cinesite notes dashboard

I developed this project while working at Cinesite animation studio in Vancouver, BC. Cinesite was a multi-location studio that specialized in feature film animation and visual effects.

Our primary project management tool, ftrack, lacked the ability to take multiple notes on a single page. Users had to manually open up every item that was submitted for review, write the note, and publish it — a tedious task made difficult when reviews often varied from plans. There was a strong desire for ftrack to mimic it’s competitor, Shotgrid, more closely within the studio to streamline the notetaking process.

Since our pipeline team was incredibly experienced at coding custom add-ons and dashboards, I partnered with them to design something that would meet our management team's needs.

This design was submitted as a guideline for our development team based on user feedback from across the studio.

The existing notes dashboard had not been designed by or for the people who would actually be using it (the Project Managers). This meant we had a non-intuitive, information heavy interface that didn't actually meet the needs of users nor was it easy for them to understand.

I developed an interactive prototype in Figma to showcase what we needed and how we expected it to work. This meant the software team could step away from design and focus solely on implementation.

The existing notes dashboard had not been designed by or for the people who would actually be using it (the Project Managers). This meant we had a non-intuitive, information heavy interface that didn't actually meet the needs of users nor was it easy for them to understand.

I developed an interactive prototype in Figma to showcase what we needed and how we expected it to work. This meant the software team could step away from design and focus solely on implementation.

Since I had worked as a Project Manager and conducted hundreds of reviews over my career, I already had a lot of experience working with notes dashboards. I was familiar with what worked (customization, minimal layout) and what didn't (an inability to save notes, clutter, the wrong information being displayed).

At Cinesite, the main thing we were seeking was something that was easy to understand with minimal training. Since the people taking notes in meetings were often newer team members, they didn't have an innate understanding of dashboard interfaces. They needed something that made sense from the jump and was easy to operate.

Since I had worked as a Project Manager and conducted hundreds of reviews over my career, I already had a lot of experience working with notes dashboards. I was familiar with what worked (customization, minimal layout) and what didn't (an inability to save notes, clutter, the wrong information being displayed).

At Cinesite, the main thing we were seeking was something that was easy to understand with minimal training. Since the people taking notes in meetings were often newer team members, they didn't have an innate understanding of dashboard interfaces. They needed something that made sense from the jump and was easy to operate.

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multi-media designer based in vancouver, bc

multi-media designer
based in vancouver, bc