Web Dashboard Design for Admins of Sports Social Network App

As VLTED’s mobile app grew, managing the backend content and users became increasingly difficult. The team lacked a centralized platform to control challenges, tournaments, rewards, users, and communities. Most updates required manual processes or developer involvement, slowing down operations and leaving admins without visibility.

The challenge was to design a web-based dashboard for admins and managers that:

• Streamlined content and user management
• Gave real-time visibility into app data
• Worked seamlessly on laptops and tablets
• Scaled alongside the app’s feature set

1. Research & User Persona

• Worked with stakeholders to define the admin persona: non-technical managers responsible for content, tournaments, and user engagement.
• Gathered requirements around daily workflows, such as creating challenges, approving tournaments, and handling user reports.

2. Information Architecture

• Designed a sidebar-driven navigation with clear categories: Games, Tournaments, Challenges, Users, Communities, Reporting, and System Configurations.
• Ensured scalability so new modules (e.g., Rewards, Announcements) could be added without breaking structure.

3. Wireframing & Prototyping

• Created wireframes for core flows: creating a challenge, managing tournaments, moderating users.
• Iterated into high-fidelity prototypes with a focus on:
  • Tabular data views for admins to scan large datasets quickly
  • Form-based creation flows for challenges, tournaments, and pools
  • Filter & search tools to manage growing amounts of data
  • Role management and permissions for different admin levels

4. Visual Design System

• Extended VLTEd’s existing design system (typography, color palette, iconography) to fit a data-heavy admin UI.
• Applied contrast, spacing, and hierarchy to improve scannability.
• Designed for tablet-responsiveness, ensuring managers could operate on-the-go.

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The VLTED Admin Dashboard provided a powerful yet intuitive control center:

• Challenges & Tournaments: Create, edit, and manage games with preview states and live status indicators.
• Users & Communities: Full visibility into users and groups, including activity, XP levels, predictions, and roles.
• Reports & Validation: Centralized access to pending reports and future predictions for easy moderation.
• Announcements: Admins could broadcast platform updates directly from the dashboard.
• Scalable IA: A flexible sidebar navigation ready to support future features like Rewards and System Configurations.