Dashboard Card Simplification

Date: 2026-06-28 Status: implemented

Context

Arijit challenged the dashboard side cards because they competed with the primary finding and made the page feel like a collection of system metrics instead of a usable competitive brief.

The rejected cards were:

• Hero-side score card: archived briefs, findings surfaced, battlecard updates.
• Separate reliability card.
• Separate archive count card.
• Separate collector context/source mix card.

Decision

The dashboard should make the primary finding and its evidence hierarchy dominant:

1. What happened.
2. Why it matters.
3. Recommended response.
4. Evidence.

System metadata should support trust, not compete with the brief.

Changes Implemented

• Removed the hero-side score card.
• Renamed the right rail from "Reliability" to "Data limits".
• Merged archive coverage into the Data limits panel.
• Removed the standalone "Archive count" panel.
• Removed the standalone "Collector context" panel.
• Moved the Scout/HTTP/RSS source mix behind "Show collection details".
• Added static verification that retired UX copy does not return:
• Attention queue.
• Mock findings.
• Accept posture.
• Assign review.
• Ask for proof.
• Archive count.
• Collector context.
• scorebox.

Rationale

The page is not a monitoring dashboard yet. It is a competitive brief built from a sparse real archive. The first screen should answer "what happened and why should I care?" before showing operational context.

The data limits still matter, but they now explain confidence after the reader understands the finding.

Verification

• npm run dashboard:build passed.
• npm run test passed with 18 tests.
• Rejected UX copy check passed.
• Desktop screenshot reviewed.
• True 390px Chrome emulation reported scrollWidth=390 and no overflowing elements.
• Vault dashboard artifact synced at artifacts/competitive-research/dashboard/index.html.