Web 3
Kin Ecosystem
WEBSITE CASE STUDY
In the world of web design, most agencies know that deadlines tend to come with a little bit of wiggle room. We’ve all been there; sh*t happens, and deadlines? Well, despite everyone’s best efforts they sometimes get pushed, extended, delayed… Not, however, when there’s a conference scheduled at a cryptocurrency convention that has the chat world on the edge of its seat. No. This time, the deadline could not be stretched, even by 15 minutes.
The opportunity
Robin Hood in the chat world
About two weeks before the aforementioned deadline, a highly confidential brief crossed our desks. Our client Kik was going to launch a new cryptocurrency—called Kin—under the Kin Ecosystem Foundation with the bold mission of disrupting the increasingly imbalanced power structure of digital services, like Facebook. The announcement would be made by Kik CEO Ted Livingston at Token Summit in NYC.
Kik wanted to launch a new website that morning where the press and investment community could go to learn more.
Our Strategy
The challenge
Two-week turnaround
We had 14 days to create a one-page site which had to communicate a LOT. The copy deck provided by the client was heavy and growing by the day which, once finalized, really only left us 4 days to design and code the website. The site also had to be mobile-first since it would be launched at a conference where attendees would be most likely to check it out on their phones. This created even more of a challenge from a content perspective.
Visitors to the site needed to leave with the impression that Kin was valuable and that it carried weight in the cryptocurrency market. We wanted to use subtle interactions, visual techniques and clever design to gradually reveal crucial information—invoking the same energy of Kik, but with Kin Ecosystem Foundation’s unique presence and branding.
The research
Coffee, timbits, beer, repeat
Sounds like a yummy process, right? While not necessarily the best way to work on a daily basis, these provisions certainly gave us a boost through our tight deadline! When you have a great synergy with a client and a solid relationship, you have to figure out a way to make everything work—even if it morphs into a caffeine-induced hackathon!
Our Solution
The moral of the story
Nurturing a deep trust
Smooth, seamless collaboration became the name of the game. We had to quickly manage incoming requests and modifications, building around fluid assets and a copy deck that was changing by the minute. Normally we have final sign-off on copy where it is locked at 80% before going to our designers so they can get to work, but we bent the rules for Kik on this unique project.
While we did accommodate many changes past our final sign-off to give Kik more time, our Content Director eventually had to pull a Mugatu. Have you seen Zoolander? Mugatu is a last-resort strategy where a copy deck is invaded by a giant picture of Will Ferrell as Mugatu accompanied by neon, size 48 text warning the client that the document will be taken offline at a specific hour so looming deadlines are not jeopardized. Mugatu only comes out in very serious situations—and a blown conference deadline definitely qualifies!
With finalized content, our designers and developers worked through the night to have the site QA’d for 4:45 Pacific Time. Where some might have been frustrated at the timeline, we didn’t mind. We wanted Kin to succeed because we understood where their team was coming from. Our speed and quality was fueled by our empathy for their important launch.
“A strong online hub was absolutely necessary in order to launch Kin. We had a tight deadline and many moving parts, and One Net worked around the clock to get this done. The site was able to house crucial information, like our white paper and various explanations of what Kin is and what we’re trying to accomplish through this new cryptocurrency, and contributed to our token sale, which ended up raising close to $100M USD. One Net continues to be a strategic partner for Kin.”
Rod McLeod, Senior Director of Communications at Kin