12 usability sessions that showed a founder what to keep, fix and drop
Extra Safe · Encrypted messenger with calls and a built-in stablecoin wallet
Context
Extra Safe is an encrypted messenger with calls and a built-in stablecoin wallet. The app was already live, but its feature set had grown without a clear picture of what people needed.
Problem
The founder didn't know which features made people stay and which pushed them away, so there was no basis for deciding what to build next.
Company
Extra Safe
My role
Lead Product Designer & UX Researcher
Team
Led 2 designers
Platform
iOS, Android (live on App Store and Google Play)
Timeline
Dec 2025 – Apr 2026
12
moderated usability sessions
7
core tasks, from finding the app in the store to inviting a friend by link
5
prioritized proposals for the founder
01
Watching people use the app
I ran 12 moderated sessions across 7 core tasks, from finding the app in the store to inviting a friend. Participants ranged from military personnel to doctors and developers. I led 2 designers through the sessions and the synthesis.
02
What built trust and what broke it
Onboarding worked: 10 people went through it without doubts, and not having to give a phone number made them feel safe.
Trust broke elsewhere. The store page was, in one participant's words, "more a description of features than an explanation of your security." Security banners made no one feel safer. Disappearing messages, shown as the main feature, split people, and 4 said they'd stop using the app there. 10 couldn't tell Meetings from Calls.
03
From findings to a product direction
I turned the findings into a direction for the founder: a private messenger that needs no phone number, for people for whom privacy is critical, such as military personnel, lawyers and finance specialists. And 5 prioritized proposals:
01
Make disappearing messages an option instead of the main feature.
Keep chats by default and add group chats and file sharing.
02
Rebuild the App Store page around how the app protects people.
03
Fix navigation.
A more visible tab bar, a real home screen instead of Calls, and saving contacts from the dialer.
04
Clear up Meetings vs Calls and add scheduled meetings.
05
Replace generic security banners with a short, plain explanation of how encryption works, and add language selection to onboarding.
The founder accepted all five and decided to build them.
Reflection
What I'd do differently
The team didn't know exactly who their audience was, which made every decision harder, down to ads. Today I'd start by choosing one clear segment and design the app around its needs.