✺ Case study

Expert Leave Management — Designing a Dashboard for Users & Managers

"How can an ERP system make requesting and approving leave as simple as a few clicks?" That was the challenge behind Expert Leave Management, a dedicated module of the Expert Business Solutions ERP platform. The project required building two dashboards — one for employees and one for managers — with different levels of access, features, and workflows.

Year

2024

Client

Expert Business Solutions

Scope of work

I worked as the UX and UI designer for the leave management feature, designing role-specific dashboards for employees and managers within the ERP system.

Expert Leave Management Dashboard

The Challenge

Leave management is a critical HR function, but in many systems it's slow, confusing, or inconsistent across devices. Our goal was to design a responsive dashboard application that:

  • Allows employees to easily request, track, and view their leave balances
  • Equips managers with tools to review requests, approve/reject efficiently, and monitor team availability
  • Fits seamlessly into the Expert Business Solutions ERP system — using its existing brand colors, typography, and design standards

My Role

I worked as the UX and UI designer for the leave management feature. My responsibilities included:

  • Understanding user roles (employees vs. managers) and mapping workflows
  • Designing wireframes and high-fidelity dashboards
  • Ensuring responsive design for mobile, tablet, and desktop
  • Applying the company's established design system — color palette, typography, and component styles
Leave Management Dashboard Design

The Process

Research & Role Mapping

  • Analyzed HR leave processes and existing ERP workflows
  • Defined the different needs of employees and managers

Wireframing

  • Created role-specific layouts for leave request forms, approval queues, and summary dashboards

UI Design

  • Applied Expert Business Solutions' brand colors and typography for consistency
  • Built visual hierarchy to make important actions (e.g., "Request Leave" or "Approve") immediately visible

Responsive Adaptation

  • Designed for all device types so users could manage leave requests anytime, anywhere
  • Simplified mobile flows for quick actions, while keeping the desktop view richer for detailed analysis

Obstacles

Balancing simplicity with detail

  • Employees needed a clean, simple interface, while managers required advanced filtering and overview tools

Consistency across ERP modules

  • The design had to feel like part of the wider ERP system without losing clarity

The Outcome

The final design delivered:

  • A user dashboard with leave request submission, balance tracking, and status updates
  • A manager dashboard with approval workflows, team calendars, and leave analytics
  • A responsive, multi-device design fitting seamlessly into the Expert ERP ecosystem
  • A scalable design system that can extend to other HR or ERP modules

Reflection

This project showed me how role-based design is critical in enterprise tools. By tailoring dashboards to the specific needs of employees and managers, we created a system that saves time, reduces confusion, and supports HR transparency.