Desislava Desseva, Senior Product Designer
8 years in product design,
5.5 years scaling wallets, payments, crypto at Paysafe
I’m a data-informed designer focused on delivering measurable outcomes for both the business and the users.
HANDS-ON + Research
Stakeholder and customer interviews, usability & understandability testing, journey mapping, IA and flows, interaction design, workshops
Data-driven
Evidence first: 85.6% of crypto transactions were Buy and Sell, so they moved onto the dashboard, resulting in +35% crypto trades in a month
Regulation & LOCALISATION
FCA rules (Consumer Duty, Travel Rule, Fin-prom), Brazil & Singapore DW localization.
Design systems
WCAG 2.2 AA components, semantic tokens, systems and patterns
Desislava Desseva, Senior Product Designer
Meet them
where they are
I try to switch places with the person in front of me: users, PMs, engineers, or legal.
Users
The Cross-border solopreneur has a different mental model in comparison to the Hodler
Product
Withdraw to crypto wallet redesign achieved 806% volume increase in the next 18 mo.
Engineering
Plan A would have delayed the DWs Brazil launch by months, so I moved to
plan B.
Legal and Compliance
FCA rules (Consumer Duty, Travel Rule) became journeys with zero critical findings.
Timeline
Product designer and...
Creator & Explorer
2011–2018
Advertising design, motion, web and mobile design for brands like Samsung, Coca-Cola; Forbes Evolution award;
Interactive installations, AR-design
Founder’s partner
2018–2021
Apps for tech startups. Red Dot Award 2021 with REscan Inc.
Product thinker,
Researcher,
Workshopper
2021–2026
Skrill and Neteller: onboarding, KYC, payments, P2P, crypto, RAF & rewards, Brazil and Singapore launches, FCA-compliance.
Product thinker & researcher,
Optimizer, Systems thinker,
Human-AI interaction and assisted work
2026–....
digital wallets | iOS, Android, web | EEA, UK, LATAM | 2024
Scaling withdrawals: how Design thinking sparked 50% QoQ volume growth
Workshops facilitation, quantitative data review, usability testing and moderated interviews, journey map and personas, problem framing, IA, prototyping, interaction and design-system component design, delivery scoping with Engineering.
50%
volume increase in the quarter after the redesign
+25%
increase in micro-conversions on the “Amount step” in the quarter after release
3.2 → 4.7
ease of finding the entry point, out of 5
01 Business problem
How to maintain continuous growth?
- Withdraw to crypto wallet spends fiat, buys crypto and sends it to an external crypto address in a single move.
- The feature grew more than 300% in 2023, driven mostly by expanding to new markets and adding new currencies
- Business wanted to see a similar growth trend throughout 2024/2025 and as part of this effort wanted to redesign a single step of the journey.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
05
01 Business problem
Nearly two-thirds of users left at one step, but a funnel doesn’t tell you why
Business problem
- missed revenue opportunity
- generated additional support requests
- drop in transactional volumes
The easy move: redesign the step Amplitude flagged.
Easy won’t always get you to the final destination.
I proposed discovery first, to check if the real barrier sat before the funnel and what opportunities lay ahead of us.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
06
02 Hypothesis
See the hidden opportunities in the funnel drop-off → my hypothesis
- Growth needs an expanding user base
- Hypothesis: Traders expect to withdraw their crypto, so they visit the withdrawal to crypto wallet feature, they don’t understand it and then leave.
- Hypothesis: If we manage to explain and lead Traders into discovering the Withdraw to crypto wallet feature we can increase our user base and in turn volumes.
current user group
Crypto traders
In January 2024, 7,602 users made a crypto withdrawal.
Of them, 1,850 users had made a trade transaction between March 2023 and February 2024.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
07
03 Approach
We needed to step back, see the bigger picture, apply a process if we wanted to aim high
- Align on our Goal and Success metrics
- Gather more quantitative and qualitative data, see the broader Problem space
- Cherry-pick which problems to solve, so that we can achieve the desired Business metrics and user outcomes
- Ideate, pick, test, iterate, align
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
08
04 Research
Five research sources, so no single one could carry the argument
01
BI reports
Who used it, from which markets and platforms, at what volume.
02
Funnel analytics
Where users left, including the sharp loss between steps 1 and 2.
03
Support contacts
Repeat questions on limits, How-to and arrival time.
04
Current-state testing
Moderated interviews and usability tests: why, not only where.
05
Competitor review
Entry, naming and flow patterns across exchanges, onramps and digital wallets.
