Housecat

Challenge

Crypto presents an opportunity to invest in big technology stories of our time, but investing in this emerging asset class can be exhausting, requiring constantly to follow the space and active portfolio management in order to maximize the returns. For many people, managing their own, diversified cryptocurrency portfolio is simply not possible due to the time commitment required and the knowledge necessary to be successful.

Introducing Housecat

Housecat is a decentralized crypto investing platform that allows users to subscribe to portfolios managed by other investors. On the other hand, it enables people with expertise in crypto investing to build a following and generate income by sharing their portfolio, which they already manage, with Housecat only automatically mirroring the trades in the background.

My role

As a Co-Founder & Design Director at Housecat, my role was to drive strategic design decisions that align with our overall business goals. This included identifying opportunities for growth and innovation in the tokenized assets and crypto space and creating a user-centric experience that sets us apart from our competitors. I worked closely with our small team of four developers, implementing the designs and creating lightweight processes for efficient collaboration.

My role also included leading the design and creative direction of our brand, managing the external design agency and designers. I created materials, such as pitch decks and marketing assets, that effectively communicated our value proposition to potential investors and partners.

Building a seamless experience for diverse investor profiles

We set out a strategic goal to create a platform that would be appealing to both experienced crypto investors with non-custodial wallets such as MetaMask, but also for people new to the space.

After building the first working version, we mapped out the customer journey, from signing up to subscribing to a portfolio. This allowed us to identify key areas with friction and focus on features that would make the experience as smooth and intuitive as possible. Creating a non-custodial crypto wallet in the background and integrating smooth onramps for fiat currency were some of the design challenges we tackled along the way.

The end result is a platform that is both easy to use for the first time investor and enough features that more experienced crypto investors need.

Housecat brand

The design of the Housecat brand was heavily inspired by the playfulness in the crypto space. We wanted to create a brand that would feel approachable, while still conveying the feeling that the service can be trusted with your savings. The original visual identity was designed by Nordinary.

Looking forward

Beyond the hype and noise, I genuinely believe that decentralized applications have the potential to change how we interact with the internet and design will play a big role in making them accessible for mainstream users.

I’m especially excited about interoperability between systems. Having a digital identity that moves with you from application to another, can be described as a magical experience and something that I hope will become a mainstream in the coming years.

From Housecat’s perspective, we look into integrating more assets into the platform. As real estate, government bonds and stocks become tokenized and crypto integrates into the real world, we see a growing demand for a platform that can handle a diverse range of assets and provide easy access for users to invest in them.