Product & Brand
Bop Finance
A meme-coin investing MVP designed 0-to-1 and handed off in eight weeks, with a familiar card-purchase flow for first-time crypto buyers.
Overview
A meme-coin MVP made buying crypto feel familiar to first-time buyers
Bop Finance was built during a period when meme coins were bringing new buyers into crypto. Many wanted access to the market without learning exchanges, wallet setup, token transfers, gas fees, or the usual crypto process.
The client saw a business opportunity in that gap. I shaped the product around four actions: find a meme coin, buy it with a familiar payment method, track the holding, and sell it.
I was the only designer on it, working freelance with the client, their internal team, and one developer. I designed it 0-to-1 in eight weeks and owned product direction, research, UX, UI, the design system, brand, and developer handoff. I completed the product design and developer handoff in July 2025.
Problem
Crypto setup was getting in the way of the first purchase
The target users wanted access to meme coins but did not understand crypto. They were comfortable paying by card or with the payment system on their phone. Wallet creation, transfers, addresses, and crypto terms could stop them before a first purchase.
The app had to feel closer to a regular investing app than a crypto terminal. Users needed to find an asset, understand what they owned, buy it, and sell it with plain language at each step.
The late addition of an internal wallet changed that standard. The product now needed setup, transfers, and guidance without losing the speed of the original buy-and-sell flow.
Design
The wallet stayed, so I protected the simple purchase path
The PRD set the market and basic flow. My first recommendation kept the wallet outside the main experience. The user's job was buying, tracking, and selling a meme coin. The original flow used a card or familiar mobile payment method and let users sell back to cash.
Making the brand feel familiar before the first purchase
The audience was entering crypto through a card payment. A crypto-terminal identity would have worked against that promise.
I designed Bop's brand and full product UI around the same rule as the purchase flow: make the unfamiliar feel recognizable. The identity carried into the home screen, asset cards, payment actions, portfolio values, wallet guidance, and transaction states.
That link mattered. The brand introduced Bop as an investing app for mainstream buyers, and the interface kept that promise once they entered.
Accepted Concept
Rejected Concept
Reversing my position on the wallet
The client later made an internal wallet and crypto transfers part of the MVP. I pushed back because the change introduced new terms, more decisions, and more chances for error. The requirement stayed.
Once the wallet was fixed in scope, I changed my position. I kept the card purchase path and added wallet guidance only when users needed it. The client made the business decision. I reduced the experience risk it created.
Checking the wallet risk
I ran a written survey before finalizing the wallet flow. Twenty-six people responded through crypto communities and Discord groups. The client's planned token airdrop increased participation and pulled the sample toward crypto-native users.
I used the survey as a pressure test for the approved wallet requirement. Confusion clustered around wallet terms, setup, and transfers, so I added annotated guidance when those concepts first appeared.
Keeping the market and portfolio together
I rejected separate starting points for market browsing and portfolio tracking. A first-time buyer would have had to learn the product structure before seeing what they could buy or what they already owned.
I placed available coins, current holdings, total value, profit and loss, and the purchase entry on one home screen. The screen became denser, so I used hierarchy to keep the next action clear.
Building the MVP
I designed the brand and product from the initial PRD through launch. The core experience covered asset browsing, fiat purchase, portfolio tracking, wallet functions, transfers, and in-app guidance.
I built reusable components for market data, asset cards, payment actions, wallet states, portfolio values, and transaction flows. I worked directly with one developer to clarify behavior and states as the product moved into code. When the wallet entered scope, I updated the flows and system without breaking the rest of the MVP.
Reflection
From card purchase to working wallet in eight weeks
We launched the branded MVP by July 2025, about 7-8 weeks after work began. I delivered the identity, full product UI, payment flow, wallet setup, transfers, in-app guidance, shared component system, and developer handoff.
The wallet entered scope halfway through the project. I challenged the added complexity, then rebuilt the flow around one rule: the card purchase path stayed familiar and wallet guidance appeared when the user needed it.
That decision protected the beginner experience and gave the client a working product for its planned fundraise.
