CASE STUDY

Insights Console

PROJECT BRIEF

The Insights Console is a data-driven digital dashboard designed to provide users with immediate, at-a-glance visibility into operational and performance information. Serving as the central hub of the system, the console aggregates key data points across multiple modules into a single, cohesive workspace that supports informed decision-making and efficient daily workflows.

CLIENT NEEDS

  • Offer modular, customizable, permission based widgets

  • Add new insights that encompass all modules including accounting, sales, service, parts, and payroll

  • Leverage current APIs to drive real-time and contextual data, ensuring accuracy and relevance

USER NEEDS

  • Personalize the experience based on role, preferences, and business needs

  • Create and manage multiple consoles to support different roles, responsibilities, or areas of focus

  • Visibility into product inventory levels, highlight items requiring immediate attention, and recommend relevant training resources to support ongoing development

PHASE 1: Discovery

We evaluated the legacy dashboard to establish a clear picture of existing constraints and align on business objectives and desired outcomes for the next iteration of this console.

  • What needs to change: the widgets occupy more real estate than necessary for the data provided, limiting the amount of information available at a glance

  • What is possible: expand insights beyond the service and sales modules, and their three reporting categories

  • What matters most: provide users with behavior-based insights into the information they frequently use, modernize the design to meet updated style standards

PHASE 2: Definition

Accounting Clerk

  • Post vehicle sales

  • Process customer payments

  • Pay vendors

  • Process repair orders

  • Post technician labor sales

  • Reconcile parts invoices

  • Handle warranty reimbursements from manufacturers

  • Balance daily service cash receipts

Sales Manager

  • Set daily or monthly sales targets

  • Track inventory

  • Monitor sales numbers:

    • Units sold

    • Gross profit per vehicle

    • Closing percentages

  • Track appointment show rates

  • Prospect/customer management

Service Manager

  • Monitor repair orders

  • Manage technician schedules

  • Review workload distribution

  • Warranty vs. customer pays repairs 

  • Parts inventory and special orders

  • Labor hours billed

  • Inspection completion rates

  • Parts gross profit

Identified what the users need beyond the current offering:

  • Insights based on user role and usage patterns

  • Cross-module insights: service mgr. needs insights into accounting and parts

  • Items needing attention (e.g. a repair order that requires manager approval)

  • Summary of recently viewed documents (e.g. the last five deals viewed)

  • Ability to add, delete, modify, share and move insights on screen


Created user personas and their daily tasks in order to determine what insights they will need:

  • Accounting Clerk

  • Sales Manager

  • Service Manager


Specified project scope:

  • New console will be offered to users who don’t currently use the legacy dashboard

    • Five shortcuts based on role with ability to add more

  • Once parity is established for insights, legacy dashboard users will be offered the new experience with the option to toggle to the legacy experience

  • Add new insight types: accounting, parts, action items, continued training

After wireframing the basic layout, I designed new widgets of varying size and content in order to best provide the insights our users need to optimize their daily processes. The prototype demonstrates interactions users can take to add, edit, move, and drill down for more detail.

PHASE 3: Ideation & Design

Wireframe

Prototype —>

Interactive Prototype

Prototype designed in Figma. Get started for free to create an account.