How we rewrote the outdated admin panel for the Quest network

«Locked up / Sherlock» is a network of quest rooms with online booking, sale of certificates and centralized management of orders and locations.

At the start of the project, the business was already actively operating: several dozen locations, more than 1,000 orders per month, and about 10 administrators and managers who worked daily in the system.

However, the entire operating system was based on an outdated admin panel, which eventually became the main obstacle to development.

The old admin panel was written on an ancient and inconvenient stack that was almost impossible to develop.:

• The frontend was implemented in the backend language.
• the codebase did not allow for the safe addition of functionality
• extremely weak UX/UI — employees spent a lot of time on simple operations
• The system was not designed to scale
• normal analytics were missing

In fact, the business was growing, and the internal management system remained at the startup level from the last decade.

The task was not just to «rewrite the admin panel», but:

• reduce the manual work of administrators
• reduce the number of errors in orders
• speed up the processing of bookings and certificates
• create a framework for scaling the network
• establish proper analytics and control

In essence, it’s about turning a chaotic operating system into a manageable product.

It was:

• outdated stack
• the impossibility of development without the risk of breakdowns
• confusing interface
• lack of analytics
• poor scalability

Become:

• modern stack: Laravel+ Vue.js
• clean architecture
• thoughtful UX for administrators
• unified order and location management system
• full-fledged analytics

willingness to grow the network

The project started as a technical one: it was just necessary to make a «normal front».
But in the process, it became clear that without a full-fledged UX/UI and product logic, the system would still remain inconvenient.

We have switched to a product-based approach.:

• first, we figured out the business logic
• we have restored the real work scenarios of the administrators
• we have designed interfaces for real processes
• implemented the system on a modern stack

Product and UX:

• all major scenarios have been redesigned:
• creating and processing orders
• location management
• certificate management
• working with clients
• minimized the number of clicks for typical operations
• roles and accesses are separated

Design:

• a completely new admin interface
• The emphasis is on speed and clarity, not on visual effects.
• logical navigation
• convenient tables and filters
• normal data hierarchy

Technologies:

• backend: Laravel
• frontend: Vue.js
• custom architecture without box solutions

pure business logic without legacy dependencies

The project was implemented by a team of three people: a designer, a full-stack developer and a project manager.

The work was carried out under conditions of constant changes in requirements:

• initially, the design was not planned at all
• in the process, it became clear that the system would not take off without UX
• The requirements were constantly updated
• at the same time, I had to figure out the old logic of the project

In fact, we first restored the product «in our head», and then implemented it in code.

The main difficulties in the project:

• complex and unobvious business logic
• lack of documentation on the old system
• chaos in the requirements
• a large number of edits
• high uncertainty

It was not a typical project, but a real product.

The project has given the business a real operational effect:

• administrators began to work faster
• the number of errors has decreased
• there is a full-fledged analytics
• network management has become centralized
• processes have become transparent and manageable

The client was satisfied and left a review.
Later, the paths diverged, but the product was implemented and actually used in business.

Instead of the outdated admin panel, the client received:

• a modern internal system
• managed architecture
• transparent processes
• ready to scale
• the foundation for the development of the network

In fact, it was a transition from a chaotic operating system to a full-fledged digital product within the business.

Why did it work?:

• We didn’t just rewrite the code, we figured out the business.
• real scenarios have been restored
• we made the system for people, not for developers
• we have chosen a modern stack
• weren’t afraid to change the requirements as the project progressed