Table of Contents
Candy revolutionized fan engagement by providing officially licensed digital collectibles, offering collectors clear insights into their value, and facilitating secure trading on a secondary marketplace. Initially partnering with Major League Baseball, Candy expanded to collaborate with major brands like Premier League and NASCAR.
Role #
As Candy’s founding designer through Artium, I guided the project from concept through launch and subsequent iterations. My core responsibilities included building a scalable design system, designing the marketplace experience, conducting user research, and helping define product strategy and roadmap.
Collaborating closely with a product manager, head of design, and a team of five designers, I conducted research and user interviews to deeply understand fans, collectors, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts, ensuring our product aligned seamlessly with user expectations and desires.
Challenge #
Candy approached us with an ambitious goal: launch their platform within five months, starting from scratch. They required a robust, scalable marketplace capable of handling complex financial transactions, significant user volume, and multiple global brands.
Approach #
Key challenges included easing technological barriers for users, clearly demonstrating the fluctuating value of collectibles, and building a versatile design system. User interviews consistently guided our decisions, ensuring the final product resonated authentically with its audience.
Ensuring Easy Adoption #
Early research highlighted significant usability issues in existing digital collectible platforms, particularly with wallet integration and cumbersome purchase flows. Our goal was a frictionless purchasing experience comparable to standard online shopping, intentionally minimizing blockchain complexity.
We also prioritized enhancing the collector experience by developing customizable and shareable digital showcases, facilitating social interaction and marketplace transactions without unnecessary complexity.
Explorations into advanced features like direct trading were deferred to maintain timeline feasibility.
Demonstrating Digital Collectible Value #
Understanding the financial motivations of collectors, I implemented features aimed at transparently displaying the value and investment potential of collectibles, including:
- Real-time notifications highlighting relevant market activities.
- Data visualizations tracking collectible valuation over time.
- Prominent homepage placement for high-value marketplace sales.
These features directly responded to the CEO’s vision of promoting digital collectibles as viable investments.
Building a Scalable Design System and Workflow #
A scalable, adaptable design system was critical given Candy’s partnerships with major global brands. I established a comprehensive design system, integrated seamlessly into Figma and Storybook, that allowed new designers to rapidly onboard and contribute effectively.
We implemented efficient workflows, file organization practices, and clear documentation, ensuring ongoing productivity and brand consistency across diverse franchises.
Future-Focused Innovation #
Beyond immediate product launches, our strategic research identified future value propositions for digital collectibles, including:
- Real-world perks (discounts, signed memorabilia), leveraging Candy’s relationship with Fanatics.
- Integration with event ticketing, especially critical for NASCAR audiences.
- Unlockable content or consumables within gaming ecosystems.
Results #
Candy’s successful launch resulted in immediate traction, with over $1 million in transactions during its initial MLB season. This performance significantly boosted investor confidence, securing a $100 million investment at a $1.5 billion valuation.
The effectiveness of our partnership was underscored by Candy’s interest in directly hiring our design talent.
Here’s an example prototype demonstrating the end-to-end flow from sign-in through purchasing and listing items for sale: