Yes, I agree there are some fundamental issues that are holding the DEX back, UI is just one of them.
I think they need to ditch the gateway model for sidechains or something else that allows for no counterparty risk. I would also like to see a bond market for those of us that do hold assets, borrowing should allow either creation of the asset with collateral or buying from a bond pool. Then IMO the DEX also needs to be able to trade and store way more coins, most of the top coins people want to trade can't be found there.