Product Strategy
Dapper Labs — Flow Blockchain Developer Tools
Dapper Labs — creators of CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot — needed developer tooling and a reference application to make building on the Flow blockchain approachable. The resulting Kitty Items project earned 409 GitHub stars before being deprecated.
The Challenge
Dapper Labs had built Flow, a purpose-designed blockchain for consumer applications, but developers new to Web3 had no practical starting point. The platform needed both better tooling and a working reference application that could show — not just tell — what was possible, without requiring developers to design the entire product architecture from scratch.
Our Approach
Dan mapped the full developer user journey and led UX and product design for the Flow Developer TestNet and Wallet. The team conducted deep research into Flow and Web3 architecture to create Kitty Items — a straightforward, fully replicable e-commerce application that gave developers a complete, working example to learn from, fork, and build on. The design prioritized clarity and practical utility for developers at every step.
The Outcome
The developer tooling was well received by the target audience. Kitty Items achieved 409 GitHub stars and 213 forks — a strong signal of genuine developer engagement — before being deprecated as the platform evolved.