Matrix42 Dashboard Redesign
Matrix42 customers were struggling. Their dashboards, built on technology that hadn't kept pace with their needs, had become a daily source of frustration. The interface threw everything at users at once. Competing visual elements fighting for attention made even simple tasks like identifying priority work unnecessarily difficult.
The Challenge
Looking closer revealed deeper problems. The typography offered no guidance about what mattered most, with inconsistent sizing and cramped spacing forcing users to work harder than they should to scan information. The data visualisations, which should have been the dashboard's strength, were cluttered with overlapping legends and unclear groupings that turned insight extraction into a puzzle rather than a glance.
Without a systematic design approach holding things together, the experience felt haphazard. Spacing varied unpredictably, iconography styles clashed, and poor contrast ratios made extended viewing physically uncomfortable. Perhaps most frustrating was the rigid layout system: derivatives of a 3x3 grid structure that forced every customer into identical layouts, regardless of whether their team managed IT tickets, tracked service requests, or monitored system health. The dashboard couldn't adapt, so users had to.
Dense cramped cell content, with minimal padding.
No clear typographic hierarchy between titles, data, and legends.
Vastly inconsistent spacing between elements, and stark dividing lines.
The Solution
I started with a fundamental question: what if every element earned its place? The redesign began by stripping away visual noise and rebuilding around a card-based component system. Each card now has room to breathe, with generous whitespace and consistent padding that creates natural boundaries. Users no longer have to fight through clutter. The interface guides their attention.
Typography became a tool for clarity rather than confusion. I established a clear hierarchical scale where headings actually look like headings, body text serves its purpose, and metadata stays quietly in the background. Improved line-height and consistent font weights create a rhythm that lets users scan effortlessly through information, finding what they need without conscious effort.
The data visualisations underwent their own transformation. Instead of decorative complexity, I focused on essential insight. Integrated labels sit exactly where users expect them. Chart styling became cleaner, more purposeful. The result is that metrics tell their story at a glance rather than requiring interpretation.
Recognising that teams work in different conditions and have different preferences, I designed both light and dark modes from the ground up. The dark theme isn't just an inverted colour scheme. It features carefully elevated surfaces and adjusted colour values that maintain clarity whilst reducing eye strain during long sessions. And perhaps most liberating of all, the layout system broke free from its 3x3 grid constraint. Teams can now add cells, arrange information, and adapt their dashboards to match how they actually work, not how the system thinks they should work.
Clear separation between title, content, and metadata.
Contemporary card UI pattern and subtle depth with shadows.
Contents feels comfortable, not claustrophobic.
Real-world Impact
The response to the redesign confirmed its success. During user testing with both internal teams and external customers, feedback was consistently positive. Users were not only satisfied but also enthusiastic and appreciative. From their feedback, we identified two key areas of positive impact:
For Users
- Reduced eye strain
- Clearer data presentation, leading to better decision making
- Increased confidence (professional appearance builds trust)
- Flexible customisation (layouts adapt to their needs)
For Business
- Anticipated reduction in support tickets for M42 Service Desk
- Increased adoption (users actually want to use it)
- Competitive advantage (modern appearance vs. dated)
- Extensibility (design system scales to new features)
This redesign work showcases a few steps in a longer process. There are many details that still need to be refined beyond what is shown in the visuals, and we need to validate the designs with real customer data. However, we now have a clear design direction and strong confidence this work will lead to a successful replacement of an existing feature.