Augur v2

Augur v1 was one of the first dApps on Ethereum. While it broke new ground, it struggled with usability and lacked many key features. I was brought in to work on v2 and help solve these core UX problems. After research and user interviews, we shifted toward a more familiar, order book style trading interface - something active traders would recognise and trust.

In addition to redesigning the core trading experience, I was responsible for the UX around market creation, resolution, and dispute - interactions tied directly to Augur's decentralised oracle. I also created a new visual language for the product and led the development of its design system to support consistency across the platform.

Although the launch brought significant UX improvements, Ethereum gas prices surged unexpectedly - rising from under $1 to over $70 per transaction. This priced out most smaller users and left large traders with no liquidity on the other side. While long-term markets like the U.S. presidential election saw millions in volume, short-term trading - the platform's intended sweet spot, was hampered by gas costs. This led to a shift in strategy and a need to explore Layer 2 solutions to make Augur viable for everyday use.