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Product UX
Last updated: August 2025

Retail Arbitrage Tooling UX & Safety Framework

Retail arbitrage tooling must balance clarity, risk containment and execution speed. Professional desks have internal dashboards, but retail users face cognitive overload when spread scanners, margin metrics, funding rates, latency & fees are dumped without hierarchy. This guide defines personas, information architecture, guardrails, notification design, onboarding flows, accessibility, and an execution checklist so teams ship a trustworthy arbitrage surface that prevents unforced errors while still enabling advanced users to scale.

User Personas & Mental Models

Explorer

Novice sampling small spreads; needs simplified PnL simulation & risk disclaimers up front.

Pragmatic Executor

Understands fees & slippage; wants latency & fee breakdown inline with net ROI.

Power User

Demands advanced filters, custom alert logic, API keys & exportable historical spreads.

Automation Builder

Deploys semi‑auto bots; requires simulation sandbox & guardrail override logs.

Information Architecture & Layout

1

Primary Zone

Live spread table with normalized symbols, net ROI after fees / funding, color heat mapping & sort stability.

2

Secondary Metrics

Latency percentiles, exchange health (API error %, order placement success), funding drift indicators.

3

Tertiary Context

Historic spread distribution, fee schedule references, educational tooltips for new terms.

Core Dashboard Components

Spread Scanner

Aggregates multi‑venue order books; debounce updates; highlight sustainable vs transient spikes.

PnL Simulator

Inputs: size, fees, funding, slippage; outputs net ROI & break-even spread threshold.

Risk Panel

Margin utilization, liquidation buffer, open positions cross‑venue exposure concentration.

Latency Monitor

Websocket lag, order ack latency, last book refresh age with degraded state warnings.

Alerting, Notification Routing & Rate Limits

1

Threshold Alerts

Spread > configured net ROI; include risk context snapshot to reduce cognitive switching.

2

Health Alerts

API fail %, stale book age, latency spikes crossing SLO triggers degrade banner & pause automation.

3

Rate Limiting & Digest

Collapse repeating metrics into digest every N minutes; exponential backoff to prevent alert fatigue.

Safety Guardrails & Error Prevention

  1. Pre-Trade Checklist: Validate fee schedule, withdrawal status, maintenance downtime calendars.
  2. Soft Limits: Dynamic notional & leverage caps; user can request temporary override with logged reason.
  3. Kill Switch: Global pause for automation when risk panel enters degraded state (e.g., margin utilization > 80%).
  4. Slippage & Fee Preview: Real-time tooltip projecting post-trade net ROI before commit.
  5. Undo Window: Short cancellation grace (if venue supports) to reduce mis-click impact.

Onboarding Flows & Progressive Disclosure

Guided First Session

Overlay tour highlights spread table, risk panel & alert config; persists completion state.

Progressive Feature Unlock

Advanced filters & automation only visible after baseline tutorials finished (reduces premature misuse).

Inline Glossary

Hover definitions cached offline; reduces tab switching & bounce rate.

Accessibility, Localization & Device Responsiveness

  1. Contrast Ratios: Ensure AA for text & key KPIs; color + icon redundancy for status signals.
  2. Keyboard Navigation: Focus ring & skip links; data table column reordering accessible via arrows.
  3. Localization: Resource keys for asset labels / tooltips; layout flexible to longer strings.
  4. Mobile Breakpoints: Collapse secondary metrics into expandable drawers on small screens.
  5. Performance Budget: Initial payload < 250KB gzipped critical path to avoid perceived lag for casual users.

Retail Tooling Execution Checklist

  1. 1. Persona Coverage: Explorer, power & automation variants validated in UX review.
  2. 2. Information Hierarchy: No critical KPI hidden below fold on 1440px layout.
  3. 3. Risk Guardrails: Soft & hard limits tested; kill switch triggers event log.
  4. 4. Alert Fatigue Control: Digest mode & rate limiting thresholds configured.
  5. 5. Onboarding Completion: Guided tour tasks completion analytics available.
  6. 6. Accessibility Audit: Contrast & keyboard navigation passes automated checks.
  7. 7. Performance Budget: Lighthouse performance score ≥ 90 for dashboard route.

Product & Analytics Stack

  • Tailwind CSS (atomic layout & theming)
  • Alpine.js (light interactivity)
  • WebSockets (live spread feed)
  • Chart.js / ECharts (distribution visuals)
  • Prometheus (latency & API KPIs)
  • Sentry (frontend error capture)
  • PostHog / GA (flow analytics & drop-off)
  • OpenAPI (exportable arbitrage data endpoints)

Build Safer Retail Arbitrage

Integrate these UX patterns with liquidation prevention risk metrics, reinforce settlement safety via finality monitoring, and expand product education using AMM mechanics content.

Conclusion

Retail arbitrage UX design is risk engineering disguised as interface polish. By grounding layouts in clear personas, prioritizing high-signal KPIs, enforcing guardrails, compressing alert noise, enabling progressive education, and validating accessibility + performance, teams convert complexity into confident execution. Iterative analytics loops then refine friction points while preserving safety controls—compounding user trust and retention.

Tags

Arbitrage UX Dashboard Design Risk Guardrails Alerting Accessibility Onboarding

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