboarding had to adapt to different ID types, payment methods and local requirements without becoming a different app everywhere. Beginners and pros in one app. First-time buyers needed guidance and a simple path to their first purchase, while experienced traders wanted to skip straight to the tools. One flow had to serve both without slowing either down. The gap between signing up and first value. Creating an account isn’t the goal. Until a user funds their account and makes a first purchase, they haven’t really started, and that gap was where many dropped off.
Solution
I redesigned onboarding as a guided journey that builds confidence step by step, with one clear goal: getting new users from download to their first purchase as quickly and safely as possible. Plain language from the first screen. Jargon was replaced with simple explanations and short tips at the moments people needed them, so beginners understood what they were doing without leaving the flow. Explaining why, not just what. Each step, from identity verification to security set-up, came with a short reason it mattered. Verification was framed as protecting the user’s account, which turned a point of hesitation into a point of trust. Verification made for mobile. The ID and selfie steps were redesigned with camera guides, real-time feedback on photo quality and clear messages when something needed fixing, reducing failed submissions and the wait that came with them. Progress you can pause. A visible progress indicator showed users how far they’d come, and the flow saved their place, so anyone interrupted could pick up exactly where they left off. Security without the overwhelm. Essential protections stayed, but were paced across the journey instead of stacked at the start, with prompts to complete them once users had a reason to care. A shorter path to first value. The steps between verification and first purchase were simplified, with a guided first buy for newcomers. Experienced traders could skip the guidance and go straight to the tools they wanted. Built for a global audience. The flow adapted to local ID types, payment methods and regulations through a single set of components, so it felt consistent everywhere while meeting local requirements.
Result
The new onboarding gave Binance a clearer, more confident path from download to first purchase. The research and funnel analysis showed the team exactly where users were dropping out and why, and the redesign tackled each of those points directly. The work also produced a reusable set of onboarding patterns that could adapt to different countries, ID types and payment methods, giving Binance a foundation it could scale as it grew into new markets. - 700% growth in active users buying crypto with local currencies - 760% growth in active peer-to-peer users - 26 languages on the Binance website, up from 16 - 51 local currencies and 150 payment options supported for buying crypto - Card purchases in 180+ countries, letting new users buy crypto within seconds - 46% growth in institutional clients
From our Client:
"William tackles the problem of teaching new crypto users well to understand the risks and tricks of the game within crypto."
Wouter B.
Head of Design