Enhancing Security and Trust with a Multisignature Wallet

Overview

Vite Multisig (multisignature) wallet is a feature that extends the use a personal vite wallet. It aims to give users an extra layer of security by combining the flexibility of regular wallets and the trust-less security features of a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation(DAO).

My role

I conducted competitor analysis, wireframing, UI design and user research

Timeline

4 Weeks

Team

1 Designer, 1 Community manager, 1 Developer

The crypto space has witnessed a lot of exciting activities and new use-cases for pre-existing technologies and as such has also attracted a host of bad actors as well.

Assets worth more than $7 billion have been stolen in the crypto space; and as a matter of fact, the number keeps increasing each year. Factoring in inflation and change in prices this amount would be worth more than $40 billion in cash. ‍

What makes these attacks rampant is that the hacking kits can often be bought over the dark web for under $100 and most of these individual account hacks occur through phishing attacks.

Crypto hacking kits for example, are available for as little as $30. A multisignature wallet prevents bad actors from carrying out a successful phishing attack as multiple signatures will have to be appended to perform a successful operation.

Featured objectives

01. Anyone can create a joint account

02. Joint account creators can specify who can vote and the approval threshold to move funds

03. Joint accounts can hold multiple token types

04. Joint account members can propose a motion to move a specific token type and amount to aspecific address

05. Joint account members can vote to pass the motion or not (not voting counts as rejecting the motion)

06. If the approval threshold to pass the motion is met, the transfer is executed and then the motion and votes are reset

07. Motions can be replaced or removed at any time by any joint account member; when this happens, votes are reset.

This project was an exciting one as I had almost no knowledge about what a multisignature wallet was and how it worked and so I had to do a lot of personal research, interviews and competitor research to get a feel of the pain points and how to profer relevant solutions to them.

The concept of a multisignature wallet in the crypto field was relatively new to me as stated earlier, I've only come across the web 2.0 alternative which was a joint bank account.

Naturally this was where my research started - knowing WHAT it is, HOW it can be setup and used, WHERE it fits within the already existing technologies. This helped me ask the right questions and understand what I should look out for during my competitive analysis session.

A multisignature/multisig wallet is a type of wallet that allows multiple parties to validate a single transaction. By contrast traditional wallets only need a single validation for a transaction to go through.

Multisig wallets allow also gives the user the option to choose the number of signatures needed to perform a transaction.

They are often labelled as 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5. It is more ideal for the number of signatures needed to be less than the total number of signees – this way, if a private key is lost (especially in a 2 out of 3 situation) the other signees would still be able to complete transactions. Setting up a 2 out of 2 wallet would likely lead to assets getting stuck if one signee loses access to their private keys.

They are often labelled as 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5. It is more ideal for the number of signatures needed to be less than the total number of signees – this way, if a private key is lost (especially in a 2 out of 3 situation) the other signees would still beable to complete transactions without any more steps.

To create a multisignature wallet, one has to create/connect a traditional wallet first to get a unique private key. This private key is then used to authenticate and create the joint wallet. Wallet addresses of other signees are then added and the threshold is set.

Multisig wallets allow also gives the user the option to choose the number of signatures needed to perform a transaction.

Setting up a 2 out of 2 wallet would likely lead to assets getting stuck if one signee loses access to their private keys.

Once everything is set up and a transaction is to be made, amotion to transfer funds is first made. In a 2 out of 3 wallets, another vote is needed to initiate the transfer of funds. Once the threshold is met, the transaction begins without any more steps.

A multisig wallet has a lot of advantages, one of which is to be able to quickly prevent a lost or stolen private key from being used orstill having access to one’s assets even after losing one’s private keys.

Using a 2 out of 3 multisig wallet setup as an escrow is another very good use case. Imagine a seller A, sells goods to buyer B. B releases the funds (votes in this case) once the authenticity of the goods have been confirmed. If the B fails to vote and transfer the funds, an arbitrator C can step in and approve the transaction.

On the other hand, if the goods inexchange fail to meet the already approved standard, the transaction can easily be called off.

