::sub::Identidad digital y tokenización para ayudas sociales con foco en impacto humano::/sub::
::desc::Proyecto de innovación social basado en SSI y blockchain para modernizar la gestión de ayudas públicas y reducir burocracia en colectivos vulnerables. Participé principalmente en investigación UX, discovery, diseño centrado en usuarios reales y validación mediante pilotos.::/desc::
::tags::Impacto Social · UX Research · SSI · GovTech::/tags::
Tokenization of aid
Digital Identity and Tokenization for a More Secure, Traceable, and Inclusive Distribution of Social Assistance
A European social and technological innovation project developed within the framework of NGI TrustChain, aimed at exploring how digital identity, verifiable credentials, and digital tokens could improve the distribution of social assistance. The solution adapts components of Identfy to a real-world use case involving vulnerable citizens, local businesses, and organizational administrators, with the goal of facilitating access to assistance in a more secure, traceable, and privacy-respecting manner. My role focuses on user research, UX definition, user stories, validation with pilot users, functional QA, and adapting the base product to a specific solution with high social impact.
SSI · Social Impact · User Research · UX Strategy · Verifiable Credentials · Tokenization
The problem
The challenge was to make the distribution of social assistance more accessible, secure, and traceable for vulnerable citizens, businesses, and organizations.
The project addresses a particularly sensitive issue: many vulnerable individuals face barriers to accessing digital social services, ranging from limited technological literacy to a lack of trust or unclear administrative processes. The challenge is to design a solution that simplifies the management of benefits through digital identity, verifiable credentials, and tokens, while maintaining a focus on privacy, inclusion, and actual use by citizens, businesses, and organizations. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Inefficient bureaucratic management
The administration of social assistance can become slow, manual, and lacking in transparency, especially when multiple stakeholders and resources are involved. The challenge was to bring greater traceability, control, and trust to the process without increasing the administrative burden or compromising the privacy of beneficiaries.
Complex coordination among stakeholders
The process involved stakeholders with very different needs: beneficiaries, local businesses, and administrative entities. The challenge was to integrate their actions into a single workflow—receiving aid, accepting tokens, managing users, or reviewing transactions—without making the experience confusing, fragmented, or difficult to use.
Trust in sensitive contexts
When working with social assistance programs and data related to situations of vulnerability, trust was a key factor. The challenge was not only to ensure technical security, but also to make it clear what data is used, how it is protected, and what control each person retains over their digital identity and transactions.
The solution
A digital identity and token solution for managing social assistance in a more secure, traceable, and inclusive way.
App for residents and businesses
The app allows beneficiaries to receive and use aid in the form of digital tokens, facilitating secure payments at participating merchants without relying on traditional methods that are slower or less traceable. For merchants, the platform enables them to accept tokens, view transactions, and manage requests related to their conversion, linking social assistance to a simpler, more local, and verifiable user experience.
Administration portal for organizations
The administration portal allows organizations to manage users, verify credentials, monitor operations, and track the distribution and use of tokens within the ecosystem. This layer provides greater visibility into the flow of aid, helps reduce manual processes, and enables organizations to operate with greater control, transparency, and traceability, all while ensuring the protection of beneficiaries.
SSI and verifiable credentials
The solution incorporates self-sovereign digital identity and verifiable credentials to streamline identification, authentication, and eligibility verification processes. This approach allows beneficiaries to use verified data within a more secure and privacy-respecting model, while organizations can validate relevant information without relying on manual processes or documentation that is difficult to verify.
Tokens for social assistance
The system uses digital tokens as a mechanism for distributing and utilizing social assistance within a controlled environment. Beneficiaries can receive tokens and use them at participating merchants, while organizations maintain greater visibility into how the funds are used. This layer enables traceability, usage rules, and operational control without making the assistance process more complicated for the end user.
Research and validation with real users
One of the key elements of the project was working with real users from the early stages, including vulnerable citizens, local businesses, and organization administrators. The research helped identify barriers to digital autonomy, understanding, trust, and everyday use, and incorporated this feedback into the development of user stories, workflows, and functional criteria. The goal was for the solution not only to work technically but also to address real-world usage scenarios.
Applied artificial intelligence
The solution explored the use of artificial intelligence to support management, classification, and analysis tasks within the social assistance process. The goal was to enable more efficient operations for organizations by helping them interpret information, identify relevant patterns, and reduce manual workloads in complex administrative scenarios. This layer was designed to add value without replacing human judgment, while maintaining a focus on transparency, control, and trust.
My role
User research, functional UX, and adapting a product to a new vertical
My role focused on user research, UX definition, and the functional implementation of the solution, adapting Identfy components to a specific use case involving the distribution of social assistance through digital identity, verifiable credentials, and tokens. I worked on analyzing the needs of vulnerable citizens, businesses, and organization administrators; defining and updating user stories; designing workflows; conducting a functional review of the solution; and preparing criteria to validate its use in a real-world pilot environment.
Results
The project made it possible to transform a complex technological foundation into a more user-friendly solution tailored to real users, integrating digital identity, tokenization, and social assistance management into a clearer operational experience. Research and validation helped identify barriers related to digital autonomy, understanding, trust, and user friction, and this feedback was incorporated into the development of user stories, functional flows, and product improvements. The project enabled us to validate the solution with real-world users—vulnerable citizens, businesses, and administrators—and move toward a more inclusive, traceable version that is ready for social use cases.
Learning
This project allowed me to delve deeper into one of the major challenges of decentralized digital identity: transforming a technically complex model into an experience that is understandable, secure, and actionable for non-expert users. Beyond issuing credentials or tokenizing benefits, the value lay in designing workflows where citizens could understand what they were receiving, what they could do with it, and the implications of each action. It also reinforced the importance of adapting SSI solutions to real-world adoption contexts, where trust, traceability, and consent must coexist with a simple, guided, and operationally viable experience. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Let's design technology that makes a real difference
We can discuss products, UX, digital identity, applied AI, or social solutions that need to transform complex technology into clear, inclusive, and user-friendly experiences.