Last week elevateUX ran a poll on Twitter to ask the public which mobile wallet is the most impressive out of the ones we have looked at so far. We also invited people to comment below on which wallet we should take a look at next. There was plenty of demand for an article on the ZelCore wallet and how impressive the mobile version was so we was extremely interested to take a look.
Throughout this article I have broken down the key components of what contributes to the users experience of the ZelCore mobile wallet. I hope you enjoy!
But first, what is ZelCore?
FYI — ZelCore is the name of the wallet created by the Zel team.
“ZelCore is a multi asset platform and wallet, free-to-use by all, with top quick-swap exchanges. ZelCore+ unlocks advanced trading functionality with API integrations to the top exchanges + TradingView.”
Interface Design and Customisation
My first impressions once logging into ZelCore was that it is a very warm and personal app. As much as it may sound stupid, the app gives a calming and friendly feel with the use of personalised backgrounds and more. I think this is important because when you are managing your own assets, everything can be very serious and intimidating. I personally wouldn’t feel overly comfortable managing my assets on a wallet that offers a black and white theme with no colour or character. I would be questioning the legitimacy. However, I believe the ZelCore interface gives that calming feel which will put many users at ease.
I think the interface looks very slick, modern and displays the list of multiple wallets very nicely. It also gives the option to ‘enable drag’ and reorder your wallets. I think this feature also adds to the customisable approach by the team and is familiar territory for iOS users as it is typically how you would reorder apps on an iPhone/iPad menu.
To further add to the customisable approach, I think it’s really cool how you can use an image from your camera roll as a background image within the wallet. However, the only downfall of this feature is if you are to set a white/light coloured image, white/grey text can clash with the background in certain areas of the app. An easy fix would be for the user to not use a white or light-coloured background of course, but it is still something for the team to consider. They have used boxes well to combat this issue in most places, but not all.
The only aspect of design that I would potentially make changes too is the settings page. I feel that a number of unrelated aspects of the application have been bunched together on one page. I would consider grouping content under specific headers such as Settings, Notification and Help/Support, just to provide a little more organisation.
Content and Communication
A huge factor that makes the wallet user friendly is the consistent use of simple content. The content provided throughout the app is simplified and informative which is really helpful for new users. Many development teams will overlook these basics because it is naturally clear and obvious to themselves whilst forgetting that they are not the end user. It’s important to provide basic information to avoid any beginners becoming confused whilst simultaneously, making it easy for anyone. Pages such as ‘Apps and Tools’ and ‘Exchanges’ have a couple of sentences at the top of each page just to explain what the page is and the purpose of it. Extremely simple yet so important.
In terms of making life easy for the users, communication and support goes a long way. Something I was happy to see in the app was the multiple gateways to support and help. Whether this be in the form of live chat, a community channel or any other form of communication. On the ‘settings’ page, you can find links to support as well as a notification centre which provides important updates and therefore is a good method of communication. When using the ‘apps and tools’ page, there are further methods of communication via email addresses and a link to the Discord channel. It’s pretty easy to find a source of help which is great to see.
Send and Receive
As I always say, the main purpose of any cryptocurrency wallet is to send and/or receive digital assets. It’s important that any competent wallet does a good job of this and makes it a priority. ZelCore have done a good job of making this easy as it is extremely simple to send and receive and is exactly what you would expect from a mobile wallet.
It was an added bonus when I came across some additional features which admittedly won’t be a necessity for every user but for the ones who do need it, will be a really important user requirement to include. Requesting a payment from a specific wallet and amount is an example of a fundamental requirement for any user who is accepting regular payments. Adding contacts will save users plenty of time if they are frequently withdrawing assets and scanning QR codes is another feature that can save users time. It’s good to see they have been included.
Security and Set Up
As I have previously used and reviewed a number of different mobile wallets, ZelCore was typically different to the rest when creating a wallet/account. I was asked for a username and password which isn’t usually the case. I think this is a user friendly decision as the average person typically feels more comfortable with a username and password as it is more common in the ‘outside’ world with near enough any online service. When creating the account, it was made clear that I should not forget this password but there was no option to generate a 12-word phrase that most wallets typically do. Although it’s easier to remember one password opposed to 12 random words, I’d be interested to hear the reasoning behind that decision.
One of the first things I did once I logged in was look in the settings to set up FaceID (on iOS) or maybe a 4-digit pin. I couldn’t find any security related settings within the settings tab which was rather worrying. It was only when diving deeper into the app I found these options on the ‘apps and tools’ page which in all honesty surprised me and isn’t where I would typically look for such features. So once I found the option to enable FaceID I then realised that I had to to set up decentralized two factor authentication (d2FA) to allow access to FaceID. I liked that there was extra layers of security as it is always a good thing but then came a slight problem from the user experience perspective.
I needed a minimum of 0.0002 $ZEL to enable d2FA and therefore FaceID. Yes, I realise this isn’t a lot of money and it’s not about the financial demand, it’s about the inconvenience of having to buy some ZEL from an exchange and send it to the wallet just to turn on FaceID. Users want simple and quick processes and this extra step is more of a pain for the average user than anything else. A user could potentially use the ZelCore wallet with zero intentions to buy or store $ZEL as it is a multi-asset wallet but the user is now forced to take extra steps to buy a small amount of $ZEL. I do believe from a security standpoint, it is probably essential and was a conscious decision. However, it doesn’t create the smoothest user experience.
Conclusion
Overall I do believe that the Zelcore wallet offers a very positive user experience and is one of the best multi-asset wallets out there. However, no user experience is perfect or ever will be. It’s important that projects recognise that there is always room for improvement. I think if Zel reconsidered the UX based on the points around the settings page that I mentioned and reconsidered the security process of enabling basic features such as FaceID via d2FA then it would definitely strengthen the wallet from a user experience perspective.
I feel it is worth mentioning that additional ZelCore features such as ‘ZelCore +’ are currently available on desktop but not mobile, yet! For more information about these features you can visit the Zel website here.
You can download the wallet on any device by visiting this link.
I did not get paid to write this review so any tips are much appreciated.
- ZEL tip jar: t1gW2PdEQqb2ENuLw7Ju7yN6amb5whr7TcB
This article has been brought to you by elevateUX.
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Disclaimers
- I have not been paid by the Zel team to write this article. This is something I volunteered to do due to my background in UX.
- All opinions and views within this article are my own.
- This review was wrote on the ZelCore Wallet version 1.6.1.
