When you do the thing you said you wouldn't

It's been a busy week. [Mallow](/experiments/mallow), our Soft-DeFi perps platform on Algorand, has launched, and it's been well received. The UI and UX is something I'm proud of, and hearing that back from people using it was satisfying.

![The soft Mallow desk on a blush background. A marshmallow waves over two cards: "Pick if ALGO goes up or down. That's it." on the left, and ALGO/USD at $0.09745 with green Up and pink Down buttons on the right.](/lab-notes/when-you-do-the-thing-you-said-you-wouldnt/mallow-soft-desk.jpg)

One thing that came up more than once was a request for more advanced features: leverage, limit orders, stop loss. I had built Mallow specifically not to include those.

Then I found out the main ppls.exchange site doesn't allow US users, and in that I saw the gap.

I didn't want to throw away what I'd already built. I still believe there's a place for a perps platform with limited features that doesn't scare off less experienced users. But when the market offers you an opening, you take the shot.

Mallow Pro

So Mallow Pro was born: a fully featured perps trading experience, with the controls people had asked for and already expect. I didn't want to throw some charts on the page, add a dark mode, and call it a day. I went through each part of the app so Pro would still feel like the original soft version, which stays the default.

The UI

First was dark mode, dark with a pink blush so it still sits in the theme. Next I changed the font from Inter to IBM Plex Mono. Texture and copy needed updating too. I built a copy system where the soft-DeFi language is the default, and Pro can override it with different wording.

![Mallow Pro on a dark desk with a pink blush. An ALGO/USD perp chart sits at $0.09670 beside a ticket for size, 1× leverage, market or limit orders, and Long or Short.](/lab-notes/when-you-do-the-thing-you-said-you-wouldnt/mallow-pro-desk.jpg)

The Mallow character

I didn't want to get rid of Mallow. He binds the whole thing together, and he's good for memes. So I leaned into the degen side a little and made new poses, including the classic "deal with it" sunglasses.

![Mallow in pixel "deal with it" sunglasses, lounging in a mug of hot chocolate beside a fireplace.](/lab-notes/when-you-do-the-thing-you-said-you-wouldnt/mallow-deal-with-it.jpg)

Stickers

I did not remove stickers. Stickers are a huge part of Mallow, soft and Pro, and I wouldn't want them gone. I also kept the leaderboard. It matters, and it will get more involved over time.

Interfaces

The biggest change was the perps and liquidity interfaces. I had to fit charts and a lot of new controls and still keep things flowing. One of the best suggestions for stop loss and take profit was to use percentages instead of price points. Paired with a slider, that is much easier to use, especially on mobile.

More work to come

There's still a ton of work on every side of Mallow. I'm not fully happy with the transaction flow and the feedback users get. I need more signposting and events for specific actions, and bugs need a quick turnaround.

Mallow is available everywhere, with no geo-lock and no token-holding requirement. You can use it now, in Pro or soft mode, at usemallow.app. Follow Mallow on X and join the Discord.

![Mallow waving on a cobbled street in a pastel town.](/lab-notes/when-you-do-the-thing-you-said-you-wouldnt/mallow-waving.jpg)