My Role at BlockFi
At BlockFi, I worked as a software engineer initially, and then as a technical product manager, contributing to the development of secure, user friendly digital asset management solutions in the crypto and fintech space. In addition to my technical product management responsibilities, I served as Scrum Master, facilitating agile practices to improve team collaboration and efficiency.
I supported technical product management by defining product requirements, prioritizing features, and collaborating across teams to align on secure, efficient system development. My dual role allowed me to bridge technical and business needs, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and enhancing the user experience. Working closely with engineering, design, and compliance teams, I helped drive streamlined, accessible features that aligned with BlockFi’s mission to empower users through innovative cryptocurrency products.
Case Studies
Case Study 1: Enhancing the User Experience on BlockFi’s Trading Platform
Project Overview
At BlockFi, I initially joined as a Software Engineer and later transitioned to a Technical Product Manager, where I worked on optimizing the user experience of BlockFi’s digital trading platform. My primary focus was to create a seamless and secure experience for users trading digital assets, helping bridge the gap between technical challenges and user expectations within the crypto-fintech space.
Challenges and Goals
Improving User Experience: The trading platform needed to be intuitive, efficient, and accessible to users with varying levels of experience in cryptocurrency.
Ensuring Security and Compliance: As a crypto platform, the trading interface had to be compliant with industry regulations and fortified against security risks, such as unauthorized access or transaction errors.
Streamlining Performance: Enhancing the speed and reliability of the platform, especially during high-traffic trading windows, was crucial for user retention and satisfaction.
Key Actions and Solutions
User Experience Optimization:
Led initiatives to redesign key features of the trading interface to improve usability, focusing on simplifying complex actions like trades, transfers, and fund management.
Conducted user testing and gathered feedback to understand pain points and make data driven adjustments that improved the overall user experience.
System Security Enhancements:
Collaborated closely with compliance and security teams to integrate secure authentication protocols and data protection measures, fortifying the trading platform against unauthorized access and enhancing user trust.
Established automated alerts and tracking systems to monitor platform performance and quickly address any issues impacting user security.
Performance and Scalability Optimization:
Prioritized development tasks and feature rollouts based on platform performance data and user needs, ensuring the trading system could handle increased demand during high traffic periods.
Implemented backend optimizations to support seamless and fast transactions, reducing loading times and improving trade execution rates.
Cross Functional Collaboration:
Worked with engineering, design, and customer support teams to ensure alignment across departments and provided technical guidance to enhance feature development and release cycles.
Coordinated with stakeholders to ensure each update met regulatory requirements and adhered to BlockFi’s commitment to secure, user friendly asset management.
Outcomes
Enhanced Usability: The trading platform saw improved user engagement and retention rates due to optimized usability and smoother trade execution.
Improved Security: Strengthened security protocols reduced instances of unauthorized access and increased user confidence in the platform.
Scalable Performance: Backend optimizations enabled the platform to handle surges in trading activity, reducing latency and enhancing the overall user experience.
Case Study 2: Developing the BlockFi Credit Card with Crypto Rewards
Project Overview
As both a Technical Product Manager and Software Engineer at BlockFi, I played a central role in the development of BlockFi’s new credit card product, which introduced crypto-backed rewards for purchases. This was an entirely new product line, designed to empower users to earn crypto as they spent, broadening the appeal of cryptocurrency by integrating it into everyday financial habits. My dual role enabled me to contribute to the design, implementation, and strategic direction of the card and its rewards program.
Challenges and Goals
Creating a Crypto Rewards System: Developing a rewards structure that converted purchases into crypto earnings while maintaining transparency and ease of use for users.
Ensuring Security and Compliance: Given the complexities of combining credit card transactions with crypto rewards, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and secure processing was essential.
Building a Scalable Rewards Infrastructure: Ensuring that the rewards program could support future scaling and accommodate an expanding user base without sacrificing performance or security.
Key Actions and Solutions
Product Definition and Requirement Setting:
Defined the core requirements for the credit card product, prioritizing features such as crypto rewards tracking, rewards redemption, and user notifications.
Conducted competitor analysis and user research to shape a rewards structure that appealed to both new and experienced crypto users.
Development and Integration of Secure Payment Flows:
Collaborated with engineering teams to implement secure payment processing that integrated with the existing BlockFi ecosystem, ensuring smooth reward calculations and deposits.
Worked with compliance and legal teams to ensure all transactions and rewards met regulatory standards, particularly regarding tax implications for crypto rewards.
Building the Rewards Program:
Established the backend infrastructure for tracking purchases and issuing crypto rewards, ensuring reliability and accuracy of reward calculations.
Created a user friendly frontend interface that allowed cardholders to view and redeem their rewards easily, providing a seamless experience from purchase to crypto conversion.
Cross Department Collaboration:
Partnered closely with design, customer support, and marketing teams to ensure the credit card’s features aligned with user needs and BlockFi’s brand mission.
Coordinated the go to market strategy with stakeholders, ensuring successful launch milestones and aligning promotional efforts with product readiness.
Outcomes
Successful Product Launch: The BlockFi Credit Card was successfully launched, introducing a first of its kind crypto rewards experience that attracted new users and engaged existing BlockFi customers.
Enhanced User Engagement: Users appreciated the seamless rewards experience, leading to increased adoption and regular use of the credit card.
Scalable Infrastructure: The credit card’s infrastructure was built to accommodate user growth, supporting an expanding user base with minimal adjustments to performance and scalability.