Project Central

My role:

UX Research, Visual Design

Project:

Project Central

Goal

Goal:

Increase product adoption and team efficiency by simplifying project tracking, clarifying task visibility, and automating reporting to create a more intuitive and decision-focused project management experience.

Outcome

Outcome:

Transformed System into a workflow accelerator rather than a standard tracking tool.

The Problem

"Managing multiple projects shouldn’t feel like herding cats—but for many teams, it does. Missed updates, scattered tools, and manual tracking slow teams down. What if there was a better way?"

That was the challenge we set out to solve with Project Central—a workspace designed for teams juggling multiple projects without the chaos.

"Managing multiple projects shouldn’t feel like herding cats but for many teams, it does. Missed updates, scattered tools, and manual tracking slow teams down. What if there was a better way?"

That was the challenge we set out to solve with Project Central—a workspace designed for teams juggling multiple projects without the chaos.

Challenge

At first, we assumed teams needed more dashboards, reports, and customization. But as we dug deeper, a different pattern emerged:

People wanted clarity, not complexity.

PMs struggled to see project progress at a glance.
Team members missed key tasks buried in long lists.
Reporting felt like extra work rather than an automated process.

This shifted our focus—from building just another project management tool to designing an experience that simplifies decision-making at every level.

Refining Navigation Through User-Centric Research

Held one-on-one sessions with users especially project managers and HR staff to gather insights into their workflow preferences. Following this, I card sorted key features based on usage frequency and user feedback. This exercise determined which features should go in the main navigation and which could be secondary.

Research Insights

Usability Testing

I started by speaking directly to the people who mattered most our users. We reached out to clients who had recently onboarded and those who had stopped using the system altogether.

Our research revealed three fundamental insights that shaped our redesign decisions:

Users wanted a clear project overview without digging through endless lists.
Task assignments needed better context—knowing who’s available and what’s pending.
Transparency was key, but too much information created overload.

Iterations and Breakthroughs

Based on the research, I developed four core design strategies to simplify the system and re-engineer the user experience.

Challenge 1: How Do We Reduce Cognitive Load?

Our early UI had a dashboard overload—too many widgets, too much data. User testing revealed that:

PMs didn’t need all metrics upfront—just red flags.
A Kanban-style workflow wasn’t enough; they needed dynamic task dependencies.

Solution: We designed a Priority-First Layout—highlighting urgent tasks, blockers, and progress indicators in one view..

“ Task updates are so much easier now!" ”

“ Task updates are so much easier now!"

Elly Onyango

Project Manager

Challenge 2: Team Engagement Was an Afterthought

We built the first version around PMs, not team members—a major oversight. Stand-ups still relied on Slack, and task updates were rare.

Solution: Collaboration is Key

We introduced inline updates, letting team members comment directly on tasks.

Designed a status check-in flow that took less than 30 seconds to complete.
Integrated smart nudges to remind users about overdue tasks in a non-intrusive way.

Result? A 38% increase in task updates and smoother collaboration.

We built the first version around PMs, not team members—a major oversight. Stand-ups still relied on Slack, and task updates were rare.

Solution: Collaboration is Key

We introduced inline updates, letting team members comment directly on tasks.

Designed a status check-in flow that took less than 30 seconds to complete.
Integrated smart nudges to remind users about overdue tasks in a non-intrusive way.

Result? A 38% increase in task updates and smoother collaboration.

Other Screens

Outcome; Less Work, More Clarity

By shifting our approach, we turned Project Central into a workflow accelerator instead of just another tracking tool.

38%

Reduced project bottlenecks

32%

Increased task completion rates

40%

Reduced time spent by PM manually tracking

Key Takeaways

Looking back, the biggest lesson was this: A great product isn’t about adding more features—it’s about reducing friction.

Would we do anything differently? Probably involve end users (not just PMs) earlier in our research. But the end result speaks for itself—teams that work smarter, not harder with Project Central.

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