Ship or Die at Accelerate 2025: Building User-Centric Products

In a groundbreaking presentation at Accelerate 2025, Simon Amor, co-founder of Sling Money, unveils the secrets to building user-centric products on Solana. His insights promise to revolutionize how developers approach blockchain applications, potentially accelerating mass adoption of Solana-based solutions.

Summary

Simon Amor, designer and co-founder of Sling Money, delivered a compelling talk at Accelerate 2025 on building user-centric products in the blockchain space. Sling Money, an international payments app built on Solana, allows users to send money globally instantly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional finance products.

Amor shared five key tips for creating successful blockchain-based products: focus on solutions rather than technology, know your product's strengths, provide the right information at the right time, leverage existing best practices, and maintain open communication with users. These insights stem from Sling Money's journey in developing a user-friendly, Solana-based payment solution.

The presentation highlighted the importance of simplifying complex blockchain technology for everyday users. Amor emphasized that while the underlying technology is revolutionary, the key to mass adoption lies in creating intuitive interfaces and focusing on solving real-world problems. This approach has allowed Sling Money to create a product that's accessible to both crypto enthusiasts and those new to blockchain technology.

Key Points:

People Don't Care About Tech, They Care About Solutions

Amor stressed that the average person isn't interested in the intricacies of technology but rather in what it can do for them. He cited Clayton Christensen's famous quote, "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole." This principle is crucial when developing blockchain-based products.

For Sling Money, this means focusing on the end result - an easy, instant, and affordable way to pay anybody anywhere in the world - rather than emphasizing the underlying Solana blockchain technology. This approach makes the product more accessible and appealing to a broader audience, potentially driving wider adoption of Solana-based solutions.

Know Your Strengths and Focus

In a crowded market of finance apps, Amor emphasized the importance of knowing your product's strengths and focusing on doing one thing exceptionally well. For Sling Money, this means concentrating solely on sending money from A to B, without branching into other crypto-related services like meme coins or NFTs.

This laser focus allows Sling Money to create a simple, intuitive interface - essentially "a big send money button" - that anyone can use, regardless of their familiarity with crypto. By leveraging Solana's capabilities, Sling aims to provide a payment solution that's ten times better than existing options, demonstrating the potential for blockchain technology to significantly improve everyday financial transactions.

Provide the Right Information at the Right Time

Amor introduced the concept of "timely progressive disclosure" when it comes to educating users about blockchain technology. Instead of overwhelming users with technical information during onboarding, Sling Money provides bite-sized explanations at relevant moments during the user journey.

This approach allows users who are curious about the underlying technology to learn more without alienating those who simply want to use the app for its primary function. It's a delicate balance that could serve as a model for other Solana-based applications looking to bridge the gap between blockchain enthusiasts and mainstream users.

Don't Reinvent the Wheel, Enhance It

Amor advised developers to leverage existing best practices from Web2 products when designing user interfaces and flows. By combining familiar payment flows with the advantages of Solana's blockchain, Sling Money creates a comfortable yet enhanced user experience.

This strategy extends to integrating with local payment systems worldwide, ensuring that Sling feels native no matter where it's used. This approach could be key for other Solana projects looking to achieve global adoption by providing locally tailored experiences.

Talk to Your Users

The final tip emphasized the importance of maintaining open communication channels with users. Amor highlighted various methods Sling Money uses to gather feedback, including a Slack community, surveys, and app store reviews.

This user-centric approach has led to significant product improvements, such as the recent introduction of virtual accounts in 119 countries. This feature allows users to receive payments in Euro and dollar accounts, which are automatically converted to stablecoins and deposited into their Sling wallet, showcasing how user feedback can drive innovation in blockchain-based products.

Facts + Figures

• Sling Money is an international payments app built on Solana
• There are over 200,000 finance apps available across app stores
• Sling Money aims to be 10 times better than traditional payment products
• Sling Money operates in 140 countries worldwide
• The app recently introduced virtual accounts in 119 countries
• Users can store money in EuroC or USDP stablecoins
• Sling allows free money transfers to over 140 countries
• The app supports withdrawals to 70 local payment methods
• Sling Money integrates with various local payment systems including Apple Pay, Google Pay, mobile money in East Africa, and Pix in Brazil

Top quotes

1. "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole."
2. "We're not building a Solana-based mobile application built on the blockchain with a focus on stable coins and deep integrations with local payment partners. We're building an easy, instant, and affordable way to pay anybody anywhere in the world."
3. "We knew we didn't want to build just a slightly better payments product. We knew we wanted to build a 10 times better payment product."
4. "People aren't signing up to Sling to learn about the blockchain. They're signing up to Sling money to send money."
5. "The better, better than educating your users is not needing to educate your users."

Questions Answered

What is Sling Money?

Sling Money is an international payments app built on the Solana blockchain. It allows users to send money instantly to anyone, anywhere in the world, at a fraction of the cost of traditional finance products. The app focuses solely on facilitating money transfers, providing a simple and intuitive interface that can be used by both crypto enthusiasts and those new to blockchain technology.

How does Sling Money make blockchain technology accessible to average users?

Sling Money makes blockchain technology accessible by focusing on the end result - easy and affordable money transfers - rather than emphasizing the underlying technology. The app uses a concept called "timely progressive disclosure," providing small bits of information about the blockchain only when relevant to the user's actions. This approach allows curious users to learn more about the technology without overwhelming those who simply want to use the app for its primary function.

What are the key tips for building user-centric blockchain products?

Simon Amor of Sling Money shared five key tips for building user-centric blockchain products: 1) Focus on solutions rather than technology, 2) Know your product's strengths and focus on doing one thing exceptionally well, 3) Provide the right information at the right time, 4) Leverage existing best practices from Web2 products, and 5) Maintain open communication with users. These tips aim to create blockchain products that are accessible, user-friendly, and solve real-world problems.

How does Sling Money integrate with local payment systems?

Sling Money integrates deeply with local payment partners to provide a native experience for users around the world. This includes integration with systems like Apple Pay, Google Pay, mobile money across East Africa, and Pix in Brazil. The app also supports withdrawals to 70 different local payment methods, ensuring that users can easily access their funds in a format that's convenient for them, regardless of their location.

What new features has Sling Money recently introduced?

Sling Money recently introduced virtual accounts in 119 countries. This feature allows users to receive payments in Euro and dollar accounts. The incoming funds are automatically converted to stablecoins (either EuroC or USDP) and deposited into the user's Sling wallet. From there, users can store the funds, send them to over 140 countries for free, or withdraw them to various local payment methods. This feature significantly enhances the app's utility for international transactions and payments.