Overview
Operations is a core team that handles competition logistics and preparation, ensuring that competition planning runs smoothly from planning through execution. This includes coordinating transportation & accommodations, managing documents, and more. This initiative aims to centralize all operations-related information within FinishLine, streamlining logistical workflows and making competition information readily accessible to necessary members across the team.
Stakeholders
Product Stakeholder: @risahilinski , @pallavishankarr, @jiyaabhan, @prachaseris-max, @naishahmistry
Software Stakeholder: @walker-sean , @chpy04
Reference Users: William Laroche, Samuel Ehlers, Lauren Cummings
User Story
- As a general member, I want to see my assigned transportation group, accommodation group, and personal competition schedule, so I know exactly where I need to be and when, reducing confusion during competition travel.
- As a project lead/team lead, I want to see transportation, accommodation, and scheduling details for my team, so I can ensure all members are accounted for and prepared for competition logistics.
- As an operations member, I want a high-level view of all competition logistics so I can quickly identify gaps, conflicts, or missing information before competition.
- As a member in any role, I want access to all competition-related documents with clear status indicators so I know what documents still need attention and what has already been finalized.
- As an operations member/admin, I want to track which competition documents are not started so nothing is missed before competition deadlines.
Success Metrics
The success of the operations dashboard will be evident when competition logistics and preparation can be managed efficiently within FinishLine. This includes centralizing competition documents, organizing transportation and accommodation information, and reducing last minute confusion by ensuring all members have real-time visibility into competition details, deadlines, and responsibilities.
Rollout Plan
This feature is projected to complete the design process by Dec. 20, 2025, and will be released to the development team in January 2026. The Operations Team and E-Board will be asked to test this feature in May 2026. This feature is expected to be fully adopted by Fall 2026 to prepare for the 2027 FHE/FSAE Competitions.
Out of Scope
One aspect that was outside the scope of this project was directly concatenating all the files into a PDF from FinishLine, as most competition documents are saved as Word documents in our team's SharePoint and must be reviewed by the Operations team to ensure accuracy.
Background / Context
NER’s Operations Team currently relies on fragmented tools and communication channels to manage competition logistics, resulting in decentralized information around transportation, accommodations, schedules, and required documentation. Critical details are often scattered across Slack messages, spreadsheets, and shared drives, making it difficult for members to quickly find up-to-date information and understand their individual responsibilities. This has led to confusion around travel groups, accommodation assignments, competition timelines, and the status of required documents, especially as deadlines approach.
To centralize competition logistics and make operational information easily accessible within FinishLine, this initiative introduces a comprehensive operations dashboard. The dashboard provides a unified view of transportation and accommodation details, a calendar view of competition schedules, and document management with clear status indicators. Additionally, members can view their specific transportation and accommodation groups along with a personalized calendar of their responsibilities, reducing miscommunication, improving preparedness, and ensuring smoother competition execution.
Acceptance Criteria & Mock-ups
Overview
Operations is a core team that handles competition logistics and preparation, ensuring that competition planning runs smoothly from planning through execution. This includes coordinating transportation & accommodations, managing documents, and more. This initiative aims to centralize all operations-related information within FinishLine, streamlining logistical workflows and making competition information readily accessible to necessary members across the team.
Stakeholders
Product Stakeholder: @risahilinski , @pallavishankarr, @jiyaabhan, @prachaseris-max, @naishahmistry
Software Stakeholder: @walker-sean , @chpy04
Reference Users: William Laroche, Samuel Ehlers, Lauren Cummings
User Story
Success Metrics
The success of the operations dashboard will be evident when competition logistics and preparation can be managed efficiently within FinishLine. This includes centralizing competition documents, organizing transportation and accommodation information, and reducing last minute confusion by ensuring all members have real-time visibility into competition details, deadlines, and responsibilities.
Rollout Plan
This feature is projected to complete the design process by Dec. 20, 2025, and will be released to the development team in January 2026. The Operations Team and E-Board will be asked to test this feature in May 2026. This feature is expected to be fully adopted by Fall 2026 to prepare for the 2027 FHE/FSAE Competitions.
Out of Scope
One aspect that was outside the scope of this project was directly concatenating all the files into a PDF from FinishLine, as most competition documents are saved as Word documents in our team's SharePoint and must be reviewed by the Operations team to ensure accuracy.
Background / Context
NER’s Operations Team currently relies on fragmented tools and communication channels to manage competition logistics, resulting in decentralized information around transportation, accommodations, schedules, and required documentation. Critical details are often scattered across Slack messages, spreadsheets, and shared drives, making it difficult for members to quickly find up-to-date information and understand their individual responsibilities. This has led to confusion around travel groups, accommodation assignments, competition timelines, and the status of required documents, especially as deadlines approach.
To centralize competition logistics and make operational information easily accessible within FinishLine, this initiative introduces a comprehensive operations dashboard. The dashboard provides a unified view of transportation and accommodation details, a calendar view of competition schedules, and document management with clear status indicators. Additionally, members can view their specific transportation and accommodation groups along with a personalized calendar of their responsibilities, reducing miscommunication, improving preparedness, and ensuring smoother competition execution.
Acceptance Criteria & Mock-ups