SmartShift Planner
A multi-tenant SaaS for staff shift scheduling in the beauty industry — it replaces Excel, WhatsApp and the in-store whiteboard with a tool built around how a beauty salon actually works.
The problem
Beauty and nail salon owners plan staff shifts by hand — an Excel sheet, a WhatsApp group, a whiteboard in the shop. The process is slow, error-prone (overlapping shifts, missing skills, staff over their hour limits) and has to be rebuilt from scratch every week.
The solution
A single app that brings shifts, staff and skills together, built as a multi-tenant SaaS: each client business has its data fully isolated on the same infrastructure. Three access levels cover the entire organization.
Scheduling and day-to-day management
Shifts, requests, time off
Multi-organization, support, backups
Design highlights
More than looks: every interface decision prevents a specific scheduling mistake.
Assisted scheduling, not just a calendar
The weekly view automatically flags time conflicts, hour limits being exceeded, absences and binding employee requests — instead of letting mistakes surface only after the fact. The experimental "AI Schedule" feature drafts a weekly shift plan with Gemini, with the model call isolated on the server.
Monthly analysis that spots imbalances
A dedicated view compares workload across employees and automatically flags conflicts between planned shifts and declared availability, before they become a problem in the shop.
Smart staff suggestions
When creating a shift, the system suggests the best-fitting employees based on required skills, availability and hours already assigned.
Real accessibility
Focus management, keyboard navigation, WCAG AA color contrast and always-visible states — part of the design process, not bolted on afterward.
Full dark mode
On every screen, charts included — see the comparison below.
Light and dark, crafted with equal care
Even the charts keep their colors in sync across both themes, canvas included.
Tech stack
Frontend
Backend
Server-side functions
Charts & Deployment
My role
SmartShift Planner was built for a real client: a beauty salon in Trieste, Italy. I designed it around their daily workflow: shift management, staff skills and vacation planning.
The app has been used in a real-world setting to simplify staff organization and centralize operational information. It was then evolved with a full interface redesign, a design system of shared components, better accessibility and a more consistent user experience, along with stronger security and code quality. Every change was made while keeping the product fully working throughout the entire process.
Note: the screenshots show the app filled with demo data from a fictional salon ("Bellezza al Vico"), created for this presentation — no real customer data is involved.
Facing a similar problem?
Every project above started from a real need. If one of them sounds familiar, a 20-minute call is enough to see if and how I can help you too.