One massive product we manage at KOALA is the user dashboard.

The dashboard is a critical feature for both owners and travelers, though the two use cases are wildly different and thus there are unique components in both. The dashboard design was made more critical and intricate when we introduced membership tiers for owners, each with access to different services and products.

I will demonstrate the significant updates to the design, but more importantly, the Information Architecture changes enacted, allowing users to locate their relevant tools and utilize their dashboards effectively.

Above are the original and updated dashboard designs

The dashboard redesign involves a complete overhaul of the existing layout, so I have broken the component changes into the following sections: improved navigation, highlighted ‘required action’ section, gamified progress tracking, and p2p messaging inbox.

Improved navigation

The redesigned side navigation includes only items that are relevant to the user. Using Card Sorting, the items are broken into new, more straightforward groupings. Because a user can be both a host and a traveler, there are now separate sections for each.

‘Required Action’

The original dashboard had a general lack of direction for the user; there was no guidance in both the UX and UI as to where they should look. In this marketplace, both hosts and travelers sometimes have items that require immediate attention (i.e. hosts have only 24 hours to accept booking requests).

I added an ‘Action Required’ section front-and-center to draw the user’s immediate attention to the most pressing items. This helps to both reduce confusion and increase efficiency.

Not only can this component be used for active users with their day-to-day management, but it can also help streamline the onboarding of new users, showing them the list of tasks they should/must complete to get the most out of their memberships.