How to design a 10/10 user experience: lessons from Rainbow's growth

The NFT space is inherently complex. End users are often ahead of service providers, while navigating major marketplaces is very DIY. In many cases, a new NFT user's greatest tool is Google. 

As NFT providers and platforms proliferate, they must consider the end user’s experience. That's why we sat down with Wayne Cheng, the engineer behind the back-end team at Rainbow Wallet, an Ethereum wallet. 

Read on for his tips on optimizing your NFT platform’s UX and building an inclusive tool. 

Tips for NFT providers to optimize the user experience

One simple tip can help you create a great user experience: Know what your users want to see. 

First, providers should make basic components available on their platform, such as: 

• The NFTs owned by the customer
• Info on how many other users own those NFTs
• Metadata from OpenSea
• Collection names

Wayne notes that SimpleHash actualizes a lot of this thinking for you. For instance, the team at Rainbow receives signals on when to refresh metadata on behalf of their clients. 

1. When a new NFT drops, a few days typically go by before the token is revealed. 
2. To see the NFT, users visit OpenSea and manually refresh the metadata, which tells them to retrieve it. 
3. Here, SimpleHash thinks like NFT users by refreshing the metadata for them. 

This is just one reason why Wayne loves using SimpleHash: 

He knows understanding and building for the end customer’s experience is their first priority.

Rainbow’s playbook: make customer feedback a top priority

Rainbow users are deeply involved in the NFT space. 

As a result, their users often tell the Rainbow team about innovations coming down the pipeline or popular NFT releases themselves. 

“This space moves very fast,” explains Wayne. 

That’s why it is so critical to look outside of their own product bubble if they hope to keep up with advanced customers in an advanced landscape. 

Overall, Rainbow and their customers pay attention to each other and keep each other informed. 

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Why excellent UX benefits both crypto lovers & new entrants

The NFT industry generally does not cater to user experience. 

So, in Wayne’s words, Rainbow compensates by “prioritizing the user experience.” 

That can look like sacrificing speed for an immaculate UX in order to uphold that mission. 

For instance, crypto natives are accustomed to options like MetaMask, where flows are inherently dysfunctional or confusing for new users. 

In contrast, the ENS registration flow for Rainbow is considered top-of-the-line. 

Ultimately, the Rainbow team aims to simultaneously: 

1. Serve and enhance the experiences of crypto lovers
2. Help new users who want to enter and learn to navigate the space

Both missions can be served by creating an intuitive platform for all.