Kim Lawlor
All Case Studies
Power UsersInteraction DesignAccessibilityFintech

Command Line / Command Palette

Designing a keyboard-first command interface that gives power users fast, direct access to tools and actions across QSWeb.

Role
Senior Product Designer
Year
2025
Status
Live

Prototype

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Loading commands…
01

Challenge

Core actions in QSWeb required navigating multiple menus, slowing down experienced users.

Power users relied on clicking through modules, searching long lists, and configuring workspaces to perform actions. This created friction in a fast-paced environment where speed and precision matter. There was no centralized way to access tools or execute actions quickly, especially for keyboard-driven users. The challenge was introducing a faster interaction model without disrupting existing workflows or overwhelming users with complexity.

02

Approach

Designed a command-driven interface to enable fast, keyboard-first interaction across the product.

Introduced a global command palette that allows users to access tools, navigate, and trigger actions from anywhere in QSWeb. Focused on making the system predictable and low-friction, with minimal steps between intent and action. Designed to balance speed for power users with discoverability for less experienced users.

Designed the palette as a global overlay, accessible via hotkeys or header entry.
Prioritized keyboard-first interaction while supporting mouse input.
Limited suggestions to 5 items to reduce cognitive load, following Hick's Law.
Displayed recent and suggested commands before input to improve discoverability.
Ranked results by closest match, with a clear best match indicator.
Reduced results to a small set — typically top 3 — to keep scanning fast.
Enabled contextual commands (e.g. 'res msft') to combine search and action in one step.
Provided fallback suggestions when no match is found to guide recovery.
Ensured commands do not disrupt existing workspace layouts.
Included a help surface for full command visibility without overloading the main UI.
03

Outcome

Created a faster, low-friction way to navigate and act within QSWeb.

Users can now open tools, search symbols, and trigger actions in a single step without navigating menus or modifying their workspace. The system introduces a scalable interaction layer that can expand to support more advanced commands over time.

Gallery

Command palette help view listing all available commands by category
Command palette resolving a contextual command to open a symbol's research page
Underlying workspace layout with watchlist, chart, and positions panels

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