DeFi work — AP3

AP3

07 / 09

Project period2024

Social payments & wallets

Kivo

A way for friend groups to be social onchain.

Role: Design co-founder · concept, product, brand & launch
Medium: Web app · Mobile UI
Outcome: ShippedSocial payments app & launch

Kivo friend group with a kiwi membership circle, conversation, and an individual transaction approval panel — Design views
Shipped app · historical product capture

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Case study Social payments & wallets · 2024

Kivo

I ideated Kivo as a way for friend groups to be social onchain. As design co-founder, I shaped that idea into the product direction, UX/UI, identity, and launch. The Solana app connected people, peer payments, and scheduled contracts; KYN carried the same social premise into a group-referral campaign and collectible launch.

Shipped app · launch campaign

Team · Co-founding team

Watch the product walkthrough ↗

Original idea

I conceived Kivo around a simple question: what would crypto feel like if the friend group were the starting point? The idea was a shared social space for people who wanted to do things onchain together.

Approach

Make people and named groups the organizing structure. Bring invitations, conversation, shared activity, and individual transaction decisions into the same context, with wallet setup, payments, and history supporting the social experience.

Outcome

Shipped wallet setup, balances, payments, requests, scheduled contracts, and history. KYN extended the product's social behavior into a group-referral campaign and collectible launch.

Scope · friend groups onchain: Original ideaI ideated the social premise and led its expression across product, identity, and launch.¹
Evidence · social payments app: ShippedWallet setup, balances, payments, requests, scheduled contracts, and history.
Evidence · group referral launch: DesignedKYN connected invitations, access, and collectible rewards.

Decisions & details

Scope

Original Concept, Product Strategy, Brand Identity, Product UI/UX, Launch Campaign

Selected artifacts

Product & process.

Product states, decisions, and the system behind them.

Product

The group designs bring people, conversation, and coordinated activity together; the shipped app connected wallet setup, peer payments, scheduled contracts, and history.

Kivo friend-group interface with membership, conversation, and individual approval — The original premise in one screen: friends, a shared space, and visible individual decisions.

People before wallet addresses

I started with the friend group as the organizing idea. Groups and Payments give shared activity and everyday transfers related places in the product.

Kivo desktop - Groups and Payments — Desktop product - Groups and Payments views

Establish the person, then the group

Account connection, deposits, and color selection lead into a named group with a visible invitation to bring friends.

Kivo onboarding from account connection through deposit, color selection, and group creation — Account setup, deposits, personalization, and group creation.

Kivo dark friend-group interface with conversation and an approval panel — Conversation and shared activity alongside the individual's proposed transaction.

Kivo mobile app screens — Mobile app screens

Kivo group modes — Group modes - Ape, Lock, Split

Kivo product flow — Onboarding, deposits, color selection, and group creation

Kivo feature screens — Feature overview - Ape, Freeze, and Split

Different ways to act together

The group-mode designs explore coordinated buying, locking, and splitting. The social space stays consistent as the action and individual approval panel change.

Kivo group creation and joining flow — Creating, naming, and joining a Kivo group.

Kivo group modes and payment coordination — Ape, Lock, and Split modes mapped onto the group surface.

UX walkthrough

Product motion

Motion reel

A social idea with a recognizable world

The kiwi, personal colors, and campaign staging connect the product experience to its public identity.

Kivo product on a retro CRT in its launch identity — The product's social premise carried into the launch world.

Kivo app on CRT monitor — CRT mockup - mint green

Street poster - stop doing crypto alone — Wheat-paste poster campaign

KYN Campaign

KYN made the waitlist a group activity: form a group of ten, invite friends, and qualify for access and a collectible. Referral status and rewards shared the app's social identity.

The prelaunch became a group challenge

Complete a group of ten to qualify together for weekly access and a collectible mint.

Kivo referral campaign explaining that complete groups of ten receive access — The launch mechanic in one frame: keep your group, fill ten seats, unlock access together.

The referral loop lived inside the product

Naming, invitations, and a filling circle make each group's progress visible.

Kivo group referral flow for creating and joining a group — Creating and joining paths for the ten-person group mechanic.

Completed Kivo group ready to mint a KYN collectible — Once the group was complete, the interface resolved into a clear mint state.

Kivo campaign poster inviting friends to mint a KYN collectible — Campaign language framed referral as teamwork.

A collectible system with range

Six KYN objects combine distinct flavors, rarity levels, receipts, and visual treatments.

KYN collectible world featuring six circular objects — Six identities spanning common, rare, and campaign-specific expressions.

One object model, six identities

One product-card structure holds six flavors and material treatments, balancing variety with a recognizable collection.

Complete KYN six-object collectible lineup — Kivo Cool, Kivo Kiwi, Kivo Berry, Cherry Chat, Banana Split, and the limited dark edition.

KYN Kivo Cool collectible product card — Kivo Cool

KYN Kivo Kiwi collectible product card — Kivo Kiwi

KYN Kivo Berry collectible product card — Kivo Berry

KYN Cherry Chat collectible product card — Cherry Chat

KYN Banana Split collectible product card — Banana Split

KYN limited dark-edition collectible product card — Limited dark edition

Designed to feel ownable

The object language carries into rarity metadata, marketplace presentation, and motion.

KYN Kivo Berry collectible and confidential package system — Collectible, package, rarity, and edition as one identity object.

KYN Banana Split collectible marketplace presentation — Banana Split with rarity receipt and edition metadata.

KYN campaign motion.

The collection in the working file

Object and packaging studies show the exploration behind the final collectibles.

KYN collectible object studies — Collectible object studies and material direction.

KYN packaging and collectible presentation studies — Packaging and collectible presentation studies.

A social product with a public voice

The kiwi mark, product photography, and street placements carry Kivo's invitation to do crypto with friends.

Kivo kiwi campaign poster - stop doing crypto alone — Campaign poster

Kivo outdoor campaign wall - stop doing crypto alone — Outdoor placement

Kivo kiwi mark campaign placement — Brand placement

The launch in motion

Campaign films extend the same identity beyond the interface.

Campaign film

Launch sequence

References & further reading

01
Kivo: A New Social Experience in Solana (opens in a new tab)
Solana Compass · Cove · 21 Sep 2023
A podcast episode on Kivo that quotes its co-founders.

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