To get a clearer picture of user needs I asked 3 users comfortable with web3 products and 2 users without web3 knowledge what they’d expect from a joint wallet. The interviews were conducted to form the basis for which features will be supported and which would not make the cut for the time being.

Insights from the interview

01. Multisig wallets are a relatively new trend in web3 but it is the basis for which Decentralized Autonomous Organisations exist.

02. Choosing a network at the beginning of the onboarding process is more ideal as compared with choosing a network when creating the joint account.

03. Web3 concepts are new and as such, creating an intuitive interface with info tips helps in bridging the knowledge gap

04. Users don’t really fancy a messaging feature but will use it if it’s available

05. Signees should be able to remove other signees by voting

06. Using a joint wallet might make the decision process slower

07. A notification feature is super important

08. A dark-mode feature is a great addition but not a necessity

Now that I know the WHAT a multisig wallet is, HOW it works it fits within the current market and a few use cases and gotten a better perspective from users, I decided to do a competitive analysis to know how other start-ups might have approached the user experience and also get more insight on what’s obtainable.

There were specific features I looked out for during my research – platform it was built for (mobile, web, desktop), messaging feature, notification feature, add signees, create motion, remove signees, ease of use, modern ui.

I noticed from my research that not many web3 services offered multisig wallets.

Also, the stand-out features for all the apps I used were "remove/add singee" and "create motion" as these were the core features of a multisignature wallet.

Most of these solutions were dated too and as such had poor user experience. About half of them were only available as executable software for desktop devices.

From my research on the user needs and most important features, I created personas to reflect what users intend to use a multisig wallet for – the single user who wants to just store funds away safely and multiple users who generally want to have a single wallet and prevent funds from being in the hands of one person alone (more or less a trust-less wallet).

Mapping user stories to features helped me understand and synthesize the all the research information I’ve gathered from the conceptualization stage to now. Each synthesized story was mapped to a feature within the multisig feature.

Once everything is set up and a transaction is to be made, amotion to transfer funds is first made. In a 2 out of 3 wallets, another vote is needed to initiate the transfer of funds. Once the threshold is met, the transaction begins without any more steps.

The user flow synthesizes all the insights derived from personas, stories and interviews into actionable steps. It itemizes the journey and follows the path the user would take from creating a wallet to transferring funds; which is the end goal of the user.

Starting the design process with sketches helped me rapidly ideate and transfer my ideas into digital paper since it was alot faster than wireframes and gave me the flexibility to iterate and understand the flow. I used figjam for this phase.

I used wireframes to practically see what the multisignature feature would look like while at the same time collecting user feedback and expectations.

I've tried to make the interface have a feel of vitex (trading platform of VITE) but still maintain a unique approach. The screens start with an onboarding screen and walks you through to adding signees, adding a new wallet or creating a motion.

Users are able to use their Vite app, a ledger device or manually add their passphrases.

An overlay screen that allows you to go to a pre-existing wallet or create a new one.

If a user chooses "create a joint wallet" it takes the user here. Any name can be chosen. Users can play around with it.

In order to use a multisignature wallet, at least one more signee needs to be added. The threshold has to be lower or have the same number as the total number of signees.

Dashboard of an active user. It spots the number of singees (joint account holders) and the most recent motions.

Shows the most recent transactions carried out within a certian joint account.

Motions are requests made to transfer funds, remove/add a signee or increase the threshold for a certain joint wallet. The threshold needs to be met in order to the motion to be approved.

Shows all the motions created by all the signees.

Shows motions created only by the current user.

Fortunately, I was able to get some insights after the design phase from the VITE team and crypto professionals/ethusiasts on discord and they were tremendously helpful.

I've highlighted my findings here.

01. Only a VITE wallet can be used within the VITE blockchain so deisgning for walletconnect and metamask would have been futile.

02. Inbound and outbound are unnecessary as the status of a transaction can easily be checked using the transaction hash.

03. 70% of users preferred the mobile version as it made things easier for them on the go.

04. A messaging feature, though sounds good, would require more resources to implement.