Accelerating design at Helius
Improving our developer dashboard and website
Product Design
Motion Design
Illustration
3D
Helius
Overview
Helius is the #1 Solana developer platform trusted by Coinbase, Bloomberg, and Bitwise.
I joined as the sole designer, responsible for every surface. Operating at both strategic & executional levels, I worked with our eng. team to scope problems and ship quality work. Fast.
Helius
The Challenge
Mis-purchases of dedicated nodes and confusing billing UI were driving support overload and churn.
Poor UX was frustrating developers who just wanted to ship—with the high stakes of their app going down if they're delinquent.
Helius
The Solution
Rebuilt the billing experience from scratch, rethought how developers choose dedicated nodes, and brought the product to life with Rive animations that actually show what Helius does.
Dedicated nodes redesign Crypto subscription UX Billing interface rebuild Rive animations
We did the math so developers don't have to by introducing duration-based selection for crypto subscriptions so the right option is obvious. Auths got a name that actually explains what it does: Spending Limits. And Dedicated Nodes got a full rethink, with a guided wizard that walks you to the right node every time instead of leaving you to figure it out.
Helius
Performance Results
Developers left testing with a clearer sense of what they were buying and more confidence purchasing. Billing confusion dropped — and so did the support tickets that came with it. The Rive animations kept people on the page longer and made technical concepts feel simple.
Less support tickets
For billing issues
Faster page builds
On the marketing site
Increased time on site
After animation additions
Our efforts across the developer dashboard have improved the developer experience, and the website updates position Helius for developers and enterprises alike.
Kate's an excellent designer. She took our vague objectives and produced the results we needed to level up our developer portal and website.
Nick Pennie
Co-Founder, Helius
Helius
Final thoughts
Being the only designer at a company like Helius sharpened every instinct I had. I learned to move even faster to deliver results. I'm proud of pushing for creativity within our product via custom 3D graphics; I believe these crafted moments win in today's era of sameness.
Helius
Behind the Scenes
I custom made the 3D images in Blender.
Helius
Credits
Kate Kassab
Haji
Koen
Nick Pennie
Design Lead
Engineer
Web Developer
Co-founder
COMPANY
Helius
ROLE
Design Lead
TYPE
Fulltime (Remote)
TIME/TENURE
2025
Maturing design at $10B crypto infrastructure startup
Accelerating design at Helius
Improving our developer dashboard and website
Product Design
Motion Design
Illustration
3D
Helius
Overview
Helius is the #1 Solana developer platform trusted by Coinbase, Bloomberg, and Bitwise.
I joined as the sole designer, responsible for every surface. Operating at both strategic & executional levels, I worked with our eng. team to scope problems and ship quality work. Fast.
Helius
The Challenge
Mis-purchases of dedicated nodes and confusing billing UI were driving support overload and churn.
Poor UX was frustrating developers who just wanted to ship—with the high stakes of their app going down if they're delinquent.
Rebuilt the billing experience from scratch, rethought how developers choose dedicated nodes, and brought the product to life with Rive animations that actually show what Helius does.
Helius
The Solution
Dedicated nodes redesign Crypto subscription UX Billing interface rebuild Rive animations
We did the math so developers don't have to by introducing duration-based selection for crypto subscriptions so the right option is obvious. Auths got a name that actually explains what it does: Spending Limits. And Dedicated Nodes got a full rethink, with a guided wizard that walks you to the right node every time instead of leaving you to figure it out.
Helius
Performance Results
Developers left testing with a clearer sense of what they were buying and more confidence purchasing. Billing confusion dropped — and so did the support tickets that came with it. The Rive animations kept people on the page longer and made technical concepts feel simple.
Less support tickets
For billing issues
Faster page builds
On the marketing site
Increased time on site
After animation additions
Our efforts across the developer dashboard have improved the developer experience, and the website updates position Helius for developers and enterprises alike.
Helius
Final thoughts
Being the only designer at a company like Helius sharpened every instinct I had. I learned to move even faster to deliver results. I'm proud of pushing for creativity within our product via custom 3D graphics; I believe these crafted moments win in today's era of sameness.
Kate's an excellent designer. She took our vague objectives and produced the results we needed to level up our developer portal and website.
Nick Pennie
Co-Founder, Helius
Helius
Kate Kassab
Haji
Koen
Nick Pennie
Design Lead
Engineer
Web Developer
Co-founder
Accelerating design at Helius
Improving our developer dashboard and website
Product Design
Motion Design
Illustration
3D
Accelerating design at Helius
Improving our developer dashboard and website
Product Design
Motion Design
Illustration
3D
COMPANY
Helius
ROLE
Design Lead
TYPE
Fulltime (Remote)
TIME/TENURE
2025
Helius
Overview
Helius is the #1 Solana developer platform trusted by Coinbase, Bloomberg, and Bitwise.
I joined as the sole designer, responsible for every surface. Operating at both strategic & executional levels, I worked with our eng. team to scope problems and ship quality work. Fast.
Helius
The Challenge
Mis-purchases of dedicated nodes and confusing billing UI were driving support overload and churn.
Poor UX was frustrating developers who just wanted to ship—with the high stakes of their app going down if they're delinquent.
Helius
The Solution
Rebuilt the billing experience from scratch, rethought how developers choose dedicated nodes, and brought the product to life with Rive animations that actually show what Helius does.
Dedicated nodes redesign Crypto subscription UX Billing interface rebuild Rive animations
We did the math so developers don't have to by introducing duration-based selection for crypto subscriptions so the right option is obvious. Auths got a name that actually explains what it does: Spending Limits. And Dedicated Nodes got a full rethink, with a guided wizard that walks you to the right node every time instead of leaving you to figure it out.
Helius
Performance Results
Developers left testing with a clearer sense of what they were buying and more confidence purchasing. Billing confusion dropped — and so did the support tickets that came with it. The Rive animations kept people on the page longer and made technical concepts feel simple.
Less support tickets
For billing issues
Faster page builds
On the marketing site
Increased time on site
After animation additions
Our efforts across the developer dashboard have improved the developer experience, and the website updates position Helius for developers and enterprises alike.
Helius
Final thoughts
Being the only designer at a company like Helius sharpened every instinct I had. I learned to move even faster to deliver results. I'm proud of pushing for creativity within our product via custom 3D graphics; I believe these crafted moments win in today's era of sameness.
Kate's an excellent designer. She took our vague objectives and produced the results we needed to level up our developer portal and website.
Nick Pennie
Co-Founder, Helius
Helius
Kate Kassab
Haji
Koen
Nick Pennie
Design Lead
Engineer
Web Developer
Co-founder
Helius
Behind the Scenes
I custom made the 3D images in Blender.
Helius
Behind the Scenes
I custom made the 3D images in Blender.