Situation

Our team needed a more efficient way to track and manage the growing number of models being prepared for deployment. Each model arrived at a different stage of readiness — some had complete artifacts, others were waiting on runtime features or PEF readiness — creating bottlenecks in PR merging and packaging. Everything funneled through engineering, which didn't scale.

Task

Develop a self-service dashboard that would allow various teams to track and update model checkpoints independently, reducing reliance on engineering resources. Despite having limited frontend experience, I owned the project end-to-end.

Actions

• Started with a detailed design document outlining the UI layout and user experience, prioritizing clarity and accessibility for non-engineering stakeholders.
• Built an initial prototype using JavaScript and Tailwind CSS, presented it to the team for early feedback.
• Incorporated advice from a senior frontend engineer who recommended adopting Material UI for a more robust component library and migrating to Next.js for better performance and scalability.
• Switched the stack to Next.js and MUI, and iteratively refined the interface through several rounds of team feedback.

Result

The dashboard was well-received and quickly became a go-to tool for the product, PM, and SRE teams. It meaningfully reduced deployment friction and gave teams the self-sufficiency to manage model artifacts without engineering involvement. It also marked a significant step in my own growth as a frontend engineer.