Seeing in Systems: Sketching A Native Ethereum Design Language
Duration: 00:18:26
Speaker: Alexander Singh
Type: Breakout
Expertise: Beginner
Event: Devcon
Date: Jul 2026
We often lament how the "UX of web3 doesn't work more like web2". Those are easy fixes. What we really need is a native web3 design language. One that guides us to design with Ethereum, not against it. To achieve that, we must learn to see in systems. Our world is a complex collection of natural & artificial systems. Our software are systems, too: networks of dependencies, features, users, incentives & interactions. Yet none of our design tooling or "best practices" is designed to help us work in this mindset. Let's invent the “Third Layer” of the design stack: A systems-first approach that goes deeper than "UI" or "UX", in order to: 1. Create a safer & more inclusive user experience. 2. Understand our work as one part of a larger ecosystem. 3. Develop adaptable interfaces that shape themselves to local culture. 4. And give us new tools & mental models to solve major usability problems. Seeing in systems won't only help us. It may even enable today's legacy online platforms to solve their major challenges: against attention hijacking, mass data collection, state propaganda, racial violence, radicalization, harassment & exploitation.