Understanding user experience challenges associated with the Cashu and Fedimint protocols, both of which are implementations of bitcoin backed ecash systems.
To use insights gathered from these interviews to inform the upcoming ecash section in Bitcoin Design Community design guide.
Trust models, privacy features, minting, swapping and the technicalities of mint / federation management, etc…
Bitcoin Design Guide: Current and potential users of the Cashu and Fedimint apps. This group includes bitcoin enthusiasts already familiar with Bitcoin and seeking more privacy-focused alternatives, as well as newcomers who might be onboarded to an ecash application due the lower friction that is inherit to custodial solutions.
Get to know the participants.
| Question # | Question | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Can you describe a feature in the Cashu that users find confusing or difficult to use? |
How do you think the design could be improved to alleviate the confusion? | | | 2 | What are common questions or misconceptions about Cashu among users familiar with Bitcoin? | | | 3 | What are common questions or misconceptions about Cashu among users that are not familiar with Bitcoin? | | | 4 | Are there particular Cashu operations that users find hard to understand or operate? | | | 5 | What approach do you take to explain the mint trust model to new users? | | | 6 | What are some of the security concerns users have about Cashu or Ecash, and how do you address them? | |
| Question # | Response | Key Insights |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swap: Adjusting the amount of e-cash a user has to match the exact amount they need for a transaction. This process involves coin selection and is typically handled by the wallet automatically, without the user needing to manually select coins, however they will need to be online for perform a swap. This can be confusing since part of the Cashu value proposition is that it works offline - it’s important to clarify that it works offline for sending or pushing payments. | 💡 Key Insight: Users are confused by the need to be online for the "swap" operation, which automatically adjusts ecash proofs for transactions. The confusion arises because we communicate that ecash has similar properties to physical cash but this differs from physical cash transactions, where no such online verification is necessary. Example: |
🗣️ Recommendation: Not much. This is an edge case. Most wallets are handling this in the background so the user will never be aware of it. In the event they are offline and they counter this error we should aim to provide a clear explanation on why online connectivity is required for this operations. | | 2 | The most common question is whether Cashu is non-custodial and what the trust model is, especially how the mint-user relationship works. Bitcoin users often make a clear distinction between custodial and non-custodial models and are concerned when they learn that mints might act as custodians of the Bitcoin sent to them. | 💡 Key Insight: Bitcoin users often misunderstand Cashu's custodial nature, particularly regarding the role of mints as custodians.
🗣️ Recommendation: More educational content that helps clearly explain the trust model. Consider an onboarding tutorial when user first uses ecash software. | | 3 | | 💡 | | 4 | The functions of 'minting' and 'melting' ecash are not intuitive to many users, especially those who are new to such ecash, since these are not bitcoin terms. Use will not immediately grasp why these operations are necessary or what they do. | 💡 Key Insight: The terms “minting” and “melting” are not intuitive to many users.
🗣️ Recommendation: Consider using new terms, or including tool tips or other educational resources in the app. | | 5 | Uses the analogy of a "blind, deaf bank teller" to explain the mint trust model to new users. This analogy helps illustrate how the mint processes transactions without knowing who the users are, ensuring privacy and preventing targetted censorship. | N/A | | 6 | Potential for mints to engage in fractional reserve practices or rug (run away with user funds). | 💡 Key Insight: Users are concerned about the mints engaging in fractional reserve banking.
🗣️ Recommendation: More educational content that helps clearly explain the trust model. Consider an onboarding tutorial when user first uses ecash software. | | | | |