PARROT9
@parrot9design
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On a journey to become the world’s greatest software design team. Currently making @BalancedDeFi better than everything else.
New Zealand
Joined May 2018
The redesigned @BalancedDAO website is live. Check it out at https://t.co/D0WwcrVZv2, and learn more about our design thinking in this thread. 🧵 1/
balanced.network
Borrow crypto, trade across chains in 30 seconds, and earn rewards on 11 blockchains.
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The hardest part about building successful software products has never been the coding and a lot of people are slowly finding out.
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when you get this feedback... don't do it. iterate on the UI + mental model of your product instead until you stop getting this kind of feedback.
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There used to be two playbooks for commercial software: a) be first to market b) make the best product Being first was rarely important, yet so many software companies operate this way. “We must ship by this time next month or we’ll lose.” A shallow way to build, in my opinion.
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Remember the 10 Good Design principles by Dieter Rams we cherished not too long ago as designers? If you think about it, we've strayed quite far from most of these. 1. The "Good design is innovative" part is hard because we're a bit past the real innovation period. We're more
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Most crypto apps hide their complexity behind an aesthetic UI. But polish doesn’t guarantee ease of use. You still waste time hunting for information, second-guessing actions, and jumping between pages. That’s why Balanced has one priority: reduce your time and effort.
The real cost of DeFi isn’t transaction fees. It’s the time and energy you waste on friction that shouldn’t exist. Fragmented workflows. Complex interfaces. Constant second-guessing. Not because the technology requires it, but because few do the work to make it simple.
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Balanced has been live for more than 4.5 years. From one blockchain to 12+, our direction was clear. Then in 2025, everything changed. Visit https://t.co/ZRofolIaXn to see what we’ve achieved and where we’re going from here.
balanced.network
From single chain to multi-chain to multi-protocol: see what Balanced has achieved and where it’s going next.
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Weird to think @BalancedDeFi governance is no more. Thanks to those who joined us over the last 4.5 years. Community ownership may be gone, but our journey is far from over. Balanced v2 will take us to the next level. But first, we have one more addition to ship for v1. 👀
BIP 112 has been approved and the changes enacted. Balanced governance is no more. If you hold BALN or use Balanced, learn how the changes affect you. 🧵
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One of my favourite parts about Balanced v2 is the new modal design. Present during every interaction, the utilitarian style wasted its potential. Visually appealing content is easier to read and pay attention to, and the new modals are hard to ignore.
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Balanced has used line icons since the beginning. They worked with our utilitarian aesthetic, but they were super bland. Balanced v2 adds depth through layers and gradients, so we created new icons with the weight and presence to match. Embarrassed it took us this long. 😅
Took a break from money markets to tackle the exchange upgrade & widgets. Now we’re back with the signed-out state, which includes a calculator to remove the guesswork before you take action. Still lots to do, but finally happy with the core experience. https://t.co/6I8qWoFjrV
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Took a break from money markets to tackle the exchange upgrade & widgets. Now we’re back with the signed-out state, which includes a calculator to remove the guesswork before you take action. Still lots to do, but finally happy with the core experience. https://t.co/6I8qWoFjrV
At the start of the design process, every concept is high-level. Raw. Blurry. As we hone in on the solution, we layer in details to improve clarity & focus. Each layer requires more effort than the last. Our interactive demo is ~70% complete. Now to tackle the last 30%... 😮💨
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the ultimate creative control is having control over your own creative process
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The @BalancedDeFi money market demo has been months in the making. Easily the most complex Balanced feature we’ve designed. It’s far from finished, but you can now visit https://t.co/Xi9pGC49hj to get a sense of our direction.
balanced.network
Swap assets, supply liquidity, and find arbitrage opportunities on the decentralized exchange.
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Most software treats colour like decoration. Something to make an app look nice — or the same as everything else. But our designs make colour fundamental to every interaction. We use them to guide people through an interface and provide clarity as you scan.
Good design is as direct as possible. Yet most money markets sprawl across as many pages as they have assets. Each page lacks context of your position, is too info-dense to focus, and requires you to do the math. The @BalancedDeFi markets will spare you the effort.
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Good design is as direct as possible. Yet most money markets sprawl across as many pages as they have assets. Each page lacks context of your position, is too info-dense to focus, and requires you to do the math. The @BalancedDeFi markets will spare you the effort.
In the signed-out state, the money market design is simple: A list of assets, the amount supplied / borrowed, and the interest rates. It’s familiar and easy to scan, so we saw no reason to reinvent it. But how do you design a cross-chain market that’s flexible when signed in?
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In the signed-out state, the money market design is simple: A list of assets, the amount supplied / borrowed, and the interest rates. It’s familiar and easy to scan, so we saw no reason to reinvent it. But how do you design a cross-chain market that’s flexible when signed in?
The Balanced loan design shows the price your collateral must reach to trigger liquidation. But that only works with two assets – if one of them is stable. Our money markets will make it easy to supply and borrow multiple assets, so the risk should be just as flexible.
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In a few months, @BalancedDeFi will replace loans with a money market. But it won’t focus on a single blockchain. Our cross-chain market will be so flexible, you can earn and borrow across chains from a single page. Here’s how we organised the details for each chain. 🧵
When we start a new design, I appraise the competition. Not to copy, but to gain context. How does the feature work? What should we keep? Where can we improve? Then we set out to make the best version of it. Here’s what the @BalancedDeFi money markets will do differently. 🧵
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When we start a new design, I appraise the competition. Not to copy, but to gain context. How does the feature work? What should we keep? Where can we improve? Then we set out to make the best version of it. Here’s what the @BalancedDeFi money markets will do differently. 🧵
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Doing a lot of design work behind the scenes for @BalancedDeFi. During the transition to @gosodax’s infrastructure, the stablecoin loan will be replaced with a cross-chain money market. A feature that requires a new colour to bring more understanding to each action. 👀
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After the transition, SODAX will become the cross-chain DeFi protocol. Balanced will continue to exist, but only as an interface. @parrot9design will steer its direction. The destination: a cross-chain DeFi app that supports multiple protocols. Our north star: be useful AF.
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ICON is coming to the end of an era. It’s been a helluva ride. When we participated in the ICO, we had no idea where our investment would take us. As we prepare to move Balanced in a new direction, it only felt right to reflect on how we got to this point.
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