Why Most Trading Dashboards Fail at UX

After building multiple trading systems and working with professional traders, I've seen the same UX mistakes repeated across platforms. Most trading dashboards are data-heavy but decision-light. Here's what I learned about building interfaces that actually help traders. ## The Problem Traders don't need more data—they need better decisions. Most dashboards show: - Too many metrics at once - No clear hierarchy of information - Charts that look impressive but don't answer questions - Actions buried in menus ## What Actually Works **1. Start with the decision, not the data** Before adding any metric, ask: "What decision does this help the trader make?" If you can't answer, don't show it. **2. Progressive disclosure** Show the most important information first. Let traders drill down if they need more detail. Don't overwhelm them with everything at once. **3. Context, not just numbers** A price of $50,000 means nothing. A price of $50,000 that's up 5% from yesterday with high volume—that's actionable. **4. Make actions obvious** If a trader can take an action, make it visible. Don't hide "Place Order" in a dropdown menu. ## Lessons from TradeTab When building TradeTab, we focused on verification and transparency. But we also learned that traders need to see their performance in context—not just raw numbers, but what those numbers mean for their strategy. The dashboard that works is the one that helps traders make better decisions, not the one that shows the most data.