06
User interviews
Due to the specific domain of the main user base of the feature we were unable to recruit users in the given timeframe.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
09
04 Research
About 42% of all crypto complaints are about crypto withdrawals
- “How-to” questions
- Withdrawal status - when will my funds arrive, why have they not arrived yet
- Minimum withdrawal amount being higher than the maximum
- Issues with clarity on networks, and available balances
592
crypto cases
22%
How-to & RFI
49%
Other topics
9%
Withdrawal status
7%
Balance N/A for withdrawal
6%
Min>Max (limits)
4%
Withdrawal limits
3%
Crypto services N/A (Coinbase)
2%
Risk engine declines
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
10
04 Research
Usability and understandability testing
20 unmoderated sessions
- 10 sessions on mobile and 10 on web.
- Mobile group: 5 Skrill users, 5 non-users.
- UK, Italy, Portugal, LATAM
- Trade, invest, withdraw
Measure:
- Discoverability
- Successful completion of withdrawal
- Ease of completing withdrawal
- Clarity of completing withdrawal
Need to have the option in the crypto tab
“Make it more obvious that you can do this.”
"A more convenient, a more direct option to enter."
It's confusing, am I sending USDC or euros?
“Maybe it could say like, Convert and Withdraw to a crypto wallet or something like that would make it clearer”
"I don't know if I am buying crypto at the moment, If I am sending the crypto"
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
11
05 The finding
The biggest problem started before the measured funnel
5 of 10
completed a mobile withdrawal, as they could not find the feature at all
3.2 of 5
ease of finding the entry point
7 of 10
began in Crypto, not in Transfer, where the feature lived
Mental model
users expected to buy and then send, or to send crypto they already held
Key insight
Users could not find or predict the journey, so the Amount step was not the whole problem
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
12
06 Main persona
The cross-border solopreneur
“My goal is to protect the purchasing power of my salary. I need to get my foreign currency earnings out of the fiat system and into stablecoins the exact day I get paid, without hitting technical errors or hidden fee traps.”
Saves for the long term by converting foreign fiat salary into digital crypto assets. Restrains from using traditional banking to dodge restrictions and immediately routes capital into yield-bearing ecosystems to beat domestic inflation.
Pain points
Needs
bonuses
*The persona has been stripped of some details to preserve confidentiality
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
13
06 Secondary persona
The long-term passive investor (HODLer)
“I view crypto as a foundational asset class for my long-term financial security. I want to build my wealth passively and securely without worrying about daily market volatility.”
He is a risk-averse, long-term investor who systematically grows his portfolio via dollar-cost averaging, investing 1–2 times a month, focusing primarily on BTC and ETH. Motivated by wealth preservation and beating fiat inflation, he rarely sells during market downturns. He actively seeks low-risk passive yield opportunities (like staking or yield-bearing stablecoins) but is hyper-sensitive to complex custody solutions and transaction errors.
Pain points
Needs
*The persona has been stripped of some details to preserve confidentiality
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
14
07 Journey map
Mapping all problems along the journey
- Helps us to focus on the spots with greatest concentration of issues
- Better visualize the whole experience end to end
Highlights:
- Lack of touch-points in the Know about and the Further engagement and Referral steps
- Strong issues in the Discover and Enter amount steps
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
15
08 Clustering exercise
16 core themes identified
from user problems & needs
Problems and needs
Users don't know about the feature (lack of communication)
Discoverability of the withdraw to crypto wallet option
Balance segregation
- lack of clarity and discoverability
Unclear what is the withdraw to crypto wallet option and how it works
Be able to simultaneously see & edit the amount to be withdrawn in both crypto & fiat and see the fees accordingly
Unclear what limit is hit / Clarity of limits
Clarity on insufficient funds to cover the spend amount + fees
Get rewarded when using the withdraw to crypto wallet feature
Be able to Withdraw my crypto balance
Be able to Switch between fiat Balances
Be able to See my available fiat Balance
Get help and support along the flow
Be able to see the full address
Be able to name my wallet & reuse it
Know what is the rate at the time the crypto would be purchased
Earn interest on my funds in Skrill.
Desi
Max
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
16
08 Alignment workshop
Long-term goal and success metrics
Goal and success metrics workshop in Miro
Long-term goal
Where we want to be in 12 months
In 12 months, we want our crypto withdrawal feature to be so clear, intuitive, error-free and price-optimised that it becomes the default choice for cross-border users across our active regions, driving new user activation while seamlessly converting our existing wallet traders.
acquisition
& activation
ease of use and clarity
pricing
Business outcomes
What metrics do we want to influence?
