My role:
Senior product, UX/UI Designer
Defining the UX strategy for reservation and table management
Translating complex operational workflows into fast, low-cognitive-load interfaces
Leading UX decisions across reservation creation, live table status, and waitlist management, etc.
Collaborating closely with:
Product Manager (prioritization & scope)
Engineering team (feasibility & system states)
Business stakeholders (restaurant operations)
Project context:
Hospitality venues managing reservations manually — phone calls, paper logs, verbal handoffs between hosts — struggled with double-bookings, lost guest preferences, and no real-time visibility into table availability. The platform was built from scratch to give venue staff a live, centralized system covering the full reservation lifecycle: intake, seating, table management, and guest history.
Problem
Restaurants struggle with managing reservations during peak hours due to fragmented tools, manual processes, and lack of real-time visibility into table availability and guest status.
Reservations manually
Phone calls, paper logs, verbal handoffs
No guests data
lost guest preferences
No real-time table availability
struggled with double-bookings
Goal:
Help restaurant managers and hosts manage reservations, tables, and guests in real time, reduce no-shows, and keep service running smoothly during busy hours. Reduce manager stress during peak service and improve table utilization.
User Research :
Worked from stakeholder and PM input (business requirements, staff workflow descriptions) supplemented by direct conversations with venue staff where access allowed. Mapped the existing manual workflow — how hosts currently tracked reservations, walk-ins, and table turnover — to identify where digital tooling could remove friction without disrupting fast-paced service environments.
Pain Points
User problems:
Hosts need to make decisions within seconds during peak service
Existing tools are too slow, text-heavy, or require multiple screens
Hard to track: Table status, Guest preferences and allergies
Business problems:
Lost revenue due to no-shows and poor table utilization
Inefficient seating leads to longer wait times
High staff stress during service hours
User Journey Map
Developed a user journey map of a restaurant manager's experience with the site to pinpoint potential pain points and identify areas for improvement.
Refining design :
Decisions based on research
Speed over perfection
actions must be completed in seconds
Single-screen decision making
avoid navigation during service
Visual status first
color and icons instead of text
Real-time alert system
Every action must be traceable
Notification in real time
Results and my Reflection:
The platform replaced manual, phone-based tracking with a live digital system now running in production across hospitality venues, handling the full reservation-to-seating lifecycle including edge cases like swaps and grouped bookings.
Impact:
Reduced error rates
Higher task completion confidence
Faster seating decisions during peak hours
Better handling of no-shows and late arrivals
Improved guest experience
What I learned:
The main thing I learned that even a small change can have a huge impact on the user experience. The most important takeaway is to always focus on the real needs of the user.
Next Steps
Conduct follow-up usability testing on the new iteration.
Identify any additional areas of need and ideate on new features.