CASE STUDY / 03
COMPANY
Scapin’
PRODUCT
Web3 social digital experience
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Founders · Product · Engineering · Early beta users
RESPONSABILITIES
Product Discovery · Competitive Benchmarking · UX Strategy · Interaction Design · Prototyping · User Testing
01 / OVERVIEW
Creating identity from the ground up
Scapin’ was an early-stage Web3 startup where digital identity and self-expression were central to the product experience. The Avatar Configurator was one of the first core features developed for the MVP before the initial beta. There were no established user behaviours, large-scale analytics or proven patterns to rely on.
The challenge was to define what a meaningful digital identity experience should be before knowing exactly how users would engage with it.
02 / THE CHALLENGE
Designing without all the answers
Designing within an MVP meant making decisions with incomplete information. Rather than optimising an existing experience, we needed to identify which assumptions were worth testing first.
The challenge wasn't simply designing an interface. It was identifying what experience was worth building.
03 / MVP STRATEGY
Build enough to learn
Rather than building a complete avatar ecosystem, we focused the MVP on the smallest experience capable of testing the core hypothesis:
Would creating a personal digital identity strengthen users' connection with the platform?
BUILD NOW
Core identity creation
TEST
Customisation, usability & emotional connection
LEARN
What deserves further investment
04 / DISCOVERY & RESEARCH
With no established user behaviour or large-scale product data to rely on, research became central to reducing uncertainty.
I conducted moderated sessions both in person and remotely, observing how users approached digital identity, self-expression and avatar customisation: what they valued, what made an avatar feel personal and where choice became overwhelming.
In parallel, I benchmarked avatar systems across games, social platforms and digital identity products — not to replicate existing solutions, but to understand the patterns behind successful identity experiences.
UPLOAD: BENCHMARKING BOARDS / COMPETITOR ANALYSIS / REFERENCES
Moderated session
THE KEY INSIGHT
Meaningful customisation mattered more than maximum choice.
05 / SYNTHESIS
What we learned
01
Representation
More options did not automatically create a better experience.
02
Simplicity
Recognisable customisation patterns made the experience easier to understand.
03
Familiarity
Bring real user responses into decisions before scaling the experience.
OUR SYNTHESIS PROCESS
06 / FROM INSIGHT TO PRODUCT
NEED
Feel represented
→
DESIGN DECISION
Meaningful appearance customisation
NEED
Avoid overwhelming choice
→
DESIGN DECISION
Progressive, structured categories
NEED
Understand the experience quickly
→
DESIGN DECISION
Familiar avatar-creation patterns
07 / IMPACT
MVP VALIDATED
The experience became one of the most positively received beta experiences, validating that digital identity could become a meaningful driver of emotional connection.
LEARN EARLY
Benchmark before designing, test assumptions early, and iterate quickly with user feedback.
06 / REFLECTION
Designing with uncertainty
Building Avatar Configurator reinforced the importance of designing with uncertainty. In an MVP environment, the role of UX is not to have all the answers. It is to create the right process to discover them. By combining competitive analysis, rapid iteration and continuous user feedback, we transformed assumptions into evidence and shaped an experience that resonated with early users.