Alte Consulting Freelancer and Admin Dashboard
My Role
Designing the overall UI/UX for the freelancer and admin dashboards.
Conducting UX research to understand user needs.
Supervising and providing feedback to the supporting designers.
Collaborating with the BA and PM to align design goals with functional requirements.
Tools
Figma and Google Docs
Team Members
Lead Designer: Myself
Two Supporting Designers
Business Analyst (BA)
Project Manager (PM)
Overview
In 2024, Alte Consulting, a newly launched digital solutions agency, set out to create a dashboard system that would streamline operations for their growing team of freelancers and administrators. As a new brand, they needed intuitive dashboards built from the ground up—providing a seamless interface for content management, project/job tracking, and user role assignments.
THE PROBLEM: Starting from Zero
With no existing design or workflows, the challenges included:
Defining the information architecture for both freelancers and administrators.
Creating a consistent design system that could be scaled as the platform grew.
Ensuring an intuitive user experience for first-time users with varying technical expertise.
User Perspective
"As a freelancer, I need a simple way to apply for jobs and track my progress without confusion."
"As an admin, I need tools to assign user roles and manage projects effortlessly, even if I’m new to the system."
GOAL: Establishing a Strong Foundation
Design a User-Centric System: Create dashboards that are intuitive, visually cohesive, and scalable for future needs.
Enable Productivity: Develop tools that help users manage tasks, projects, and roles efficiently.
Build Trust through Simplicity: Design interfaces that inspire confidence in users interacting with a brand-new platform.
RESEARCH PROCESS
USER INTERVIEWS
Engaging with target users (freelancers and admins) helped me uncover their expectations and needs for dashboard usability. Their insights guided decisions around navigation, layout, and functionality.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
The research emphasized the importance of:
Simplified workflows for freelancers to apply for jobs and track progress.
Comprehensive management tools for administrators to assign roles and oversee projects.
A design system that could grow with the platform and maintain consistency.
DESIGNING ALTE CONSULTING’S DASHBOARDS
I focused on creating a dashboard system with:
Simplified Layout & Navigation: A clear, intuitive structure to reduce cognitive load.
Cohesive Design Language: Consistency across components using a style guide.
Role-Based User Management: Customizable roles and permissions for administrators.
Key Features
Freelancer Dashboard
A profile completion tracker to guide freelancers through setup.
Categorized application tracking: Applied, Saved, Decision.
Responsive design for seamless access on any device.
Admin Dashboard
User management for freelancers, clients, and internal users.
Role and permission assignments with predefined templates.
Tools for creating and managing blogs, projects, and jobs.
Challenges & Solutions
Complex User Roles Management
Challenge: Balancing the flexibility of assigning roles with simplicity.
Solution: Created predefined roles with customizable permissions for internal users.
Ensuring Profile Completeness for Freelancers
Challenge: Freelancers applying with incomplete profiles.
Solution: Added a profile completion progress bar with actionable steps for guidance.
Seamless Collaboration Across Teams
Challenge: Aligning design efforts with the development team’s implementation constraints.
Solution: Maintained close collaboration, shared detailed design specs, and conducted regular reviews.
Outcomes
Through this project, I deepened my understanding of dashboard usability and design systems. Collaborating with cross-functional teams.
Delivered a fully functional dashboard system that improved user experience for both freelancers and administrators.
Enhanced efficiency in managing projects and user roles.
Positive feedback from stakeholders on the intuitive design and seamless navigation.
Conclusion
The Alte Consulting dashboard project highlighted the importance of collaboration, user-centric design, and adaptability in addressing complex user needs. It was a rewarding experience to lead the team and deliver a product that met both client and user expectations.
