Gave businesses the ability to monitor, control, and predict attendance, addressing the post-COVID challenge that affected nearly 40% of Canada’s evening and late-night economy.
Company
Case Study
Timeline
21
—
22
Role
Product Designer
As the Product Designer on this Case Study, I…
Ran in-person and online interviews with nightlife-goers, young professionals, and business owners to uncover pain points around safety, crowd uncertainty, and booking frustrations.
Worked closely with my mentor PM to define the product direction, feature prioritization, and core interaction patterns.
Mapped out user journeys for both guests and business owners, tailoring flows to late-night use cases.
Designed components for user booking flows, live capacity displays, event cards, and business dashboards.
Developed clickable prototypes to test booking behaviors, capacity awareness, and the safety-layered flow.
Collected feedback from real users and nightlife business owners to refine interactions and adjust feature clarity.
Project overview
Experience (EXP) is a mobile app I created to help venues manage bookings, track live capacity, and ensure safe, enjoyable experiences for guests. EXP gives users real-time insight into venue occupancy, while giving business owners the tools to manage traffic, organize events, and adhere to safety guidelines.
During the post-COVID transition, venues were reopening but operating under strict capacity regulations. For nightlife businesses—clubs, karaoke bars, late-night restaurants, event spaces—this created a challenge: how can they bring people back safely without sacrificing the fun?
Challenges
Evening and late-night businesses make up nearly 40% of the entertainment economy in Canada, yet they were the most vulnerable during COVID because:
Walk-ins became unpredictable.
Safe capacity limits were required — but hard to manually track.
Users wanted reassurance: Is it crowded? Is it safe? Is the vibe right?
Venues needed a reliable way to manage tickets, reservations, and attendance.
Outdated tools didn’t support live crowd monitoring or safety-first design.
The result: uncertainty for both businesses and customers.
Opportunity
This ecosystem lacked:
A single platform where users could book nightlife events or venues.
A way to see live crowd levels before visiting.
A safe and structured experience without killing the excitement.
A business-friendly backend to track bookings, capacity, and attendance.
There was a clear opportunity to design a space that supports safety, restores confidence, and brings nightlife back to life.
Key Features & Solutions:
1. Real-Time Capacity Tracker
Users can see live crowd levels for each venue.
2. Smarter Booking Flow
Book by date, time, and event type. A calendar-based system that organizes tickets and attendance visually.
3. Safety-Layered UI
Before confirming, users see the venue’s safety rules (masking, sanitation, max capacity). A non-intrusive, friendly safety screen woven into the flow.
4. Business Dashboard
Venue owners can track attendance, manage bookings, and view live capacity.
5. Event & Workshop Organization
Venues hosting workshops or special nights can organize tickets by date and see expected turnout. An event creation tool with auto-sorting by date and headcount.
Reflection
The EXP prototype received strong, positive feedback, confirming the value of transparent capacity tracking and a safety-first nightlife experience. The suggestions users offered became meaningful guidance for future iterations. Working in a fast-paced environment at BrainStation Toronto also sharpened my ability to conduct research, adapt quickly, and design with clarity under tight timelines.
This prototype became the foundation for a larger vision: a business-facing version of EXP designed to help venue owners promote events, track live occupancy, and manage operations—all while staying consistent with the original brand system.
How might we improve it:
Deepen early research: Expand interviews with more venue owners and nightlife operators.
Test more frequently: Introduce more iterative user testing throughout the design cycle.
Strengthen the business dashboard: Explore advanced tools like analytics and capacity forecasting.
Collaborate with developers early: Understand technical constraints and real-time data needs sooner.
Design for scalability from the start: Plan components and flows that support both user and business versions.
Gave businesses the ability to monitor, control, and predict attendance, addressing the post-COVID challenge that affected nearly 40% of Canada’s evening and late-night economy.
Company
Case Study
Timeline
21
—
22
Role
Product Designer
As the Product Designer on this Case Study, I…
Ran in-person and online interviews with nightlife-goers, young professionals, and business owners to uncover pain points around safety, crowd uncertainty, and booking frustrations.
Worked closely with my mentor PM to define the product direction, feature prioritization, and core interaction patterns.
Mapped out user journeys for both guests and business owners, tailoring flows to late-night use cases.
Designed components for user booking flows, live capacity displays, event cards, and business dashboards.
Developed clickable prototypes to test booking behaviors, capacity awareness, and the safety-layered flow.
Collected feedback from real users and nightlife business owners to refine interactions and adjust feature clarity.
Project overview
Experience (EXP) is a mobile app I created to help venues manage bookings, track live capacity, and ensure safe, enjoyable experiences for guests. EXP gives users real-time insight into venue occupancy, while giving business owners the tools to manage traffic, organize events, and adhere to safety guidelines.
During the post-COVID transition, venues were reopening but operating under strict capacity regulations. For nightlife businesses—clubs, karaoke bars, late-night restaurants, event spaces—this created a challenge: how can they bring people back safely without sacrificing the fun?
Challenges
Evening and late-night businesses make up nearly 40% of the entertainment economy in Canada, yet they were the most vulnerable during COVID because:
Walk-ins became unpredictable.
Safe capacity limits were required — but hard to manually track.
Users wanted reassurance: Is it crowded? Is it safe? Is the vibe right?
Venues needed a reliable way to manage tickets, reservations, and attendance.
Outdated tools didn’t support live crowd monitoring or safety-first design.
The result: uncertainty for both businesses and customers.
Opportunity
This ecosystem lacked:
A single platform where users could book nightlife events or venues.
A way to see live crowd levels before visiting.
A safe and structured experience without killing the excitement.
A business-friendly backend to track bookings, capacity, and attendance.
There was a clear opportunity to design a space that supports safety, restores confidence, and brings nightlife back to life.
Key Features & Solutions:
1. Real-Time Capacity Tracker
Users can see live crowd levels for each venue.
2. Smarter Booking Flow
Book by date, time, and event type. A calendar-based system that organizes tickets and attendance visually.
3. Safety-Layered UI
Before confirming, users see the venue’s safety rules (masking, sanitation, max capacity). A non-intrusive, friendly safety screen woven into the flow.
4. Business Dashboard
Venue owners can track attendance, manage bookings, and view live capacity.
5. Event & Workshop Organization
Venues hosting workshops or special nights can organize tickets by date and see expected turnout. An event creation tool with auto-sorting by date and headcount.
Reflection
The EXP prototype received strong, positive feedback, confirming the value of transparent capacity tracking and a safety-first nightlife experience. The suggestions users offered became meaningful guidance for future iterations. Working in a fast-paced environment at BrainStation Toronto also sharpened my ability to conduct research, adapt quickly, and design with clarity under tight timelines.
This prototype became the foundation for a larger vision: a business-facing version of EXP designed to help venue owners promote events, track live occupancy, and manage operations—all while staying consistent with the original brand system.
How might we improve it:
Deepen early research: Expand interviews with more venue owners and nightlife operators.
Test more frequently: Introduce more iterative user testing throughout the design cycle.
Strengthen the business dashboard: Explore advanced tools like analytics and capacity forecasting.
Collaborate with developers early: Understand technical constraints and real-time data needs sooner.
Design for scalability from the start: Plan components and flows that support both user and business versions.