One platform for all DeFi strategies

Cosmos offered valuable opportunities, but fragmented across an ecosystem that forced users to navigate between 10+ different dApps. The pain points were real: 10+ incompatible dApps, each with different UI/UX paradigms.

The cost was twofold: time lost + trust eroded.

• New crypto users: 'Which one do I start with? Is this legit or a scam?'
• Experienced users: 'Lose 30 minutes jumping between platforms for a single swap?'
• Existential risk: fraudulent pages exploited the confusion.

The central insight: we didn't want to create new DeFi strategies. Cosmos already had powerful options. The real opportunity was in simplifying the experience in a fragmented ecosystem.

Our strategy rested on three pillars:

NORTH STAR: A Cosmos user should be able to understand all opportunities, compare any strategy, and execute everything they want from a single experience.

• A unified interface for all workflows (Swap, Stake, Earn, Portfolio in one place).
• Consistency in interaction (same logic, same patterns, same mental models across all flows).
• Absolute clarity at each step (the user always knows where they are, what they can do, what happens next).
• Brutal reduction of friction (intent to execution in 2-3 taps, not 8 steps).

We didn't design for an abstract market. We interviewed 10+ active traders and DeFi investors, people who lived in Cosmos and felt the pain daily.

KEY INSIGHT: The discovery that changed everything: users didn't want more features. They wanted to stop jumping between platforms. The friction was the real problem, not missing functionality.

• Deep 1:1 interviews with 10+ power users (professional traders, DeFi investors, intermediate users).
• Competitive analysis of existing platforms (Uniswap, Aave, Osmosis, Yearn).
• Observation of behavior patterns (where users abandoned, where they got confused, what they wanted to optimize).
• Early user testing with wireframes before investing time in hi-fi design.

What we cut:

What we prioritized:

Result: 40% smaller scope. MVP 3 months faster. Zero wasted features.

• Airdrop alerts: users got info from Twitter anyway.
• Multi-wallet management, too complex for MVP.
• NFT portfolio, out of scope.
• Swap + Liquid Staking (core workflows).
• Clear transaction status (Pending / Confirmed / Failed).
• Portfolio overview (one glance at all positions).

• Phase 1: Wireframes mapped into architecture. Identified friction points.
• Phase 2: Prototyping interactive prototypes tested with 4 users. Iterated before hi-fi.
• Phase 3: Alpha testing with beta traders for 2 weeks. Measured completion rates and trust signals.
• Phase 4: Design system with 35+ components. Dark + light. Production-ready in Figma.

35+ components. Transaction states. Number formatting. Forms. Dark + light modes. High contrast. Accessibility from day one.

Why it mattered: enabled 4 devs to build in parallel. Every new feature shipped 2x faster.

• Product shipped in 6 months with 50+ active traders in alpha.
• Positive feedback on clarity.
• User onboarding: 5 minutes.
• 55% of signups traded vs industry average of 20%.