Executive Summary
A responsive internal operational dashboard tailored for visualizing key metrics and managing fast-moving data streams.
The Problem
Internal stakeholders lacked a centralized, real-time view of critical business metrics, relying instead on fragmented spreadsheets, email chains, and delayed BI reporting.
User Pain Points
- Data fragmentation across 5 different platforms.
- Inability to make split-second decisions due to data latency.
- Cluttered UI in existing legacy dashboards causing cognitive overload.
- Lack of mobile access for executives on the go.
Research & Discovery
Shadowed operations managers for a week to track their daily mouse movements and screen time. Discovered they only cared about 4 specific KPIs at a glance. Redesigned the entire UI hierarchy around those 4 metrics.
The Solution
Built a highly responsive, unified dashboard focused on visualizing key metrics rapidly, treating internal teams as primary customers through continuous feedback loops and iterative design.
System Architecture
Multiple External APIs (CRM, ERP, Sales)
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Next.js API Aggregation Layer (BFF)
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React Context / SWR Data Fetching
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Modular UI Components (Recharts)
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Responsive Glassmorphic DashboardDatabase Design
Read-only architecture. The dashboard acts as a presentation layer aggregating data from upstream SQL warehouses and REST APIs, employing aggressive Redis caching at the edge.
API Flow
Client mounts -> SWR triggers parallel fetches to Next.js API -> Next.js aggregates data from 3 external services in parallel -> Normalizes data shape -> Returns JSON payload -> Recharts renders graphs.
Tech Stack & Tooling
Implementation Challenges
Designing a flexible component architecture that could handle varying data structures without requiring complete rewrites for new metric panels. Handling network waterfalls was also a significant challenge.
Trade-offs
Opted for client-side polling (SWR) instead of WebSockets to reduce backend infrastructure complexity. Trade-off: Data is delayed by up to 10 seconds, which was deemed acceptable by stakeholders.
Results & Impact
Delivered a clean, robust internal tool that acts as the single source of truth for operational data visualization, saving executives 5+ hours a week in data compilation.
What I Learned
Treating internal teams as external customers during product discovery dramatically improves the adoption rate of internal tooling.