Increase Withdraw to crypto volume by 200% over the next 12 months
Reduce funnel drop-off: at least 6 of 10 users who start the withdrawal flow make a successful transaction
Reach at least 10,000 monthly active users in a single country
volume
conversion
activation
number of users
User outcomes
What metrics and behaviour do we want to influence?
Be able to easily find the Withdraw to crypto wallet functionality, with a rating of more than 4.5 out of 5
Increase clarity along the journey, so users understand what the feature offers and transacting with it is clear. Measured by 60% fewer support contacts about crypto withdrawals clarity.
discoverability
ease of use
clarity
support contacts
Technical and operational
Cut downtime by at least half, and raise the transaction success rate by 25%
successful transactions
downtime
Niki
Andi
Max
Simo
Desi
Niki R.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
17
08 Decide workshop
Research changed what the team chose to solve
I facilitated time-boxed workshops with Product, stakeholders and Engineering. Silent writing reduced anchoring, and voting moved the group onto the problems with the strongest user and business value
Journey mapping produced 16 problems. We ranked them by user and business value and took six forward
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
18
08 Ideation workshop
Turning problems into How Might We questions
Step 5: How Might We statements
"How Might We" statement
Use the underlying problem and rephrase it as a question using "How Might We". Rephrasing problems as questions is a powerful way to switch the mind from panic to solution mode.
HMW educate users on what is the withdraw to crypto wallet option and how to use it?
How Might We ..........(do what)
for ...............(persona)
in order to ................. (benefit, gain or result we would like to see)
Tip: If you get stuck, think of:
- How and when does the problem occur (tell a story)
- How do competitors solve this problem
Custom card on the crypto dashboard with entry to …
Educational screens
Custom card on the home with entry to …
Influencer marketing
Reddit and similar forums - sub-thread
Telegram & Signal
Check the current journey on the virtual assistant
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Idea
Desi
Simo
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
19
09 Explorations
Legal restrictions removed the clearest naming options
Buy entry point
The “Buy” button leads the user to either buy crypto and store it on Skrill or send it to an external crypto address.
In the usability test of the initial flow, the majority of users searched for an option under “Buy” on the Crypto tab.
Product: 4 votes · Design: 2 votes
Partner Networks and Legal disapproved the use of “Buy” or “Send.”
Testing was paused to save effort after the feature failed partner-network and legal approval.
More-menu entry point
The “More” button opens a list of secondary actions, with withdrawal as one of them.
In the usability test of the initial flow, the majority of users searched for the option under “Buy” or “More” on the Crypto tab.
Product: 1 regular vote and 1 decider vote · Design: 4 votes
No constraints from Partner Networks or Legal.
Ease of finding the entry point: 3.5/5. One out of five users who searched on the Crypto tab completed the withdrawal through “More.”
Send entry point
The “Send” button leads the user to either send crypto to an external crypto address or send crypto to another Skrill user.
Research across exchanges, digital wallets and on-ramps revealed that “Send” and “Withdraw” are the most common labels for similar functionality.
Product: 3 votes · Design: 0 votes
Partner Networks and Legal disapproved the use of “Buy” or “Send.”
Testing was paused to save effort after the feature failed partner-network and legal approval.
Withdraw button
A dedicated “Withdraw” button on the Crypto tab leads the user to the functionality.
Research across exchanges, digital wallets and on-ramps revealed that “Send” and “Withdraw” are the most common labels for similar functionality.
Product: 1 decider vote · Design: 0 votes
Component constraints
Ease of finding the entry point: 4/5. Two out of five users who searched on the Crypto tab completed the withdrawal through the “Withdraw” button.
Descriptive Withdraw to crypto wallet card
A dedicated “Withdraw to crypto wallet” card on the Crypto tab leads the user to the functionality, supporting discoverability and understandability.
Research showed that “Send” and “Withdraw” are common labels for similar functionality. User testing showed that users understood the feature’s purpose much better when the entry point included an additional descriptive label.
Product: 4 votes · Design: 6 votes
No constraints from Partner Networks or Legal.
Ease of finding the entry point: 4.7/5. Two out of five users who searched on the Crypto tab completed the withdrawal through the new entry point.
- I designed four journey variants for app and web and reviewed them with Design, Product, Engineering, Legal and partner networks.
