Designed the console a trading desk trusts
A dense, real-time interface distilled into a calm design system. Onboarding time for new traders dropped by more than half.
The challenge
Atlas's trading console was powerful but overwhelming — new hires took weeks to get productive, and veteran traders had built workarounds for every friction point. The interface was costing them money.
Our approach
How we got there.
Shadow the desk
We embedded with traders for two weeks — watching order flows, shortcuts, and the moments where the UI fought back. No wireframes until we'd seen the real workflow.
Distill a calm system
A token-based design system with strict density rules. Real-time data got hierarchy; everything else got demoted or removed.
Ship in increments
Module-by-module rollout with A/B instrumentation on activation milestones. We killed three features traders never used and doubled down on the two they lived in.
Outcomes
What changed.
Stack
Tools and technologies used across this engagement.
- Figma
- React
- Storybook
- WebSockets
- Tailwind CSS