Designing an Efficient B2B Dashboard: Key Strategies and Real-World Insights

1. Understanding the Workbench

1.1 Definition of a Workbench

A workbench is essentially a "work surface" whose core purpose is to increase efficiency, helping users quickly enter a productive state.

1.2 Characteristics of a Workbench

In B‑side products, a workbench displays concise, user‑relevant summary information—previous work status, current task progress, and upcoming plans—to improve overall efficiency.

Typical Workbench Types

Functional Aggregation

Platforms like DingTalk and Feishu aggregate many functions, offering broad applicability. The design challenge is to help users quickly locate needed functions, often by highlighting frequently used tools or providing customizable shortcuts and a comprehensive search.

Data‑Intensive

Data analysis platforms (e.g., Sensors Data, Growing.io) use extensive visualizations to convey key information, supporting user decisions. Designers must choose appropriate charts and handle details so complex data relationships are clear across scenarios.

Strong Business

Platforms with multiple roles and complex scenarios lack a single obvious pattern. By reviewing competitors, common functional modules can be listed for reference.

Key Modules

To‑Do Items : Remind users of pending tasks, often with quantitative cues; can be accessed via pop‑ups to avoid deep navigation.

Common Functions : Quick‑access shortcuts for frequently used features, customizable per user habits.

Core Business Data Overview : Presented as numbers or visual charts (e.g., order count, payment amount, visitor stats) to aid strategic decisions.

Announcements : Centralized display of system or enterprise notices for quick user awareness.

Marketing & Promotion : Slots for new feature or product promotion, ranging from banner ads to text links.

Personal Information : For multi‑role platforms, clear identity and role indicators help users switch contexts efficiently.

2. Design Analysis of the Workbench

Case study: Jiujiang Enterprise Online Banking, a strong‑business platform. The design process followed the typical workbench modules identified earlier.

2.1 Clarify Design Goals

Through workshops with business stakeholders and benchmark analysis, the core narrative of the page was defined: identify the main focus, pinpoint interest points to engage users, and outline extension points for deeper interaction.

2.2 Define User Segmentation

Users were divided into new and existing groups. For Jiujiang Bank, a simple two‑tier segmentation (new vs. old users) was adopted due to limited user volume.

2.3 Extract Segment Characteristics

Key traits for each segment were identified. In this B‑side platform, roles such as "owner" and "finance staff" were the primary personas.

2.4 Build Information Architecture

Based on the narrative and user segmentation, a hierarchy of functional modules was established, prioritizing information that aligns with each role’s needs.

2.5 Specific Design Points

Owner – New User : Streamline initial permission setup with guided tasks, reducing learning cost.

Owner – Existing User : Present key business metrics (e.g., top‑10 transactions, balance overview) via charts to support decision‑making.

Finance – New User : Highlight critical data and provide quick‑access shortcuts, allowing users to customize common functions for faster task completion.

Finance – Existing User : Use metric‑based to‑do items to clarify progress, and enable personalized shortcuts for efficient workflow.

3. Conclusion

Optimizing a B‑side workbench requires aligning the design with platform tone and user characteristics, aiming to boost efficiency and satisfy core user value points.

The above outlines the complete process for B‑side workbench design; readers are encouraged to share their own insights.