PRODUCTBRAND· 2021

Divergence Protocol

Clearer trading and risk for self-custodied options

Role: Product Designer - UX/UI from scratch
Timeline: 2021
Status: Product design & launch

Explore the protocol ↗

Problem

Options traders must weigh strike, expiry, collateral, and settlement before approving irreversible wallet actions.

Approach

Use paired Spear and Shield instruments to connect opposing outcomes. Keep trading, liquidity, and settlement states visually related and their consequences explicit.

Outcome

Designed responsive flows from market creation through settlement, alongside rewards, rankings, and the mainnet launch identity.

Scope · paired trading model: Spear + ShieldAbove and below outcomes share one interaction language.
Evidence · responsive design: Web + mobileTrading, liquidity, positions, and incentives adapt to a narrow surface.

Decisions & details

ScopeProduct Strategy, UX Architecture, Responsive UI, Launch Campaign

Links

Protocol documentation ↗

Key decisions

Make the trade read like a sentence

Asset, direction, strike, expiry, collateral, and potential return remain visible before commitment.

Keep inverse actions visibly paired

Paired instruments and inverse actions reuse structure, with color and icons clarifying what changes.

Treat liquidity as a lifecycle

Pool composition, active positions, expiry, claiming, and withdrawal form one understandable lifecycle.

Let participation have culture

Dive Bar, LP objects, rankings, and rewards carry the product's identity into participation and launch.

Product chronology

From protocol mechanics to a public product

The work moved outward in layers: establish the mental model, prove the core trade, resolve the liquidity lifecycle, then carry the system into participation and launch.

Phase 0101 · Model
Translate the protocol without disguising it
Map direction, strike, expiry, collateral, liquidity, positions, and settlement into a shared product vocabulary.
Phase 0202 · Trade
Pair Spear and Shield
Turn above and below outcomes into two related instruments with one readable trade-ticket grammar.
Phase 0303 · Liquidity
Design market comparison and LP state
Iterate from broad market comparison into focused pool context, then connect holdings, active liquidity, rewards, and expiry.
Phase 0404 · Lifecycle
Close positions, settlement, and withdrawal
Keep open orders, exposure, LP shares, received collateral, and approval state legible through the end of the transaction.
Phase 0505 · Participation
Build the Dive Bar, rewards, and rankings
Extend the product into farming, staking, claims, leaderboards, and ownable LP-position directions.
Phase 0606 · Launch
Package the system for mainnet
Use real product objects to explain Pro Mode, onchain options, liquidity, and participation across desktop, mobile, and campaign assets.

01

One system for a complex financial model

Calls, puts, strikes, expiries, collateral, and settlement remain comparable across the interface.

Divergence Protocol responsive options trading system across desktop and mobile — A responsive options system across trading, liquidity, and position management.

02

Make the trade read like a sentence

Paired trade tickets keep asset, direction, strike, expiry, collateral, and potential return in the same reading order.

Shield: the same grammar resolves into the inverse below-price position.

03

Buying and underwriting remain comparable

Buy and sell views share a structure for comparing strike, expiry, price, range, and premium.

Divergence Protocol interface for buying digital call and put options — Buying calls and puts with strike, expiry, and premium made explicit.

Divergence Protocol interface for selling digital options across a custom price range — Underwriting options across a defined price range.

04

Iterate from comparison into context

Side-by-side markets and focused tables test how best to compare price, probability, volume, and strike.

Divergence Protocol side-by-side liquidity markets — Parallel BTC and ETH markets make strike and liquidity comparison immediate.

Divergence Protocol liquidity market with price and probability context — A focused market adds time remaining and paired Spear/Shield pricing.

05

Positions and settlement stay inspectable

Divergence Protocol open-orders interface with position exposure and withdrawal details — Open orders keep exposure and withdrawal state visible.

Divergence Protocol positions interface for active option exposure — Active positions preserve instrument, expiry, collateral, and settlement context.

06

Withdrawal closes the liquidity loop

Withdrawal names the LP shares burned, collateral received, and required wallet approval.

Divergence Protocol withdrawal flow for burning LP shares and receiving collateral — Burn LP shares, inspect the received collateral, then approve.

07

Liquidity needed its own operating model

Farms, positions, rewards, staking, and withdrawal have distinct states with pool composition visible throughout.

Divergence Protocol liquidity mining and position-management system — Active farms, individual positions, staking controls, expiry, and unclaimed rewards in one workspace.

08

The Dive Bar gives participation a place

The Dive Bar gives farming a memorable setting while keeping APR, stake, claim, and rewards clear.

Divergence Protocol Dive Bar liquidity and staking interface — The Dive Bar turns liquidity participation into a recognizable product place.

09

Rewards make participation legible

Divergence Protocol trading-incentive rankings — Rankings compare balance, positions, liquidity, PnL, and ROI.

Divergence Protocol trading rewards and claim history — Estimated and claimable rewards connect to trading history and the scoring formula.

10

Make an LP position recognizable

Each pool position becomes a visual object with its own waveform, pair, term, and color.

Divergence LP pool position-object direction with a flowing waveform — Continuous waveform direction.

Divergence LP pool position-object direction with a particle waveform — Particle waveform direction.

11

One launch narrative, desktop and mobile

The public site explains paired instruments, liquidity, teams, and audits using the product's visual language.

Divergence Protocol desktop launch page connecting options, liquidity, and the Dive Bar — Complete desktop launch narrative.

Divergence Protocol complete responsive mobile launch page — The same narrative re-staged for mobile rather than merely compressed.

12

The product became the mainnet campaign

Divergence Protocol Pro Mode mainnet launch campaign — Pro Mode mainnet campaign.

Divergence Protocol onchain options launch campaign — Onchain options launch campaign.

13

A campaign system, not one launch image

Product objects connect Pro Mode, incentives, rankings, and mainnet campaign materials.

Divergence campaign carousel across Pro Mode, rewards, and the Dive Bar — Launch and incentive directions across Pro Mode, leaderboards, rewards, and liquidity.

Let’s talk about your team.

Email me ↗Résumé (PDF) ↗