Coinbase app is ‘broken’ for UX, admits CEO Brian Armstrong

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says the rise of on-chain activities on its new layer-2 network Base has exposed how “broken” the Coinbase app is for user experience, and has pledged to improve it. 

In an X (Twitter) post on Aug. 13, Armstrong said a number of pain points have surfaced during “Onchain Summer” — a multi-week festival of product launches, brand activations, and non-fungible token reveals on Base that began on Aug. 9 and runs until Aug. 31.

One thing #OnchainSummer is exposing is just how broken our UX is in the main Coinbase app for NFTs, Dapps, and L2s today. Sorry to say, but true.

If we face truth, we can get motivated to improve it. These need to be first class experiences, and #OnchainSummer is a great impetus…

— Brian Armstrong ️ (@brian_armstrong) August 13, 2023

Armstrong said the event has shown the weakness of the Coinbase app’s user experience for non-fungible tokens, decentralized apps, and layer 2s.

The CEO urged users of X to send feedback in response to the thread, in a bid to prioritize the most important queries, adding that the next two weeks will see rapid updates on the biggest pain points.

The most-liked response at the time of publication was a request from Friendtech developer Racer, who requested a fast settlement credit card on-ramp to Coinbase that didn’t require users to make a separate account.

Following this was a request to fix an ongoing bug that caused issues when connecting Coinbases’ mobile wallet to Google Chrome, with Armstrong noting that the bug had been more persistent than expected.

Related: Coinbase layer-2 network Base hits 136,000 daily active users

UX has long been a pain point for the crypto industry. In an interview with Cointelegraph, anonymous Web3 UI/UX designer, 0xDesigner blamed much of the issue on the owner-centric and irreversible nature of blockchain-based applications.

Got me thinking about UX/UI in crypto, oh and GM pic.twitter.com/ayEIbWQPDg

— irena (@irena_clarke) July 4, 2023

Despite app design being complicated by the often convoluted nature of blockchain tech, XGo content manager Kirthana Devaser says a continued focus on sleek UI and making blockchain “invisible” in everyday user interactions will help drive the next wave of mass adoption.

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