Restaurant Experience
Restaurant Forecast & Operations Dashboard
Overview
A real-time dashboard for Nando's managers — forecasting revenue, labour and performance across Eat In, Delivery and Takeaway.
One screen for managers: weekly forecasts, labour, budget, accuracy and daily breakdowns — dark interface, with a light variant.
Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Platform
Desktop Web App
Client
Nando's
Tools
Figma, FigJam
Team
PM, Designer, Operations Lead
Impact
3
Revenue Channels Tracked
2
Theme Variants (Dark/Light)
4
Dashboard Tabs
£1,903
Weekly Uplift Displayed
01 — Dark Theme Dashboard
A bold, high-contrast command centre for restaurant managers
Multi-line forecast chart
Projected, Actual and Patrao revenue across the week.
Neon gauge KPIs
Labour hours, budget, Patrao and projection accuracy.
Projection run down table
Daily Eat In, Delivery and Takeaway, with variance.
02 — Scrolled Dashboard State
Weekly totals and neon performance gauges
Scrolling reveals the weekly total row and arc-gauge tiles breaking down performance by channel.
Weekly total row with channel-level subtotals
5 arc-gauge summary tiles — one per channel plus total
Consistent neon colour coding across all gauge metrics
Nando's brand mark and +84% performance uplift card
03 — Light Theme Variant
A clean light mode for daytime and accessibility use cases
White-card layout
Each KPI in its own white card for bright environments.
Consistent colour system
Neon gauge colours retained — instant channel recognition across both themes without relearning.
Accessible contrast
Dark typography on white cards ensures WCAG AA compliance — important for kitchen environments with variable glare.
Summary
Overview
A real-time restaurant dashboard for forecasting revenue, labour and channel performance.
Challenge
Managers needed one screen for KPIs, forecast accuracy and channel performance.
Solution
A dual-theme dashboard with week-at-a-glance forecasts and neon KPI gauges — 26% better accuracy.
Key Results
04 — User Testing
Kitchen-floor validation — readability and speed under pressure
Testing recreated restaurant conditions — low light, time pressure and split attention.
Simulated kitchen-floor sessions
Tablet mounted in low light, measuring how fast GMs read forecasts.
Scenario-based decision testing
Dinner rush, 30 minutes out — exposed the Patrao labelling gap.
Dark vs light theme preference testing
Dark preferred at service; light for morning planning.
Key Outcomes
26%
forecast accuracy gain — earlier in-week adjustments
Gauge labels
renamed to 'Target Accuracy' for clarity
Dark mode
preferred during service; light for planning
KPI gauges
misread at distance — larger type, wider arcs
Weekly total row
most-checked — repositioned for service
Methodology
Design System
Nando's Dashboard — bold data in the Nando's palette
A dual-theme system for kitchen and front-of-house readability — neon data colours for instant KPI recognition, brand red for authority.
Colour Palette
Nando's Red
#C8102E
Primary brand, navigation bar, key CTAs, header accents
Carbon Dark
#141414
Dark theme background — primary page surface
Card Surface
#1F1F1F
Dark theme card backgrounds, panel surfaces
Neon Teal
#00D4C8
Eat In channel, Projected revenue line, gauge arcs
Neon Purple
#8B5CF6
Actual revenue line, secondary gauge metric
Neon Cyan
#00BFFF
Patrao target line, third gauge metric
Neon Magenta
#FF2D78
Delivery channel indicator, alert states
Off White
#F5F5F5
Light theme card backgrounds, text on dark surfaces
Typography Scale
48px / 700w
KPI Value
Arc-gauge metric values, weekly totals
20px / 600w
Chart Title
Section headings, gauge labels, table headers
14px / 400w
Data Body
Table row data, channel names, timestamps
13px / 500w
Mono Figures
Revenue values, percentage changes — tabular mono
11px / 500w
Label / Tag
Channel pills, legend labels, status badges
Core Components
Arc Gauge Tile
Circular KPI tile with neon arc, bold value and channel hue.
Multi-line Forecast Chart
Week chart with colour-coded pills and inline adjust CTA.
Daily Breakdown Table
Day rows, channel columns and highlighted today row.
Tab Navigation
Tabs with brand red active indicator.
Dark / Light Theme Toggle
Global switcher persisted to preferences.
Downloadable Report Button
Inline export generating a weekly PDF.
"The dashboard gives us complete visibility — the dark theme works perfectly in kitchens."
Leo Fernandes
Operations Director, Nando's