SaaS Dashboard Redesign
Task completion rate up 41%
The dashboard had grown organically over 4 years, resulting in information overload and low feature discoverability.
Introduced a role-based dashboard with progressive disclosure, customizable widgets, and contextual onboarding.
41% improvement in task completion rate, 35% reduction in time-to-first-action for new users.
Co-led design with one other designer. Owned the information architecture and interaction design.
The Problem
Users were presented with 23 widgets on first login, regardless of their role or goals. Power users had learned to ignore irrelevant sections, but new users were overwhelmed and churned within the first week at a 40% rate.
Research & Discovery
Working with the data team, I segmented users into 4 personas based on actual feature usage patterns in Amplitude. I then conducted 15 interviews across these segments to understand their mental models and daily workflows.
Design Process
I designed a role-based default layout system where each persona sees the 5-7 most relevant widgets on first login, with the ability to customize. Progressive disclosure patterns let users expand into advanced features without being overwhelmed upfront.
Onboarding Flow
A contextual onboarding system guides new users through their first 3 key actions based on their role, eliminating the need for a separate tutorial.
Final Solution
The redesigned dashboard adapts to user roles, surfaces actionable insights first, and grows with the user's expertise. A customization panel lets power users build their ideal workspace without affecting the clean defaults.
Results
The role-based approach proved that showing less could achieve more. New user activation improved dramatically, and existing users reported feeling like the product finally 'understood' their workflow.
Reflection
The biggest lesson was that 'customizable' shouldn't mean 'figure it out yourself.' Smart defaults based on real usage data are worth more than infinite flexibility. I'd also invest more time in the widget API design — the engineering handoff for custom widget layouts was more complex than anticipated.