view-modes
sidebar_position: 41 title: "View Modes" description: "Switch between operator, team leader, manager, and executive view modes to adapt the ProBeya interface complexity to your role and daily workflow."
View Modes
View Modes let each user switch ProBeya's interface to match their role and daily workflow. Rather than showing every feature to every user at all times, the platform adapts its layout, navigation, and visible capabilities based on the selected mode. A shift operator working a production board needs a very different interface from a PMO director reviewing cross-portfolio status.
Four modes are available: Operator, Team Leader, Manager, and Executive. Each is persisted per user per organization, so a user who belongs to multiple organizations can have a different mode in each.
Overview
SaaS platforms typically offer a single interface and let users ignore the parts that are not relevant to them. This works when the feature surface is small. ProBeya covers the full stack of operational management — from floor-level SQCDP boards to portfolio governance to compliance reporting. A single interface that surfaces all of this simultaneously creates cognitive overload for users whose daily work touches only a fraction of it.
View Modes solve this by making the interface an adaptive layer over a consistent data model. The underlying data, permissions, and capabilities do not change — only the UX surface changes. A team leader and an executive looking at the same board see the same KPI values, but the team leader sees the action management toolbar and the executive sees the strategic summary view.
Organization administrators can set a default mode that applies to new users and users who have not configured a personal preference.
Getting Started
- Click your user avatar or name in the navigation bar.
- Select Switch View Mode from the menu.
- Choose the mode that matches your current role and workflow.
- The interface adapts immediately — no page reload required.
- Your selection is saved automatically and persists across sessions.
To revert, repeat the process and select a different mode.
Any user can switch to any mode at any time. View modes are a UX convenience, not a security boundary. Access control is governed by workspace membership and admin roles, not by the view mode setting. Switch freely to see how your colleagues experience the same data.
Key Concepts
View mode — A named UX profile that controls interface layout, navigation complexity, and visible feature sets. The four modes form a spectrum from task-focused simplicity (operator) to strategic overview (executive).
Per-organization preference — A user's view mode is stored per organization. Switching modes in one organization does not affect the user's mode in any other organization they belong to.
Organization default — The mode applied to new users or users who have not set a personal preference. Set by organization administrators. If no default is configured, the system falls back to team_leader.
Dashboard layout — An optional per-user configuration of which widgets appear on the home dashboard and in what arrangement. Can be saved alongside the view mode for a fully personalized starting view.
Sidebar configuration — An optional per-user configuration of which navigation items appear in the sidebar, their order, and whether the sidebar is collapsed by default.
Default page — An optional setting that redirects the user to a specific page on login rather than the default home view.
How It Works
The Four Modes
Operator
Designed for shift operators, technicians, and frontline workers whose daily interaction with ProBeya is task-focused: running routines, scanning equipment barcodes, recording checklist results, reviewing assigned actions, and updating SQCDP boards.
The Operator layout (OperatorLayout) simplifies the interface significantly:
- Navigation is reduced to the user's assigned tasks and boards
- Portfolio, governance, and analytics features are hidden from the navigation
- The primary view is the current shift's task list and the production board
- Large touch targets support tablet and mobile use on the shop floor
Team Leader
The default mode for most operational users. Designed for shift leaders, team coordinators, and cell managers who run daily TIER 1 meetings, manage open actions, escalate issues, and track team-level KPI trends.
The Team Leader layout (TeamLeaderLayout) provides:
- Full access to the project board and action log
- TIER meeting facilitation tools
- KPI entry and trend review
- Problem-solving and Kaizen submission
- Escalation management
- Simplified access to resource planning and checklists
Manager
Designed for department managers, plant directors, and OpEx coordinators who work across multiple teams. The manager mode surfaces cross-team portfolio views, approval workflows, and operational analytics alongside the team-level capabilities.
The Manager layout uses the standard interface with additional emphasis on:
- Cross-board portfolio views
- Approval queues
- Analytics and benchmarking dashboards
- Resource utilization across teams
- Program and milestone tracking
Executive
Designed for C-level and senior leadership roles who interact with ProBeya primarily through dashboards, strategic KPI reviews, and governance reporting. The Executive mode hides the operational detail and surfaces high-level summaries.
The Executive layout emphasizes:
- Balanced scorecard views
- Strategic KPI dashboards
- Portfolio health overview
- Executive presentations and reports
- No access to task-level operational boards (unless the user drills down deliberately)
Persistence and Fallback
View modes are stored using an upsert pattern in the userViewPreferences table, keyed by (userId, organizationId). This means:
- The first time a user sets a mode, a new record is created
- Subsequent changes update the existing record in a single atomic operation
- There is no risk of duplicate preferences for the same user/org combination
If a user's preference record does not exist (new user, or preference was never set), the system returns null from the get procedure. The client falls back to the organization default (retrieved via getOrgDefault), or to team_leader if no organizational default has been set.
Organization Default
Organization administrators set the default view mode using setOrgDefault. The default:
- Is owned directly by the tenant as
organizations.default_view_mode - Defaults to
team_leaderfor existing and newly created organizations - Never creates a fake user or bypasses the
userViewPreferences.userIdforeign key
The organizational default affects:
- New users who have not yet set a personal preference
- Users whose personal preference record was deleted
It does not override a user's existing personal preference.
Dashboard Layout and Sidebar Configuration
Beyond the mode selection, users can persist a custom widget arrangement for their home dashboard and a custom sidebar configuration (which items are visible, their order, whether the sidebar is collapsed). These are stored as JSONB alongside the view mode in the same preference record.
Both are optional power-user features — the defaults for each mode provide a sensible starting layout that most users will not need to customize.
Configuration
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| View mode | One of operator, team_leader, manager, executive |
| Dashboard layout | Optional JSON describing widget positions and visibility |
| Sidebar config | Optional JSON describing navigation item order and visibility |
| Default page | Optional URL path to redirect to on login |
Permissions
| Action | Required Role |
|---|---|
| View and switch personal mode | Any organization member |
| Save dashboard layout | Any organization member |
| Save sidebar configuration | Any organization member |
| Set organization default mode | Organization admin or owner |
The setOrgDefault procedure requires the server-enforced manage_settings permission and updates only the organization from the authenticated tenant context. Personal mode switching requires only authentication and membership — no admin role is needed.
Tips & Best Practices
team_leader is the most broadly useful starting point for operational teams. It provides full access to daily management capabilities without overwhelming new users with portfolio and governance features. Operators can switch to operator mode after their first session if they prefer the simplified layout.
If you are presenting ProBeya during a steering committee or board review meeting, switch to executive mode first. This removes the operational navigation clutter from the screen share and focuses attention on the strategic dashboards and KPI summaries that the audience cares about.
For devices permanently mounted at production stations (tablets, kiosk screens), set the view mode to operator and configure a default page pointing to the relevant production board. When the user logs in, they land directly on their board with no navigation required.
Switching to executive mode does not grant access to data that the user's membership role does not permit. Similarly, switching to operator mode does not restrict a workspace admin from accessing admin features — they remain accessible. Use workspace membership roles and organization permissions to control data access; use view modes to control UX complexity.
Related Features
- KPI Boards — the board view adapts to the active view mode, showing different toolbars and detail levels
- Analytics — analytics access and depth varies by view mode
- Executive Presentations — primary content surface for executive mode users
- Operating Model — organizational structure configuration that informs team leader and manager mode views