The first time I pitched decentralized identity (DID) to our product manager, she raised an eyebrow and asked, “Can you explain that without saying ‘blockchain’?” Fair point. Users don’t care about acronyms—they care about keeping access to their accounts. Here’s how we folded DIDs into a real Flutter app without turning onboarding into a crypto lecture.
Framing the Problem for Humans
We talked to people who’d lost access to cloud notes, gaming inventories, or creator dashboards when companies pivoted. Their biggest fears: losing history, rebuilding followers, and trusting yet another email-password combo. DIDs gave us a path to hand them control without asking them to become security experts.
The Stack in Plain Language
- Identifiers: Each user gets a DID anchored to a reputable DID method (we used did:key + optional Polygon/ION anchors for redundancy).
- Wallet lite: Instead of a full crypto wallet, the app stores encrypted keys in Secure Storage with optional cloud backup. Recovery phrases are optional but available for power users.
- Verifiable credentials: When the app verifies an email or KYC, it issues credentials stored on-device. Users can present them to partner apps without hitting our servers.
UX Constraints We Lived By
- Onboarding felt like signing up for any other app: pick a username, enable biometric login, done. Advanced security lives under “More options”.
- We used friendly language (“Your digital ID card”) instead of jargon.
- Recovery workflows offer choices: biometric, email fallback, or printing a recovery kit if you’re old-school.
Adoption Curve
Launch week was slow—less than 10% of users explored the “Your ID” tab. After drip emails and in-app stories explaining why their ID mattered, adoption climbed and retention lifted ~40%. The aha moment usually came when we showed how they could log into a partner app without entering another password.
Lessons I’d Share With Any Founder
- Start tiny. Enable passwordless login first; add credential sharing later.
- Explain benefits in human terms. “Keep your followers if this app goes away” beats “self-sovereign identity”.
- Provide safety nets. Offer email recovery, support PINs, or concierge help—don’t make seed phrases mandatory.
Decentralized identity isn’t about buzzwords. It’s about promising users that their digital life isn’t hostage to your roadmap—and delivering on that promise without wrecking onboarding metrics.