Designing Bitcoin Keeper’s Desktop Onboarding

Overview

Bitcoin Keeper is a multisig wallet with inheritance planning, and it only had a mobile app. I researched why desktop was worth building, then designed its onboarding.

My role

UX research and product design

Team

With the Bitcoin Keeper team at BitHyve

Timeline

June 2025, Summer of Bitcoin

Impact overview

Case for desktop

Showed why desktop was worth building, for users and for revenue.

Research

Compared 5 wallets and walked through 4 onboarding flows screen by screen.

Design

A lean mobile to desktop onboarding plus the UI foundation.

Summary

This case study shows how I researched why a Bitcoin wallet needed a desktop app, then designed the first thing every user sees: onboarding.

Bitcoin Keeper, built by BitHyve, is a non custodial multisig wallet with inheritance planning. It already had a mobile app.

During Summer of Bitcoin 2025, I researched the case for a desktop app and designed its onboarding and UI foundation.

The challenge: one flow that works for first time holders and Sparrow power users alike, without jargon.

The Problem We Are Solving

People holding 1 BTC or more want a desktop wallet that is advanced and secure, yet still easy to use for multisig, hardware wallets and inheritance.

Tools like Sparrow and Specter are powerful but built for experts. They lack collaborative key management, inheritance flows, remote signing and mobile to desktop sync.

Keeper Desktop had to bridge that gap without taking away user control or privacy.

Why Build a Desktop App at All?

Keeper already had a mobile app. Before designing anything, I had to show that desktop was worth building, for users and for the business.

What I found:

Security first users trust desktops more. Hardware wallets like Coldcard, Trezor and Ledger plug straight in over USB.
A bigger screen lowers risk in high stakes flows like reviewing transactions or assigning heirs.
Desktop plus mobile means redundancy. Lose your phone, keep your vault.
It opens revenue: premium plans for power users, hardware wallet partnerships, Keeper Private for high net worth users, and better retention across devices.

How Other Wallets Compare

I compared Keeper with four popular wallets, then walked through the onboarding of Sparrow, Wasabi, Nunchuk and Liana screen by screen.

	Bitcoin Keeper	BlueWallet	Wasabi	Nunchuk	Sparrow
Multisig	✓ UX first	Limited	✕	✓ Advanced	✓ Very advanced
Inheritance	✓ Built in templates	✕	✕	Manual	Manual, technical
Shared custody	✓ Contacts & roles	✕	✕	✓ Needs coordination	✓ Manual setup
Beginner friendly	✓	✓ Basic	✕	Learning curve	✕ Experts only
Built for	Everyday users & families	Everyday users	Privacy maximalists	Power users & teams	Technical users

What their onboarding taught me:

No one personalizes onboarding. Everyone gets the same flow, whatever their experience.
Jargon everywhere. Terms like xpub and cosigner hit users on screen one.
No one talks about mobile sync. A clear opening for Keeper, whose users mostly start on mobile.

Who Uses a Desktop Wallet?

I split users two ways: by how much wallet experience they have, and by how they use Bitcoin.

Keeper mobile users trying desktop, likely the largest group
People who used other mobile wallets like BlueWallet or Green
Power users coming from Sparrow or Specter
Complete beginners, likely a small share

By behavior: inheritance planners, families sharing custody, hardware wallet users and cross device users.

Who I Designed For

Three personas cover the range, from someone scared of seed phrases to someone who reads Bitcoin mailing lists.

The Cautious Wealth Preserver

Arvind Mehta, 52

Retired business owner with 3 BTC and low tech comfort. Fears losing access and wants his son as a backup.

Needs: a guided 2 of 3 setup, simple words, and visual confirmations like “You’re protected”.

The Secure Self Custodian

Arjun Singh, 32

Security researcher with 5+ years in Bitcoin. Runs Coldcard and Ledger in a 2 of 3 multisig.

Needs: a skip option, import of xpubs and config files, and clear key health.

The Trusted Bitcoin Guide

Alex

Added after review. Mentors beginners and high net worth clients through self custody.

Needs: guided shared setups and inheritance plans clients can’t get wrong.

Anti persona: Ramesh, a passive exchange holder with small savings on WazirX. He avoids self custody and would drop off during onboarding, so I didn’t design for him.

My First Idea: Onboarding That Adapts to You

Ask about experience right after Get Started, then show each group its own three screens.

First onboarding flow sketch — First flow sketch

Wireframe concept with experience picker — Wireframes with an experience picker

I wrote copy for four user types. For a beginner like Arvind: “Your vault needs only 2 of 3 keys to recover funds. Even if one device is lost, you’re safe.” For Arjun, the pitch was the control of Sparrow without the clutter.

Why We Dropped It

In review, the team pushed back. A picker on the second screen adds cognitive load and slows time to value.

The new direction: ship a simple mobile to desktop flow first, then layer features on top. Don’t sell yet. Just make it easy to use.

So I downloaded the Keeper app and mapped its whole mobile onboarding in Figma, to reuse what users already know.

Keeper mobile onboarding flow mapped in Figma

Then I sketched a leaner desktop flow: Get Started, passcode, three intro screens, then create or import a wallet.

Setting the UI Foundation

Keeper’s brand had three core colors: Ivory, Green and Ebony. I expanded them into full shade ranges for states, contrast, and a future dark mode.

Colors as Figma variables, not styles, so light and dark modes and global changes come for free.
An 8px spacing scale, easy for developers to map to rem.
Lora for headings to feel premium, Inter for body to stay readable.

Fixing the First Screen

The old Get Started screen wasn’t on a standard 1440px desktop frame, and its gradient and thin “From the team at” text failed WCAG contrast checks.

Should there be a Learn More button? No. A second button competes with Get Started and slows activation. I kept it as a small link to the help center, so cautious users can check they have the official app.

Trying AI Tools for UI

I tested Google Stitch and Lovable to speed up screen design. Neither got the layout right, let alone the colors, so I designed the screens myself in Figma.

AI generated attempts

Final Onboarding Screens

Three intro screens, in a deliberate order: security first because every persona cares about it, inheritance second to build emotional trust, and privacy last so users start out feeling in control.

Illustrations before and after the light mode rework

Illustrations reworked for light mode, on an Ivory surface for better contrast

Onboarding screen 1, secure and flexible wallet creation — 1. Secure & flexible wallet creation

Onboarding screen 2, safeguard your Bitcoin for generations — 2. Safeguard your Bitcoin for generations

Onboarding screen 3, unmatched privacy and control — 3. Unmatched privacy and control

Welcome screen with create or import wallet — Create or import a wallet

What’s Next

Passcode screens and their error cases, plus every state for buttons, cards and inputs.

One open question: people often forget a passcode set in the first minute. Should it move to after wallet creation?

What I Learned

Proving why something should exist comes before designing how it looks.
A good idea can still lose to time to value. Personalized onboarding was right for later, not for V1.
Words are UI. Swapping “cosigner” and “xpub” for “Guardian” and “Heir” matters as much as any visual.