Getting started
Welcome to bitcoin design, you’re in for an adventure. This chapter is all about the big concepts that are helpful to be familiar with when creating bitcoin products. You’ll find a brief summary of each concept on this page, click through if you would like to dig deeper into a specific topic. Note that this is not meant as a comprehensive overview of all topics bitcoin, but only the ones we think are important to know as a designer working in this space.
The internet has opened an infinite design space for information and communication. Bitcoin adds the new dimension of transferring value that could bring similar change as previous waves of innovation.
Bitcoin is fundamentally open and participatory and allows designers and creators to explore and shape experiences for users around the globe.
Open design is about global collaboration that balances the free exchange of design information, the independence of individual designers and the collective power of collaboration.
The visual language of bitcoin
As an open and public protocol, bitcoin does not have a strictly defined brand. Yet there is a recognizable symbol that has evolved over time and remixed endlessly.
All products begin with user needs and end in those same users hands. User research is a fundamental activity that helps shift our focus from the act of building towards building the things that people care about.
If we consider bitcoin money, we need to consider how bitcoin users think about their finances. This page provides a simple framework that can serve as a starting point, deriving bitcoin software and hardware setups from common budgeting categories.
All users start without any knowledge of bitcoin or your particular product. As we learn more, our understanding and needs change. As designers, it is important to guide users through this experience.
Most bitcoin applications share certain user activities, from initial setup to making a transaction. It is important to follow expected patterns and behaviors users to reduce the risk of mistakes and allow users to seamlessly move between products.
Learn some of the basic concepts behind the technologies that make bitcoin work, from what a bitcoin actually is to how transactions are confirmed.
Bitcoin applications roughly fall into a defined set of categories, from consumer-friendly wallets, to merchant tools, and more.
Whether it’s for security or participating in the bitcoin network, bitcoin hardware is an essential part of the ecosystem and user experience.