Designing a safer, simpler DEX for everyday traders

My Role

Lead product designer

Core Issue

Users didn’t trust the token swap flow. They swapped tiny amounts and repeatedly backed out because the UI made the process feel unclear and risky.

Goal

The goal was to redesign and integrate a native DEX for Pinto that delivered clear, predictable swap execution regardless of the swap amount.

Old Designs

Observing User Data

Engineering initially suggested reusing the deposit/withdraw container, but swaps are fundamentally different: they involve two states, ‘pay X, receive Y,’ and the old layout hid that relationship.

  • Users saw price shifts with no explanation

  • Can’t see what token is being exchanged

  • High-risk moments lacked guardrails

Mapping System Logic with Eng

This was also a great opportunity for me to understand AMMs (automated market makers), liquidity curves, and route slippage and why it is so important to this protocol.

Identify the system-level failure.

Final Stitch

Improvements

  • Made “give” and “get” symmetrical to reinforce mental model

  • Cleaner hierarchy for inputs and calculations

  • Added route transparency in the review step

  • Inline validation instead of modal errors

Functioning Flow

User Success

  • Increase in average swap amount and swap volume

  • 90%+ Quote-to-Execution reliability, eliminating negative slippage surprises for users

  • Drop in support questions for the Discord community

Protocol Success

  • Enhanced trust in the protocol with an increase in average swap amounts

  • Delivered an average 0.4% price improvement per trade

  • 74% of token swaps were cycled back into the protocol pool or lending