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02 · Real-time operations dashboard

Kitchen Ops

A real-time operations dashboard for cloud kitchens: a central control screen that helps kitchen teams quickly read current workload, performance and risk, especially during busy service.

Year
2026
Type
Academic project
Role
Dashboard design
Kitchen Ops dashboard overview with order forecast, constraints and staff allocation, shown on a desktop monitor.
Kitchen Ops: dashboard overview
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Challenge

During peak hours, cloud kitchen operators rely on fragmented systems. That leads to delays, bottlenecks and reactive decisions instead of proactive control.

Research

I mapped the kitchen’s systems, information flow and repeated interactions to understand how operators decide whether to keep accepting orders during peak hours.

  1. 01

    Access points

    Fragmented systems increase mental workload.

    • Orders
    • Delivery
    • Kitchen displays
    • Attendance
    • Inventory
    • Messages, calls and printed slips fill the gaps.
    • Cooks, supervisors and delivery partners become information sources.
  2. 02

    Touch points

    Pressure builds before operators pause intake.

    1. Order spikes
    2. Queue growth
    3. Delivery warnings
    4. Decision anxiety
    • Verbal escalations and staff changes compete with screen alerts.
  3. 03

    Information flow

    The manager must combine scattered signals to decide intake.

    1. Delivery platforms
    2. Management screen
    3. Kitchen display
    4. Preparation
    • Deadlines are tracked separately.
    • Congestion, complaints and pickup delays arrive from different places.
  4. 04

    Information architecture

    Six groups need to be readable together.

    • Intake status
    • Order load
    • Time pressure
    • Capacity
    • Constraints
    • Reference
    • Bring waiting orders, deadlines and staff into one view.
    • Connect station workload, equipment, ingredients and pickups.
  5. 05

    Navigation flow

    Move from status to an actionable intake decision.

    1. Status & trends
    2. Time & staffing
    3. Bottlenecks
    4. Risk assessment
    • Continue
    • Slow
    • Stop
    • Check constraints and whether the risk can be resolved.
  6. 06

    Sitemap

    Overview is the entry point, not another screen to search.

    1. Overview
    2. Load / time / capacity
    3. Details & history
    • Pair intake status and overall risk with the primary action.
    • Keep timelines, performance, pause decisions and alerts available as reference.
  7. 07

    Interaction audit

    Overload is difficult to detect early.

    • Words
    • Displays
    • Objects
    • Space
    • Time
    • Behaviour
    • Warnings, queues, touchscreens and printed slips compete.
    • Screen switching, station visits and repeated questions slow monitoring.
  8. 08

    Repetitive interactions

    Seven recurring tasks define the daily loop.

    • Order load
    • Prep speed
    • Deadlines
    • Resources
    • Alerts
    • Kitchen scan
    • Intake decision
  9. 09

    Design principle evaluation

    Intake decisions were weakest in visibility and recovery.

    • Visibility
    • Feedback
    • Consistency
    • Affordance
    • Learnability
    • Control
    • Simplicity
    • Accessibility
    • Recovery
    • Deadline monitoring lacked control.
    • Alert handling lacked consistency.
    • Clearer signals and actionable feedback became priorities.

Ideation

Bring order load, cooking speed, staff availability and delay risk into one decision-focused dashboard, so operators can act earlier and with less stress.

Heuristic evaluation

  1. 01

    What works

    One screen supports quick, informed action.

    • Real-time status, familiar language and consistent labels.
    • Direct intake controls preserve freedom and reduce recall.
    • Quick actions and adjustable settings support efficiency.
    • Secondary details stay out of the main view.
  2. 02

    What needs care

    Guidance helps, but judgement still belongs to the operator.

    • Warnings prevent errors without blocking risky decisions.
    • Suggested corrections help users recognise problems.
    • Recovery still relies on the operator’s judgement.
    • Inline guidance suits trained users; dedicated help remains limited.

Components

  1. 01

    Digital

    Make the current state and next action clear.

    • Intake action
    • Status
    • Information panels
    • Risk
    • Progress
    • Navigation
    • Normal / slow toggle
    • A primary intake action anchors the screen.
    • Load and time indicators surface pressure; expandable navigation reveals details.
  2. 02

    Behavioural

    Close the loop between decisions and feedback.

    1. Early warning
    2. Guided suggestion
    3. Intake change
    4. Confirmation
    • Alerts expose rising risk.
    • Suggestions recommend slowing or pausing before overload and late delivery.

Solution

A unified, real-time dashboard that visualises performance, predicts risks and guides operators to take timely, informed action.

Final design

Kitchen Ops interface: order forecast, constraints and staff allocation panels.Kitchen Ops dashboard on a monitor in a concrete setting.Kitchen Ops dashboard on a silver monitor.