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Pitching a spot trading platform to one of crypto’s largest exchanges

Product Designer · Proposal, Design Systems

The brief

BitMEX was launching a spot exchange as Coinbase, Binance and Crypto.com pulled ahead. The request for proposals set out detailed user stories across three kinds of user, with a two-week window to submit. I led the design from research to prototype.

The proposal

A proposal that delivered every requirement in the brief. The trading screen was designed in all three access states and prototyped end to end, so BitMEX could click through the product during the pitch instead of imagining it.

Learning the language of traders

BitMEX’s users live in charts and order books, and I had no direct access to them. So I went where they talk, from app store reviews to Reddit threads and YouTube walkthroughs, audited the existing BitMEX experience, and ran a workshop with the team comparing the top exchanges.

Learning the language of traders

BitMEX’s users live in charts and order books, and I had no direct access to them. So I went where they talk, from app store reviews to Reddit threads and YouTube walkthroughs, audited the existing BitMEX experience, and ran a workshop with the team comparing the top exchanges.

Learning the language of traders

BitMEX’s users live in charts and order books, and I had no direct access to them. So I went where they talk, from app store reviews to Reddit threads and YouTube walkthroughs, audited the existing BitMEX experience, and ran a workshop with the team comparing the top exchanges.

What traders were saying

Reviews and threads from 2021 and earlier kept circling the same complaints: a dated interface, too much information at once, and traders leaving for Binance and Bybit.

Workshopping what to build

With the team, we weighed up the leading exchanges, logged what BitMEX users were asking for in reviews, and mapped the flows the new spot exchange needed.

Iterating our way to a calmer screen

Each round brought together the brief, what traders told us in reviews, and what our workshop showed competitors doing better. Low-fidelity wireframes kept the team focused on structure, with one test every round: how fast can a trader go from reading the market to placing an order?

Iterating our way to a calmer screen

Each round brought together the brief, what traders told us in reviews, and what our workshop showed competitors doing better. Low-fidelity wireframes kept the team focused on structure, with one test every round: how fast can a trader go from reading the market to placing an order?

Iterating our way to a calmer screen

Each round brought together the brief, what traders told us in reviews, and what our workshop showed competitors doing better. Low-fidelity wireframes kept the team focused on structure, with one test every round: how fast can a trader go from reading the market to placing an order?

Round one: mapping every requirement

Every user story from the brief on a single screen. It proved everything fit, and exposed where panels competed for attention.

Round three: grouping by intent

Reviews said too much came at once, so wallet, order form and position moved into one sidebar, apart from the market data.

Round five: locking the reading order

The order book moved between the order form and the chart, so the price a trader reads is one glance from where they enter it.

Final: letting the data lead

The locked structure, restyled to answer reviews calling the UI outdated. Colour is reserved for price movement and primary actions.

From a pro terminal to a trading screen

The existing BitMEX interface was built for derivatives traders who knew it by heart. Spot had to welcome retail investors too, so I kept the panels traders rely on and cleared the clutter around them.

From a pro terminal to a trading screen

The existing BitMEX interface was built for derivatives traders who knew it by heart. Spot had to welcome retail investors too, so I kept the panels traders rely on and cleared the clutter around them.

From a pro terminal to a trading screen

The existing BitMEX interface was built for derivatives traders who knew it by heart. Spot had to welcome retail investors too, so I kept the panels traders rely on and cleared the clutter around them.

Proposed
Existing

Where compliance meets conversion

For an exchange, who sees the screen matters as much as what’s on it. Restricted regions must be blocked to stay compliant, logged-out visitors are the shop window that turns browsers into traders, and signed-in users are where the volume comes from. One screen handles all three.

Where compliance meets conversion

For an exchange, who sees the screen matters as much as what’s on it. Restricted regions must be blocked to stay compliant, logged-out visitors are the shop window that turns browsers into traders, and signed-in users are where the volume comes from. One screen handles all three.

Where compliance meets conversion

For an exchange, who sees the screen matters as much as what’s on it. Restricted regions must be blocked to stay compliant, logged-out visitors are the shop window that turns browsers into traders, and signed-in users are where the volume comes from. One screen handles all three.

Staying compliant

Visitors from restricted regions are stopped before they can trade, with a plain explanation and a link to the terms, so the block is clear rather than hostile.

Converting browsers into traders

Prices, pairs and charts stay public, so visitors get a real feel for the exchange. Every trading action becomes a prompt to get started or log in.

Where the volume happens

Signing in unlocks the wallet, order form and open orders in place, so the screen a visitor explored becomes the one they trade on, with deposits one click away.

Fewer clicks between decision and trade

In trading, every extra click is a moment the price can move. Every core task happens on the trading screen itself: pick a side, set the order and see the full cost before confirming, or move funds without losing sight of the market. Each flow was prototyped end to end for the pitch.

Fewer clicks between decision and trade

In trading, every extra click is a moment the price can move. Every core task happens on the trading screen itself: pick a side, set the order and see the full cost before confirming, or move funds without losing sight of the market. Each flow was prototyped end to end for the pitch.

Fewer clicks between decision and trade

In trading, every extra click is a moment the price can move. Every core task happens on the trading screen itself: pick a side, set the order and see the full cost before confirming, or move funds without losing sight of the market. Each flow was prototyped end to end for the pitch.

Decide, set, execute

Choose a side, then order type, amount and price in one column. Every order type is one tap away, with the fee and total shown before placing.

Funding without leaving the trade

Deposits and withdrawals open right over the trading screen, with fees, limits and timing shown up front.

Learnings

My first project at the company, and it set the pace for everything after. An RFP leaves no time for perfect information, so I learned to make confident calls fast and refine as we went. It was also my crash course in fintech: how traders think, and how compliance shapes the product.

Learnings

My first project at the company, and it set the pace for everything after. An RFP leaves no time for perfect information, so I learned to make confident calls fast and refine as we went. It was also my crash course in fintech: how traders think, and how compliance shapes the product.

Learnings

My first project at the company, and it set the pace for everything after. An RFP leaves no time for perfect information, so I learned to make confident calls fast and refine as we went. It was also my crash course in fintech: how traders think, and how compliance shapes the product.

One design system powering every Neighborly brand, built to scale with every campaign

Lead Designer · Design Systems, Web, Internal Tools

One design system powering every Neighborly brand, built to scale with every campaign

Lead Designer · Design Systems, Web, Internal Tools