Building a scalable compliance framework across products to maintain user retention
Company
Kraken
Role
Systems Design
Timeline
2023 - Ongoing
Problem
Increasing regulations impact user retention
Increasing crypto regulations had the potential to significantly impact user retention and revenue, as additional Know Your Customer (KYC) was required for users to continue trading on the platform. This would add friction and potentially cause user frustration and confusion, leading to a decline in user engagement and trust. We needed a scalable framework to ensure that the business met these compliance requirements while not sacrificing the usability of the platform.
Project goal
Build a scalable compliance framework
The challenge was to build a scalable framework for Kraken’s products– Consumer and Pro– across multiple surfaces, including desktop web and mobile apps.
We needed to deliver consistent messaging and patterns, while making user actions clear and as frictionless as possible, so users can complete remediation tasks and continue trading on the platform.
Principles
Adaptable
Make the patterns for remediation adaptable across all impacted geographies, user groups and evolving regulations.
Consistent
Ensure all communication and patterns are consistent across all product surfaces (Consumer, Pro, Web).
Efficient
Reduce the amount of work required for users as much as possible. Enhance user trust and streamline compliance processes for both internal teams and users.
Remediation process
I created a user diagram to illustrate what the remediation process would look like for clients. This general process would then be scaled and deepened per specific regulations.
Messaging framework
We needed a consistent framework to communicate to clients about what actions they need to take in order to remediate their accounts. We messaged to clients in three main ways: legal notices, emails, modals and notifications. I developed the content guidelines and messaging patterns for the team to use when messaging various actions to clients.
Example of how I structured the Figma file for various screen states and flows that I mapped out for one of our key geographies– Germany.
I mapped out and designed the user experiences for complex flows across various user groups, product surfaces, devices and edge cases, leveraging the framework I created to increase efficiency of design and implementation.
UX flows / patterns
We mapped out reusable user flows and patterns that could be adopted for various geographies and their legal requirements.
Example screens
Click through the web and mobile designs to view some examples of the messages and flows we delivered to meet new compliance requirements.
Outcome
Sustained retention and increased market growth potential
Impact:
95% retention in remediated geographies
14% increase in transactional revenue across European markets
Scaled to 9 countries and counting
Increased market growth potential in Europe for the next five years
More broadly, this framework not only benefited the company but also set a standard for the industry, contributing to a more user-friendly compliance environment in crypto.