🗂️ Admin Dashboard / Starter / Lists — Design Audit
Superseded — 2026-07-24
The Starter and Import screen descriptions below are superseded by Program Masterplan as of 2026-08-02: neither is a registered page any more, their legacy routes redirect to Dashboard help and Settings portability, the current Dashboard consumes the shared
AdminStatisticsrail and active admin token layer, and the standalone starter stylesheet is dormant. Original H1 sizes, list geometry, hero metrics and rubric grades were not browser-remeasured and remain 2026-07-24 evidence. Preserved as observed.
TL;DR
Three different admin personalities: Starter is a marketing hero (50px/760), Dashboard is a calm empty-state cockpit, Lists are stock WP tables with violet accents bolted on. Empty-state CTAs are good; metric cards are visually quiet (transparent bg, 13px). Shell tokens (
--qw-admin-*) and Starter tokens (--qw-starter-*) are yet more forks. Grade: B+ starter · B dashboard · C lists · D token unity.
- surfaces:
admin.php?page=qw-dashboard·qw-get-started·qw-import·edit.php?post_type=qw_quiz|qw_question - files:
qwizz-admin-dashboard.css·qwizz-admin-starter.css·qwizz-admin-shell.css·qwizz-admin-import.css·ListTables.php
🧭 Rubric scores (1–5)
| Lens | Score | One-line |
|---|---|---|
| Visual hierarchy | 3 | Starter nails it; dashboard H1 26/400 weaker than list H1 25/720 |
| IA / progressive disclosure | 4 | Dashboard tools accordion; starter → next-step band; import 3-step scent |
| Information scent | 4 | Empty states point to Starter / create; import dual-path clear |
| Chrome-less / content-first | 2 | Full WP admin chrome; plugin content fights the shell |
| Hook paths & density | 4 | Starter one-click library is the best hook in admin |
| Visual weight & Gestalt | 3 | Metric row equal weight; no hero metric |
| AR / rhythm | 3 | Dashboard paddings varied (19); starter deliberate |
| Art direction | 4 | Starter hero + floating icons = clear AD; dashboard quieter |
| Design-token discipline | 1 | --qw-admin-* + --qw-starter-* + per-file --qw-brand drift |
| Affordances & signifiers | 4 | Purple primary “Quiz erstellen”; outlined secondary “Neue Frage” |
| Fitts / Hicks | 3 | Header dual CTAs OK; list empty CTA good size |
| Hover-intent vs instant | 2 | Shell: 0 transitions; dashboard 1; starter 2 — dry |
| Escape hatches | 3 | WP back-nav; starter “nothing auto-published” reassurance |
| Micro-interactions / continuity | 2 | Almost no motion; copy-shortcode is the rare juice |
🔬 Live-verified findings
| # | Finding | Sev | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Metric cards under-signal | 🟠 | .qwizz-metric live: 289×68, bg:rgba(0,0,0,0), fs:13px; four zeros look like placeholders, not a cockpit |
| A2 | Hierarchy mismatch across admin pages | 🟠 | Dashboard H1 26px/400 vs Lists H1 25px/720 vs Starter H1 50px/760 — three type systems |
| A3 | Token fork farm | 🔴 | Shell --qw-admin-brand:#6546d7; dashboard --qw-brand:#6546d7 / ink #182230; starter --qw-starter-violet:#5b35d5 / ink #17152b; subjects --qw-brand:#6d4aff — four “brand” violets |
| A4 | List tables = WP native + violet bolt-ons | 🟡 | No .qwizz-dashboard shell on list pages (hasShell:false); filters dense; empty CTA good (“Frage erstellen”) but table chrome stays WP |
| A5 | Starter is the design north star | ✅ | Hero 1143×441 pad 48/52; metrics 4196/4/108/6; clear primary; “Nichts wird automatisch veröffentlicht” trust scent |
| A6 | Import IA is clean | ✅ | 3-step indicator; dual columns (JSON pack vs offline library); disabled primary until file chosen |
🩹 Prioritized fixes
- 🔴 Adopt one admin brand token set (see tokens-palette); kill
--qw-starter-*/--qw-admin-*forks via aliases - 🟠 Give metrics a soft card bg + larger numeral (e.g. 28/700) so empty cockpit still has weight
- 🟠 Normalize H1 treatment across dashboard/lists/settings (one size/weight)
- 🟡 Extend shell transitions (hover lift on metrics/cards) — currently 0 in
qwizz-admin-shell.css - Keep Starter hero AD; optionally deep-link empty dashboard primary into it more strongly
🔗 Anchors
- live: Dashboard · Starter · Import
- related: settings · tokens-palette
2026-07-30 superseded screen status
qw-get-startedandqw-importno longer exist as separate pages: only Dashboard and Settings are registered and ordered (includes/Admin/AdminMenu.php:23-50,65-75); legacy requests redirect to Dashboard help and Settings Advanced portability respectively (includes/Admin/AdminMenu.php:118-136). The 2026-07-24 anchors above remain historical audit evidence.
- auditor: live admin screenshots + computed styles 2026-07-24