Orchid B

Background

Orchid B is a business-focused web application designed to support companies through onboarding, a centralized dashboard, and invoicing workflows. The platform serves teams managing day-to-day operations and financial processes within a single system.

The Problem

A Pivot: Main Dashboard Redesign

A mid-project challenge that became an opportunity

A few weeks into the project, the team identified an issue: Orchid B's existing dashboard only displayed invoice information—details that already existed in the dedicated Invoices tab.

To address this redundancy, I proposed a redesign of the entire dashboard to become a true command center, showing bank balances, business growth metrics, and contractor spending all in one view. This would eliminate tab-switching for the most common data.

Research Insights

Following a shift in product priorities, the team revisited the main dashboard to address emerging usability concerns. A quick round of user research uncovered friction in how the data was presented:

• Users found the existing bar chart confusing and difficult to interpret at a glance
• The invoice breakdown did not align with user needs—business owners prioritized actionable financial insights like income, expenses, and banking visibility over detailed invoice categorization

These findings confirmed that the dashboard wasn't serving business owners' core needs. They wanted financial oversight at a glance, not redundant invoice displays.

Design Strategy

While ideating designs, I kept the research findings front and centered. The redesigned dashboard would:

• Replace confusing financial visualizations with clear, scannable metrics (bank balance, monthly growth, etc.)
• Eliminate the irrelevant invoice breakdown in favor of actionable business data
• Integrate contractor spending visibility to serve the new feature
• Provide quick access banking functions to reduce navigation clicks

The Solution: Integrated Contractor Management

Contractor Dashboard Overview

The solution centered on a unified contractor dashboard that gave small business owners a clear, at-a-glance view of contractor activity. Project assignments, invoices, and spending were consolidated into a single, scannable overview.

By enabling quick review with easy access to deeper details, the dashboard removed the need to juggle multiple tools. Contractor data was centralized and intentionally structured to support efficient, informed decision-making.

Spending Insights

Real-time visibility into contractor costs across monthly, quarterly, and annual timelines. This gave business owners the transparency they previously lacked.

Contractor Profiles

By centralizing contractor data into a single profile, business owners could manage contractor details, skills, and project history without spreadsheets. Real-time availability and in-app messaging reduced friction in contractor coordination.

Measuring Outcomes

Impact was measured with qualitative and quantitative methods. Hotjar was utilized for qualitative behavior insights (heatmaps, session recordings) and Google Analytics for quantitative engagement tracking.

Learnings

What Worked Well

• Delivered my first 0→1 feature design successfully.
• Saw unexpected requests as opportunities to enhance the product, not as a distraction.
• Maintained constant communication with the team and client, ensuring alignment.

What I'd Do Differently

• Establish baseline metrics and a structure post-launch measure plan upfront.
• Instrument designs with specific success metrics instead of relying on general satisfaction surveys.
• Deepen focus on measuring design impact, making it a core part of future projects.