Swap

Problem

People without cryptocurrency experience still need a way to send money internationally while avoiding commission fees of around 4%.

Solution

A service for fast P2P transfers with low fees, designed specifically for people who use only fiat money.

My roles

• UX design
• Interaction design
• UI design
• Visual design

Scope

3 months, ongoing

• Separate customer and merchant accounts
• Customer login using only a name and phone number
• International transfers using real fiat money
• Saved bank cards for quicker transfers
• A five-step customer transfer flow
• An even shorter merchant flow

International transfers are increasingly common as people work remotely, relocate, or support family abroad. Cryptocurrency can be one of the cheapest routes, but only a small percentage of users know how to use it safely.

Swap simplifies P2P transactions. The customer chooses the source bank, destination bank, and amount; the system handles the rest.

Reframing the problem

Build a service that does not expose cryptocurrency or P2P mechanics. Keep customers inside familiar financial concepts and navigation patterns.

With help from the Peredelano expat community, I recruited around 30 people who had recently moved abroad and needed to transfer money but had no cryptocurrency experience. They supported the research, exploration, and testing stages.

I know there are multiple ways to have a crypto wallet, but there is so much technology around it that I’m afraid I would get lost.

Typical interview response

Stakeholder interviews helped us define the roadmap, surface edge cases, and agree on the MVP for investor pitching.

Insights

• 98% of research participants said they would try the app
• The simpler the experience, the wider the potential audience
• Expat communities could provide the first critical group of customers and merchants
• Restrictions on major crypto platforms increased interest in alternative transfer products

We developed prototypes and maps to test early ideas with experts. In parallel, I began a component- and variable-based design system.

Research confirmed that dark, technical crypto interfaces intimidated non-technical customers, while merchants and experts were comfortable with them. I created distinct visual modes for customers and merchants using Figma variables.

Main screens

The customer interface is light and familiar; the merchant interface can be denser and darker. Both share the same underlying design system.

User-flow mapping helped the product manager, CEO, and design team brainstorm together and build testable prototypes for customer and merchant scenarios.

This is an ongoing project, so further updates will follow.