Dashboard Discovery
Discovery research with 7 major studios validated a unified dashboard concept for Entertainment Partners — defining two distinct views, securing 100% stakeholder buy-in, and shaping the product roadmap.
Who benefits from a unified dashboard
The concept validated across studio sizes and roles — different views, same backbone.
Benefit most from a portfolio-level executive view — comparing performance across many productions at once.
Benefit from a single-show instance that absorbs multi-show concepts like vendor payments.
Gain visibility into the data driving their areas of responsibility — maximizing budget accuracy against realized tax incentives.
Both groups responded positively to the dashboard solution presented; the concept validated across studio sizes and roles.
What we set out to learn
- 01Identify current workflows for how studios gather information across productions.
- 02Discover studios' internal and integrated technology solutions.
- 03Determine the viability of EP's proposed dashboard solution — is this a meaningful addition?
- 04Understand cadence and priorities for designing the dashboard — mobile-first vs. web.
- 05Uncover other business opportunities satisfied by EP technology.
How the sessions ran
Client research sessions led across 7 major studios with 12 stakeholders.
Participants answered questions on workflow, tools, and pain points.
UX artifacts presented mid-session to capture reactions to two dashboard views.
Interview notes and recordings synthesized into a unified findings report.
12 stakeholders across 7 studios
The reality before the dashboard
A reactive, manual loop — every studio rebuilding the same view in Excel each week.
Reactive vs. proactive — "Running to the building on fire right now." — Lionsgate
Workflow automation to reduce accountants' time spent on decision making.
Oversee software selection and contracts for production. Manage production and hiring crew.
Hybrid, flexible remote work and occasional site visits — combating increasing volume with limited staff.
Compile weekly cost reports into a consolidated spreadsheet.
Consolidate top 10 vendors as a view to vendor spend across portfolio.
Develop a personal tagging system for each state's tax incentives.
Format, organize, and print reports for quick synopsis.
Extract variance and patterns from extensive general ledger comparative search.
Hold meetings to discuss ways to track information in a meaningful way.
What the data made clear
Users endure visual and cognitive overload from processing operational and analytical information at once.
A birds-eye view of overall KPIs enables proactive problem solving. Variances and pattern outliers surface actionable insights.
Filter and data drill-down functionality are critical attributes for analysis across portfolios and individual shows.
Which view serves which role
In their own words
If I had a time machine, can we bring this from the future into now?
Bridging the gap between what we believe is happening and what may be happening would be ideal.
I think it would be a big benefit for me — how can we use this information to help better inform the path forward.
One thing that's eye-opening stepping into my role is how limited data we have, and how much we actually need.
Having these suites of products, it's putting a lot of pressure and added resource needs… to have a gatekeeper type of role.
The widgets that I need today, that I need to compare today, are not the same as tomorrow.
What's blocking the work today
- 01Difficulty finding patterns in problematic financial and production areas.
- 02No centralized location to compare data across shows or seasons.
- 03Manual reconciliation between cost reports, cash flow, and hot costs.
- 04Weekly cost report exports into Excel for further manipulation.
- 05Extensive filtering and formatting needed to extract meaningful data.
- 01Information overload across operational and analytical layers.
- 02Inconsistent data — accountants frequently request contract updates from EP and are unaware of missing information until payroll entry.
- 03No way to control email notifications or surface what actually requires attention.
- 04Different users have different analytical needs — one layout cannot serve all roles.
- 05Dashboard aggregation depends on accountant accuracy at the show level; in-process information does not appear.
- 06Top Vendor Spending visualizations skew when viewed across multiple shows.
Where the dashboard creates leverage
Compare seasons within a series and shows across a portfolio.
One landing page consolidating all EP applications and approvals.
Surface what needs attention across SmartStart, SmartHub, SmartPO, and more.
Roll-ups of cost reports, hot costs, vendor spend, and exceptions.
Track budget accuracy against realized tax savings through incentives.
From validation to product
- 01Complete and phase wireframes for a seamless viewable dashboard.
- 02Engage development partners to validate technical feasibility of the proposed views.
- 03Create and complete visual design documentation based on wireframes.