2021

Coinbase Referrals


This is a redesign of Coinbase’s referrals experience. Our goal was to increase referral conversion, as well as referred first buys (number of referred users who complete their first trade).


Impact: +4% referred first buys

Start trading on Coinbase using this link and get $10 in Bitcoin

coinbase.com/join/chen_d76

Get $10 in Bitcoin

Limitations apply

Sign up for Coinbase using my link and we can each get $10 in Bitcoin.

Tobias

3:57

iMessage

Signup page refresh

As a first step to redesigning referrals, we wanted to look at how we could deliver low-cost optimizations in order to reduce customer support tickets and increase conversion for referral signups. In addition to making stylistic changes to the signup page, my main priorities:

Remove the app up-sell banner at the top because we were taking people away from the main job to be done

Make sure the signup form was visible above the fold, especially on smaller devices

coinbase.com

Email

Password

I certify that I am 18 years of age or older, and I agree to the User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Create account

You’re invited to try Coinbase!

You'll get $10 in free Bitcoin when you buy or sell $100 or more in crypto. Learn more

coinbase.com

Before

After (iPhone 8)

GraphQL for SMS invite

Since the current prepopulated message we provided was lengthy and hard to parse, I leveraged GraphQL to add a graphic to the SMS invite and partnered with Content to shorten the text copy.


This not only created a more visual and delightful experience, it also provided a better affordance for the invited user.

Start trading on Coinbase using this link and get $10 in Bitcoin

coinbase.com/join/chen_d76

Get $10 in Bitcoin

Limitations apply

Sign up for Coinbase using my link and we can each get $10 in Bitcoin.

Tobias

3:57

Tobias

3:57

Before

After

Visual considerations

We considered other graphics as well but ultimately went with the gift box illustration due to its ability to translate well across locales.

Get $10 in Bitcoin

Limitations apply

Get $10 in Bitcoin

Limitations apply

Get $10 in Bitcoin

Limitations apply

MVP framework

I started out with this intial framework where I added quick social share options in order to reduce friction when inviting. The social share options include popular messaging and social media platforms such as Twitter and WhatsApp.


Users can also see their top 3 most recent invites with the ability to see more. And for additional features such as invite contacts, there’s a sticky CTA at the bottom which will trigger a bottom sheet that will house these features.

3:57

Past invites

Sticky CTA to trigger sheet with more share options

Robust social share options

Referral link

1

2

3

4

  1. Referral links

  2. Robust social share options

  3. Past invites

  4. Sticky CTA to trigger more share options

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

User Research

We conducted 10 unmoderated sessions across North America, the EU, and Australia. This was a task-based prototype study where we asked users to invite a friend to join Coinbase and observed their process.

3:57

Invite friends

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

Share your code with a friend before they sign up and you’ll both get $10 in Bitcoin after they buy or sell $100 of crypto. Terms apply

Share your code

2XY61B

Copy

Share your link

Message

Mail

WhatsApp

Messenger

Copy

More

Share

Past invites

Jill Chen

June 10, 2021

Wilter Lam

June 9, 2021

Emily Chan

+1 (415) 665-2523

See all

3:57

Invite friends

Find your friends

Let’s start by adding your contacts.

View contacts

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

Share your code with a friend before they sign up and you’ll both get $10 in Bitcoin after they buy or sell $100 of crypto. Terms apply

Share your code

2XY61B

Copy

Share your link

Message

Mail

WhatsApp

Messenger

Copy

More

Share

Send crypto

Send crypto as a welcome gift

Invite friends

Add friends from your contacts

Send a reminder

Nudge a friend to sign up or trade

3:57

3:57

Invite contacts

Message preview

Sign up for Coinbase using my link or promo code, CCHEN1, and we can each get $10 in Bitcoin.

Name, phone, email or address

Suggested

Jill Chen

+1 (415) 676-8989

Invite

Wilter Lam

+1 (415) 665-8988

Invite

Emily Chan

+1 (415) 665-2523

Invite

Contacts

Aaron Smith

+1 (415) 676-8989

Invite

Adam Jones

+1 (415) 665-8988

Invite

Alan An

+1 (415) 665-2523

Invite

Amy Kim

+1 (415) 643-8986

Invite

Azi Zaheer

+1 (253) 665-3124

Invite

Benjamin Brown

+1 (241) 241-8988

Invite

Benny Lam

+1 (415) 676-8989

Invite

Cameron

+1 (415) 676-8989

Get $10

Cara

+1 (415) 676-8989

Get $10

Caroline

+1 (415) 676-8989

Get $10

3:57

Invite friends

Find your friends

Let’s start by adding your contacts.

