If you’re not aware, this blog is a project being created in Megazu. I soft committed to yapping about crypto UX every single day and that is a lot of effort. So I thought of doing what any 5th grader would do– use ChatGPT to blog for me.

But then I actually tried it. It’s horrendous. So I am writing with my bare hands. You can find all this UX information anywhere, but you won’t see it put into crypto context the same manner, or at least you will never see ‘elevate’ and ‘in the realm of’, ever.

Anyway I still managed to cut the work in half by applying simple tweaks in my routine:

1. Observation: writing the first three paragraphs takes most of my time.

2. Insight: If I start with a non-blank page with three paragraphs, I can double my writing speed.

3. Experiment: I started logging in my phone three paragraphs during the day so I have a non-blank page by night.

And that’s how I never get to start with a blank page. It shortened my writing time by half.

You can do the same with UX. There are low-effort tweaks you can implement to instantly improve an application (without doing user research):

1. Feedback loops: react to your user

Everytime the user clicks an action, the screen must change in some way. The user has signed a message? Display a notification. Entered a wrong value? Put an error message.

And major things that a lot of developers miss:

Transaction is being finalized? Put a loading indicator.

Transaction completed? Add a copy that says so.

Connected to the wrong chain? Indicate it and provide a ‘Switch to Network’ button.

2. Information hierarchy: don’t make your UI look like a cockpit

If DeFi’s goal is to replace your regular bank, it’s ambitious. And I don’t mean CeFi’s mechanisms are better. I mean, if you try this app on DeFi virgin Bob who just wanted to get some yield from his money:

The main action elements should be more noticeable than secondary information and action elements. Solo hacking? Here’s a <1min read on gestalt principles.

3. Avoid cognitive load

I’ve used DeFi for years and I still don’t know what an atomic swap is. Care enough to tell me that it’s a secure way to directly trade tokens with another user from a different chain.

Tell me onramping is buying crypto with fiat.

Tell me liquid staking is depositing my ETH for yield and still being able to spend it.

Good, useful copy talks about benefits and not just features. And give them a way to learn the terminologies without leaving your page. You can incorporate it in your copy, you can add an FAQ section for the noobs. IDC but don’t make me think.

Maybe we’ll talk about the tools next, or analyze non-screen products.

Thanks for Rahul, Jin, and Bro Bing for their valuable feedback on my posts.