Polish the Operator Dashboard UI

[chendbox]

Summary

Polish the MLIS operator dashboard to make it more visually refined, easier to scan, and more effective as a public demo surface.

Why This Matters

The operator console is one of the first things new visitors see. MLIS is primarily a systems and infrastructure project, but a clearer and more polished dashboard would make the project easier to understand, demo, and share.

Goals

Improve the dashboard without changing the underlying product direction.

Areas that may benefit from polish:

• visual hierarchy and spacing
• card layout and section grouping
• typography and readability
• empty states and loading states
• status chips, badges, and job-state presentation
• dashboard-level clarity for first-time users
• responsive behavior on smaller screens

Scope

This issue is intentionally focused on UI polish and usability, not backend feature expansion.

Contributors are welcome to:

• improve the current visual presentation
• refine layout and information density
• make the dashboard feel more intentional and demo-friendly
• improve scanability for jobs, workers, and system state

Constraints

• preserve the existing MLIS visual direction unless proposing a clearly better alternative
• avoid introducing unnecessary complexity or heavy dependencies
• keep the UI understandable for an infrastructure-oriented audience
• prefer iterative improvements over a full redesign unless discussed first

Acceptance Criteria

• the dashboard feels more polished and easier to scan
• important state is easier to understand at a glance
• empty/loading/error states feel intentional
• changes work well on desktop and reasonable laptop widths
• screenshots or before/after notes are included in the PR

Good Starting Points

• src/app/ui-react/src/
• src/app/ui-react/src/App.tsx
• src/app/ui-react/src/styles.css