Gnosis App is a personal finance toolkit. Apart from spending, swapping and transferring money on-chain, it lets users create their own personal currency out of thin air and spend it with the Gnosis Pay card.
The goal was an everyday finance app for casual, non-crypto-native users — so we hid every crypto primitive behind patterns familiar from consumer banking apps.
I led product design end-to-end, from core flows to the design system, and partnered on the brand identity.
Team:
Jarek Maćków - Lead Product Designer
Jacek Puzio - Senior Product Designer
Romulo Freitas - Lead Brand Designer
Smooth first steps
Most of our users were Gen Z with zero crypto experience - for many, this was their first wallet. Instead of front-loading the setup, we broke onboarding into small optional steps users could complete at their own pace, with a progress checklist nudging them along. Profile creation borrows from social apps, not banking: pick an avatar, claim a handle, and you're in.
Circles
Circles (CRC) is the core of the Gnosis app. Users create 1 CRC every hour - out of thin air - and earn more by inviting friends, using the card, or building reputation. Just like regular money, CRC can be spent with the card or swapped for other currencies.
The UX challenge: explain an economy that works nothing like a bank account, without a single whitepaper word. We leaned on game mechanics people already know - claiming freshly created CRC is a small reward moment, daily streaks keep creation going, and a plain-language "Basics" guide covers the whole economy in three cards.
Daily spending
Users can create a free virtual card in a few clicks, with rewards that rival the best cashback programs out there.
They can also swap and send money, both on-chain and through bank accounts.
To keep the app casual, we stripped out all crypto-native language. There are no "tokens" or "seed phrases," and the long, intimidating wallet addresses still exist - but tucked away in the "Advanced" sections, out of the everyday experience.
Social finance
The Circles economy runs on personal connections. Reputations are tied together, so users connect only with people they actually know - unlike social media, there's no reason to follow strangers.
That makes each connection meaningful, and we treat it that way: accepting one triggers a full-screen celebration, and profiles show connections, communities and badges instead of follower counts.
Gamification
Every mechanism in the app had to pass two tests: is it fun, and does the user understand it? Playfulness without clarity is just noise - especially in an app that handles money.
So daily CRC creation builds streaks with milestones to chase, dedicated actions earn collectible badges, and reputation - the number that actually matters in the Circles economy - is never a black box. When your score moves, the app breaks down exactly what changed it, what's temporary, and what you can do next. A game you can win feels good; a game you understand feels fair.