- Two variants relied on clearer for the users naming for the new entry point - “Buy” and “Send” labels, but constraints ruled them out .
- 30 participants , 3 usability tests
09 Explorations
Design review board
The four journey variants mapped across the whole flow, with the priority issues and the verdict from Design, Product, Engineering, Legal and partner networks on each one.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
20
09 DESIGN
The new entry point that supported 50% QoQ volume increase
- After legal review, I redesigned the entry point to appear on the crypto dashboard where users look, clearly explaining the feature and how it works to meet user and business goals.
- The existing user base keeps its route, the new base gets a route where they already look.
09 DESIGN
The new entry point that supported 50% QoQ volume increase
- After legal review, I redesigned the entry point to appear on the crypto dashboard where users look, clearly explaining the feature and how it works to meet user and business goals.
- The existing user base keeps its route, the new base gets a route where they already look.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
21
09 DESIGN
Fees before commitment, how much will I receive
- Fees were absent from the Enter amount screen and added on top of the spend amount in the next step.
- Limits ignored fees - users could not tell whether their balance covered the amount plus fees.
- Spend and Receive, separated - users see their balance and how much crypto reaches their wallet.
- No exchange rate.
09 DESIGN
Fees before commitment, how much will I receive
- Fees were absent from the Enter amount screen and added on top of the spend amount in the next step.
- Limits ignored fees - users could not tell whether their balance covered the amount plus fees.
- Spend and Receive, separated - users see their balance and how much crypto reaches their wallet.
- No exchange rate.
09 DESIGN
Fees before commitment, how much will I receive
- Fees were absent from the Enter amount screen and added on top of the spend amount in the next step.
- Limits ignored fees - users could not tell whether their balance covered the amount plus fees.
- Spend and Receive, separated - users see their balance and how much crypto reaches their wallet.
- No exchange rate.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
22
09 DESIGN
Balance segregation
- Depending on the deposit method, part of a user’s balance may be restricted.
- Users were left confused and concerned about their funds.
09 DESIGN
Balance segregation
- Depending on the deposit method, part of a user’s balance may be restricted.
- Users were left confused and concerned about their funds.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
23
09 DESIGN
Coins & networks
- Error prevention - clear asset and networks Identification: coin names, tickers, logos to prevent selecting the wrong asset
- Tech constraint: putting live fees on a list screen is not a good option, because fetching real-time, exact gas data for multiple chains simultaneously requires too many API calls and can slow down the app's performance.
09 Explorations
Coins & networks, component spec
Anatomy, brand, behaviour, states, layout and spacing for the coin and network list item, handed to Engineering with the tokens attached.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
24
09 DESIGN
Reddit & CS contacts on limits
- Min > Max limit with available balance not visible
- Limits ignored fees - users could not tell whether their balance covered the amount plus fees.
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
25
09 DESIGN
Education & support
- Users needed to know the feature exists
- Understand what it does
- Get help and support along the way
09 DESIGN
Education & support
- Users needed to know the feature exists
- Understand what it does
- Get help and support along the way
09 DESIGN
Education & support
- Users needed to know the feature exists
- Understand what it does
- Get help and support along the way
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
26
10 Delivery
Three build stages with Engineering
With Product and Engineering, we split the work into three stages by user and business impact against effort.
- Phase 1 - New entry point, verification, regulatory, maintenance statuses; enable selecting all fiat balance
- Phase 2 - New “enter amount” & “enter address” screens, educational & FAQ screens, Modify summary and Trn. screens, notifications
- Phase 3 - Additional communication on limits, coins/networks categories, VIP-level rewards upon successful trn., enter withdrawals after successful “Buy”
Failed: Marketing communication
Desislava Desseva
Withdraw to crypto wallet
27
11 Outcome
806% volume increase in the next 18 mos
50%
volume increase in the quarter after the redesign
+25%
increase in micro-conversions on the “Amount step” in the quarter after release
+2x
conversion in the next 12mos ( from 30% on mobile to 60% )
4.8/5
clarity and ease of withdrawing funds to external crypto address
3.2 → 4.7
ease of finding the entry point, out of 5
-85%
fewer support tickets on clarity of the functionality
What I’d keep
Keep the artifacts from the workshop - as they mark the user problems, the goals and metrics, what has been covered and what’s left unresolved, so Design, Product, Engineering, Legal, Marketing are on the same page.
What I learned
The program was ambitious for the time available - some exercises fell off it - like pre-mortem, impact-effort matrix went more into conversations, research would have been great to start a month earlier.