Client
Fold
Role
Head of Design
Year
2022–2025
Skills
Overview
Fold is a fintech application that rewards users with Bitcoin for everyday purchases. As Head of Design, I led the complete redesign of the consumer experience — transforming a utilitarian crypto tool into an engaging, delightful product that made earning Bitcoin feel effortless.
Challenge
The existing app struggled with consistency. As we added features at lightspeed, onboarding completion rates dropped and users began to find the interface confusing. The value proposition was getting lost, and the experience felt disconnected from the excitement of earning and saving in Bitcoin. We needed to bridge the gap between complex financial technology and the simplicity of a daily-use app.
Approach
We established a comprehensive design system and user research practice from scratch. Our process centered on deep user understanding:
- Research-led discovery — Conducted 40+ user interviews and analyzed behavioral data to identify friction points across the entire user journey
- Design system creation — Built a scalable component library that unified the brand experience across iOS, Android, and web platforms
- Iterative prototyping — Ran regular usability sessions with high-fidelity prototypes to validate design decisions before engineering investment
- Cross-functional leadership — Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, and Marketing to align on vision and ship cohesive experiences
The redesign touched every surface of the product — from onboarding flows and card activation to the core shopping experience and Bitcoin rewards visualization.
Results
The impact was immediate and measurable:
- 3x improvement in onboarding completion rates
- 47% increase in daily active users within the first quarter post-launch
- 4.8-star App Store rating, up from 3.2 stars
- Successfully scaled the design team from 1 to 4 designers while maintaining quality and velocity
- Established a research practice that became integral to the product development cycle
"Lee transformed not just our product, but our entire approach to design. The research-driven culture he built continues to drive our decision-making." — Will Reeves, CEO, Fold