Dashboard Redesign
Overview
Users' default dashboard is their landing page when logging into the ThreatConnect threat intelligence platform (TIP). Dashboards had gone untouched for many years and were in need of a redesign to both improve usability as well as align the design with the design system. In addition to redesigning dashboards as a whole, a dashboard landing page where users could more easily find dashboards via a search and filter capability was also added, as well as the ability to pin important dashboards to their dashboard navigation menu. Formerly all of a user's private, shared, and system dashboards lived within a non-searchable megamenu that was difficult to navigate.
Created while working at ThreatConnect
Details
Designing an Improved Dashboard Experience
When starting this effort, existing feedback regarding dashboards was reviewed.. Common pain points were the main targets to address, with a common one being difficulties navigating the megamenu of accessible dashboards.
The list of all dashboards was moved into a landing page and simplified the navigation menu for dashboards. The landing page served as a searchable and filterable list of all of a user's dashboards. From here they could pin their commonly used dashboards, which would appear in the dashboard navigation menu along with the link to the dashboards landing page.
The redesign of dashboards encompassed updating styles to use design system styles, simplifying the dashboard card creation process, and adding more in-context help to guide users. Simplifying the dashboard creation process involved changing the UI from using a stepper (which was also cited as a customer friction point) into a single side drawer where users could create their cards and see live previews during the creation process.
The proposed design was reviewed with the internal Customer Success team first. This team is responsible for creating most of the system dashboards that the company provides to customers, so their input is very valuable as they interact with the dashboard creator often. Iterations were done based on their feedback and reviewed with customers. Additional customer feedback was incorporated into the final design.