Unslashed Finance - Decentralized Insurance Platform
Younes Hadry
Unslashed Finance - Decentralized Insurance Protocol
Unslashed Finance was a decentralized insurance protocol covering smart contract failures, exchange hacks, oracle malfunctions, and stablecoin depegs. Capital providers earned yield by backing coverage, and claims were resolved through Kleros decentralized arbitration.
Timeline: June 2020 - December 2020
Industries: Blockchain, Decentralized Finance, Cryptocurrency, Insurance, Fintech
Tools: Figma, Webflow
My Role
I joined a team of 3 as the founding designer. The protocol had a working MVP but no real user experience. Over 6 months, I designed the complete user experience from scratch: information architecture, core product flows, a design system, and a landing page. All while making a deeply technical protocol feel approachable to both capital providers and cover buyers.
Outcomes: from MVP to +$100M in TVL
In 6 months as founding designer, I took Unslashed from a developer-built interface with basic functionality and no design consideration to a fully designed product that launched with over $100M in total value locked.
I delivered the complete information architecture, all core product flows, the claims and dispute-resolution experience, the landing page, and a design system for a protocol that was inventing its category in real time.
The project is now discontinued, but the work remains a strong example of designing complex financial systems under constraints: a small team, a new category, and high stakes.
The Challenge: a working MVP, no real user experience
2020 was early DeFi. Most protocols shipped bare-minimum interfaces, and users were eager to explore but hesitant to commit capital when the UX felt unpolished. In a space where people trust code with their money, a credible experience was a direct competitive advantage.
Before I joined, the team had a functional protocol, but the interface was a raw smart contract wrapper that barely showcased its capabilities. The UX didn't match the ambition.
Unslashed Finance UI before my interventions
Research & Discovery: understanding what DeFi users actually need from insurance
Through 1:1 interviews, competitive analysis of Nexus Mutual and Cover Protocol, and jobs-to-be-done mapping, I identified the core tension: users understood the coverage conceptually but couldn't evaluate what they were actually protected against. Trust wasn't just about smart contract security. It was about whether the interface communicated risk clearly enough to commit capital.
Competing protocols prioritized functionality over clarity. The opportunity was to make the experience self-explanatory for cover buyers and capital providers.
Mapping a protocol with two very different user types
The first step was untangling the product's complexity. Unslashed serves two audiences with opposing mental models: capital providers seeking yield, and cover buyers seeking protection.
I mapped every state, flow, and relationship across the protocol: collateral management, cover purchasing, claims filing, dispute resolution, and policy documentation. This IA became the foundation for every design decision that followed.
Unslashed IA - v1.5.1.pdf
Experience Design: three core workflows, one coherent product
The platform supported three core journeys: Collaterals, where capital providers deposit into markets, track APY, and manage withdrawals. Covers, where buyers browse, purchase, and manage protection policies. And Claims, where users file incidents and navigate deposit requirements, challenge periods, and dispute resolution through Kleros arbitration.
Home screen of the app, accessible after the user connects their wallet
The card's view of the Covers screen, where users can purchase insurance cover to mitigate risks of protocols they're using on the blockchain
The details view of an insurance policy cover allows users to add or reduce capital to their coverage.
Capital Pools screen, where users can supply capital to a specific protocol cover policy and earn yield on their stake
Claims Flow Deep Dive: designing trust into a trustless system
The claims process was the highest-stakes flow in the product. I designed a step-by-step guided experience: select protocol, choose incident type, specify compensation, understand deposit requirements, and submit. Every step surfaces the right context at the right time, because in DeFi, clarity is the difference between trust and abandonment.
If a claim gets challenged, it enters Kleros arbitration. The UI needed to communicate status transitions, evidence windows, and appeal mechanics without overwhelming the user.
Example of a claim made by a covered user over a protocol incident
List of claims where users claim insurance coverage over incidents affecting them and involving protocols under their coverage
Form screen showcasing an example of a claim procedure where a user can claim coverage for a protocol incident and verify their eligibility for coverage funds
Landing Page: first impressions convert
I designed and built a landing page using Figma and Webflow to give the protocol a credible front door. The goal was to turn curious DeFi users into cover buyers and capital providers by communicating the value proposition clearly and inspiring trust from the first interaction.
Designed on Figma, Built on Webflow
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Posted Apr 13, 2026
Founding designer for a DeFi insurance protocol. Designed the full UX, claims flow, and design system from scratch. $100M+ TVL at launch.
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Timeline
Jun 1, 2020 - Dec 1, 2020
