Easter Egg Special
An ongoing series in which I record UX/UI improvements I have noticed in DeFi. This is my own competitive analysis, as I collect things I find interesting, useful, or delightful. As a DeFi designer myself, I want a bunch of ideas to test.
Read the others here: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4
DeFi is the punk rock version of TradFi. It breaks rules, it’s dangerous, and it has more personality. I like that DeFi is becoming more professional — and that with more professionalism comes better UX… but I’m also a big believer that we should keep web3 weird.
I want trillion-dollar exchanges that are decorated with unicorns, I’m pleased that Pepe has been rehabilitated by crypto, and I enjoy that the most popular DEX is themed around pancake-flipping bunnies. If you can’t take risks in the boundary-breaking, anonymous, world of web3, where can you do it?
I found a few Easter Eggs hidden away in some dApps and appreciate the spirit of mischief that led teams to say ‘yes — this is a good use of our time’.
To the devs that embedded these little bits of fun, I say:
Well played sers, well played. 🍸🧐
1. Anime radio stations on Tokemak
Tokemak now has three radio stations to choose from, each with anime video accompaniment. Just click the little skull icon in the top right.
I’ve honestly left this on in the background while designing before.
2. Llama game on DefiLlama
DefiLlama coming in hot with a cheeky ripoff of the Chrome dinosaur game.
Click the llama head and while away a few minutes.
3. Snow button on Yeti
Yeti Finance have a playful take on the familiar dark mode buttons you see on DeFi apps these days.
They have a sun/snow toggle that turns a falling snow animation on or off. Mildly annoying.
4. Memes on DegenScore
DegenScore have a scrolling tickertape filled with crypto slang and links to classic crypto memes (hey, hey, hey…).
Not quite an easter Egg, because it’s hiding in plain sight, but it did make me smile. Crypto is a strange little community, and it’s nice to share a joke with some anon frens.
4 ½. White rabbit on DegenScore
There is a slightly more hidden link that takes you to Shibuya, a decentralized film distribution platform, with a trailer for ‘White Rabbit’, a web3 interactive short film and first IP to debut on Shibuya.
A little bit of history here: Degen Score is now on its second version, hence ‘Episode 2’.
The first version of Degen Score had a link to ‘follow the white rabbit’. On that page there was an image of an anime girl’s face, and if you looked really closely, you could see a QR code in the image. That QR code took you down the rabbit hole…
I suspect there are more QR codes embedded in both DegenScore and in crypto projects more generally, but it will probably take some time for anyone to find them. Keep your eyes peeled. You never know what you might find.