View contacts

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

Share your code with a friend before they sign up and you’ll both get $10 in Bitcoin after they buy or sell $100 of crypto. Terms apply

Share your code

2XY61B

Copy

Share your link

Message

Mail

WhatsApp

Messenger

Copy

More

Share

Send crypto

Send crypto as a welcome gift

Invite friends

Add friends from your contacts

Send a reminder

Nudge a friend to sign up or trade

3:57

3:57

Referral activity

First name, Last initial

Date

Status

$Reward if applicable

Reward

December 21, 2021

$20

Claimed

Jill Chen

December 12, 2021

Send reminder

Lily Yee

December 12, 2021

Send reminder

William Chung

December 05, 2021

Send reminder

Reward

December 21, 2021

$20

Claimed

Reward

December 21, 2021

$10

Claimed

Reward

December 21, 2021

$10

Claimed

Claimed

Pending

$120

Total referral reward

3:57

To:

To:

To:

To:

Jill Chen

New Message

Cancel

Hey there! Just sending a friendly reminder to sign up for Coinbase so we can both get $10 in free Bitcoin. 😊

123

space

Label

P

O

I

U

Y

T

R

E

W

Q

L

K

J

H

G

F

D

S

A

M

N

B

V

C

X

Z

Finding 1

Personalized share options

Almost all participants wanted personalized sharing options.

EU & AUS: WhatsApp
US: Twitter/X, Instagram

Finding 2

Data privacy concerns

Even though it was easy for users to find and invite someone through the contact book, 1/3 participants had concerns around sharing that information with us.

Finding 3

Customized messages

Users preferred to customize their messages

Finding 3

Customized messages

Customized messages

Customized messages

Users preferred to customize their messages

Users preferred to customize their messages

Users preferred to customize their messages

MVP

Based on the findings, I iterated on the framework for our MVP experiment. I partnered with Content and Eng to shorten the terms copy, and build robust social share options that are localized based on the market the user is in to reduce friction.

Shortened terms copy

Robust social share options to reduce friction & test internationally

3:57

Scaling

We’ll add a dedicated entry point for users to track and remind their past invite at the top of referrals hub. For contact book and future features, we’d add a sticky CTA at the bottom that will house those options.

Scaling

We’ll add a dedicated entry point for users to track and remind their past invite at the top of referrals hub. For contact book and future features, we’d add a sticky CTA at the bottom that will house those options.

3:57

L3 entry point to track and remind past invites

CTA for contact book & future features

3:57

3:57

1

2

  1. L3 entry point to track and remind past invites

  2. CTA for contact book & future features

Dedicated entry point

A timely change being implemented on the main consumer app was the addition of the "More" menu. This felt like the perfect home for Referrals because unlike other trade-related features, referrals is not a place that's trafficked often.

“More” menu in new architecture

MVP experiment

Due to timeline constraints, we defaulted back to referral links since back end wasn’t able to finish referral codes in time for this experiment.

3:57

Invite friends

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

You’ll both get rewarded when your friend trades $100 in crypto. Terms apply

Copy your link

coinbase.com/join.chen_d76

Share your link

Messages

Messenger

Share

Gift crypto

Send crypto as a welcome gift

3:57

Invite friends

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

You’ll both get rewarded when your friend trades $100 in crypto. Terms apply

Copy your link

coinbase.com/join.chen_d76

Share your link

Messages

Messenger

Share

$120

Total referral rewards

Gift crypto

Send crypto as a welcome gift

FPO

Label

􀋂

Label

􀋂

Label

􀋂

Label

􀋂

Label

􀋂

Label

􀋂

Copy

Reminders

Notes

Mail

Messages

Airdrop

John Anderson

Stephanie Vidal

Sandy and Tony

Chris Angelotti

Sandy Wilder Cheng

􀅾

Sign up for Coinbase using my link or enter my referral link, and we can each get $10...

Referral hub

Share sheet

Inviting friends

Inviting friends

Inviting friends

Experiment result

After running the experiment for about a week, we saw a slight dip in metrics due to tracking issues, and little engagement on the referral link CTA. We had a few hypotheses as to why there was a dip in the metrics:

  • Having 1 CTA to copy referral link was likely an unfamiliar interaction pattern

  • Titles read as two steps you’d have to do one after another

  • Gifting team’s up-sell caused cognitive overload

3:57

Invite friends

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

You’ll both get rewarded when your friend trades $100 in crypto. Terms apply

Copy your link

coinbase.com/join.chen_d76

Share your link

Messages

Messenger

Share

Gift crypto

Send crypto as a welcome gift

Unfamiliar interaction pattern

Unfamiliar interaction pattern

Titles read as two sequential steps

Titles read as two sequential steps

Too many options caused coginitive overload

Too many options caused coginitive overload

Solution & Impact

We defaulted back to using a familiar affordance for copying the referral link, and partnered with Content Design to update the headlines to they read as two distinct steps. After making these changes and re-running the experiment, we saw +4.1% in referred signups, and +XX in referred first buys.

$10 in Bitcoin for you,

$10 for a friend

You’ll both get rewarded when your friend trades $100 in crypto. Terms apply

Share your link

coinbase.com/join.chen_d76

Share

More ways to share

Messages

Messenger

Share

3:57

Invite friends

Defaulted back to a familiar pattern

Defaulted back to a familiar pattern

Removed up-sell to keep job focused on sharing & inviting

Removed up-sell to keep job focused on sharing & inviting

Updated titles to read as two distinct steps

Updated titles to read as two distinct steps

Global entry point

As a fast follow, leadership wanted a more prominent entry point to access referrals. I explored these three initial directions. We ultimately went with the version that’s next to the bell icon in the header.

Header (shipped)

3:57

Get $10

Sticky banner

Invite friends, get $10

3:57

For You feed

For you

Get $10

3:57

Updates & Localization

I updated the designs to leverage our new illustration library, and also worked with the localization team to roll out referrals for countries like Japan.