How are ‘lite’ versions of crypto apps helping adoption?

Companies become industry giants when they provide the best user experience in the simplest form possible. Google, for example, has the most advanced search engine on the whole planet. And how does it provide that sci-fi-level technology to the user? By a simple, one-line search bar.

Apple’s motto is removing the hardware from the user experience (UX) as a layer. It means that when users forget that they are holding a smartphone and browsing an app while scrolling down memory lane, Apple succeeds.

Technology needs to hit the perfect balance between utility and usability — comprehensive features and ease of use — to achieve broader adoption. Bitcoin (BTC), the original cryptocurrency, became available to a much bigger user base as it became easier and more reliable to buy BTC from user-friendly mobile apps.

For better or for worse, crypto exchanges played a pivotal role in bringing new users to the market. Millions of users saw crypto exchanges as the go-to trading platforms as the crypto apps made the overall experience more feature-packed and simplistic. Hiring Hollywood A-listers to promote them also helped crypto companies to make a case.

However, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the interface as simplistic as, say, Google’s homepage, with more and more features introduced into crypto trading platforms. So, a number of crypto exchanges made a choice at some point. They divided their target audience — for design purposes — into newbies and pro traders and offered two different user experiences to each.

Some, like Binance and OKX, provide both UXs within the same application. First-time users are greeted with the “lite” version of the app, with fewer features and an emphasis on the learning curve of cryptocurrencies. If a user feels ready, or they were just reinstalling the app, they can tap a button to transform the app to its pro version with detailed order books, advanced commands, etc. Others went with two different versions with different layers of usability, like Bitpanda and Bitpanda Pro.

Cointelegraph reached out to crypto exchanges and UX developers to get a better understanding of how lite versions of crypto apps work and contribute to adoption.

Tech evolves by solving problems

Binance angles the lite mode of its mobile app as a simplified version of the exchange designed for users who are new to Web3, Binance head of product…