From Paper to Real

PersonaFi • 2026 • Product Designer

Crypto Investing

Persona Onboarding

Paper Trading

Mobile App

Role: Product Designer‍ @ RepublicScope: UX, UI, visual design, interaction design, user testing & research

A crypto app for people who don't trade crypto — prove a personalized portfolio on paper, then make it real.

PersonaFi turns a short quiz into a personalized crypto portfolio, built for people who are curious about investing but have zero interest in day-trading. The signature "Go Real" flow lets you graduate from a pretend Paper portfolio you've watched for weeks into the real, money-on-the-line version. The tech was never the hard part. Getting a nervous beginner to feel ready was.

Crypto-curious is who we design for

We surveyed 45 people and sat down with 5 of them. The numbers stopped us short: even folks curious enough to test a crypto app mostly held savings accounts (98%) and index funds (91%). Only 1 in 5 owned any crypto at all. These aren't traders — they're careful people who like things they recognize.

​

So we gave ourselves one rule: prove the thing works before asking anyone to risk a dollar.

  • Safe and familiar wins. No jargon, no volatility theater, no "trade now." Users have higher trust in familiar investments such as high-yield saving accounts, index funds.
  • The fun onboarding was the show. People played with the paper portfolio and the quiz far more than anything else — and wanted to show their avatar to friends.
  • Curious, but a little lost. Easy to get in, but they kept asking why these tokens? and when do I rebalance? We had to explain without sounding like we were handing out advice.

Earn trust through engaging UX

We didn't build a trading app. We built the handful of moments that actually turn a cautious beginner into an investor, and sweated those. Legal kept making us cut things — and honestly, every cut made it better. A nervous beginner wants less, not more.

Prove it on paper. A demo portfolio that feels like yours — your performance, your holdings, right up front. We killed the projected-returns chart (partly legal, partly because nobody believes those numbers anyway) and let the real thing do the convincing.

Then, Go Real. This is the moment. We called it "Go Real," not "Go Live" — you're making your portfolio real, not going live like a streamer. And we kept it quiet. No confetti, no fireworks. The win is the decision itself.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Next steps

The UX had been signed off for both flows — Live Trade and Buy Portfolio — fully approved by stakeholders. UI handed off clean. Visual design and recommendations are with the team and ready to build.

Next up: the money rails. Banking and deposit infrastructure is in progress — working, but with optimization still ahead.

Works →

© 2026 Qi Shen

From Paper to Real

PersonaFi • 2026 • Product Designer

Crypto Investing

Persona Onboarding

Paper Trading

Mobile App

Role: Product Designer‍ @ RepublicScope: UX, UI, visual design, interaction design, user testing & research

A crypto app for people who don't trade crypto — prove a personalized portfolio on paper, then make it real.

PersonaFi turns a short quiz into a personalized crypto portfolio, built for people who are curious about investing but have zero interest in day-trading. The signature "Go Real" flow lets you graduate from a pretend Paper portfolio you've watched for weeks into the real, money-on-the-line version. The tech was never the hard part. Getting a nervous beginner to feel ready was.

Crypto-curious is who we design for

We surveyed 45 people and sat down with 5 of them. The numbers stopped us short: even folks curious enough to test a crypto app mostly held savings accounts (98%) and index funds (91%). Only 1 in 5 owned any crypto at all. These aren't traders — they're careful people who like things they recognize.

​

So we gave ourselves one rule: prove the thing works before asking anyone to risk a dollar.

  • Safe and familiar wins. No jargon, no volatility theater, no "trade now." Users have higher trust in familiar investments such as high-yield saving accounts, index funds.
  • The fun onboarding was the show. People played with the paper portfolio and the quiz far more than anything else — and wanted to show their avatar to friends.
  • Curious, but a little lost. Easy to get in, but they kept asking why these tokens? and when do I rebalance? We had to explain without sounding like we were handing out advice.

Earn trust through engaging UX

We didn't build a trading app. We built the handful of moments that actually turn a cautious beginner into an investor, and sweated those. Legal kept making us cut things — and honestly, every cut made it better. A nervous beginner wants less, not more.

Prove it on paper. A demo portfolio that feels like yours — your performance, your holdings, right up front. We killed the projected-returns chart (partly legal, partly because nobody believes those numbers anyway) and let the real thing do the convincing.

Then, Go Real. This is the moment. We called it "Go Real," not "Go Live" — you're making your portfolio real, not going live like a streamer. And we kept it quiet. No confetti, no fireworks. The win is the decision itself.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Next steps

The UX had been signed off for both flows — Live Trade and Buy Portfolio — fully approved by stakeholders. UI handed off clean. Visual design and recommendations are with the team and ready to build.

Next up: the money rails. Banking and deposit infrastructure is in progress — working, but with optimization still ahead.

Works →

© 2026 Qi Shen

From Paper to Real

PersonaFi • 2026 • Product Designer

Crypto Investing

Persona Onboarding

Paper Trading

Mobile App

Role: Product Designer‍ @ RepublicScope: UX, UI, visual design, interaction design, user testing & research

A crypto app for people who don't trade crypto — prove a personalized portfolio on paper, then make it real.

PersonaFi turns a short quiz into a personalized crypto portfolio, built for people who are curious about investing but have zero interest in day-trading. The signature "Go Real" flow lets you graduate from a pretend Paper portfolio you've watched for weeks into the real, money-on-the-line version. The tech was never the hard part. Getting a nervous beginner to feel ready was.

Crypto-curious is who we design for

We surveyed 45 people and sat down with 5 of them. The numbers stopped us short: even folks curious enough to test a crypto app mostly held savings accounts (98%) and index funds (91%). Only 1 in 5 owned any crypto at all. These aren't traders — they're careful people who like things they recognize.

​

So we gave ourselves one rule: prove the thing works before asking anyone to risk a dollar.

  • Safe and familiar wins. No jargon, no volatility theater, no "trade now." Users have higher trust in familiar investments such as high-yield saving accounts, index funds.
  • The fun onboarding was the show. People played with the paper portfolio and the quiz far more than anything else — and wanted to show their avatar to friends.
  • Curious, but a little lost. Easy to get in, but they kept asking why these tokens? and when do I rebalance? We had to explain without sounding like we were handing out advice.

Earn trust through engaging UX

We didn't build a trading app. We built the handful of moments that actually turn a cautious beginner into an investor, and sweated those. Legal kept making us cut things — and honestly, every cut made it better. A nervous beginner wants less, not more.

Prove it on paper. A demo portfolio that feels like yours — your performance, your holdings, right up front. We killed the projected-returns chart (partly legal, partly because nobody believes those numbers anyway) and let the real thing do the convincing.

Then, Go Real. This is the moment. We called it "Go Real," not "Go Live" — you're making your portfolio real, not going live like a streamer. And we kept it quiet. No confetti, no fireworks. The win is the decision itself.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Buying, without the spiral. One opinionated bundle, split evenly, math you can do in your head. "Select all" sits right there as the obvious move, but nothing's pre-checked — you're choosing, we're not choosing for you. Fewer decisions, less second-guessing.

Next steps

The UX had been signed off for both flows — Live Trade and Buy Portfolio — fully approved by stakeholders. UI handed off clean. Visual design and recommendations are with the team and ready to build.

Next up: the money rails. Banking and deposit infrastructure is in progress — working, but with optimization still ahead.

Works →