dm·PRODUCT DESIGNER
MONTRÉAL, CANADA
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02 / HOSPITALITY EXPERIENCE · INDEPENDENT CONCEPT

Northern
Hospitality.

Montreal Cocktail Collective

Five bars. One mobile guide to choosing a venue and planning a visit.

Explore the prototypeEarlier Figma exploration
Contribution
Concept, inspiration & collected information
AI contribution
App and interface build
Status
Prototype · research planned
Validation
Participant research & testing next

Independent concept, AI-built app. The concept, inspiration, and collected information are my own. AI created the build. No participant research, usability testing, or measured commercial outcome yet; no partnership is claimed.

CURRENT AI-BUILT PROTOTYPE

Choose a venue.
Explore its details.

Actual interface captures from 8 October 2026. The screens show the current implementation; they are not participant-test evidence. Venue information, map geography, and service claims need validation before a public guide launch.

Northern Hospitality actual venue-selection screen
1 / Venue selection · Five venues in one entry point.
Northern Hospitality actual Coldroom detail screen
2 / Venue detail · Identity and paths to visit information.

The live prototype contains promotional and service claims that have not been verified. The portfolio treats them as prototype content, including menu, event, social-feed, and alert information.

01 / PRODUCT STRATEGY

Less searching.
More informed choices.

Problem statement

Venue details live across separate sites and social channels. Guests may need to switch sources to plan one visit.

Proposed response

A consistent content hierarchy aims to reduce search effort while preserving each bar’s identity; that benefit remains a hypothesis.

Product goal

Help guests choose confidently using reliable location, hours, menus and events in one mobile experience.

HYPOTHESIS · TO VALIDATE

If visit essentials share a predictable structure, guests will find them with fewer source switches and greater confidence than through their current approach.

How might we…?

Make five distinct venues easy to compare?

Communicate content freshness and trust?

Offer useful updates without unwanted alerts?

  1. FrameBrief & desk reviewCompleted
  2. PrototypeIA & mobile flowsCurrent concept
  3. ValidateOwner & guest researchPlanned
  4. IterateEvidence-led refinementsNext
02 / COMPETITIVE & COMPARATIVE AUDIT

Keep the character.
Unify the essentials.

Desk review · 8 October 2026. Interface observations, not measured usability results.

BenchmarkStrengthDesign opportunity
Five venue websitesDistinct identities; useful venue-specific content.Standardize essentials. Confirm missing Sample details with the venue.
Groupe BarrocoGroup directory with individual venue links.Test integrated details against a directory-only experience.
Google MapsLocation discovery and documented business-information tools.Hand off directions; add collective identity and context.
InstagramSocial discovery and venue-profile access.Keep essentials first; verify authorized, dated feed content.

Design implication: consistency is the proposed differentiator. Its value still needs guest validation.

03 / INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

A shared mental model.
A distinct sense of place.

Home connects to five venue pages, map, alert preferences and a separate staff gateway. Each venue shares identity, visit essentials, menu, events, four social previews and external links. Unverified production services are dashed.
Current prototype IA. Dashed services are unverified. Open full size ↗

Primary user flow

  1. 01Choose a venue
  2. 02Check visit essentials
  3. 03Explore menu & events
  4. 04Open directions
Four digital wireframes show venue selection, shared detail hierarchy, map navigation and alert preferences.
Reconstructed documentation of the current prototype; not earlier process artifacts. Actual interface captures are shown above. Open full size ↗

Recognition

Labelled venue choices retain individual identity.

Content hierarchy

Hours, address and menu precede events and social previews.

User control

Venue switching and optional alert preferences support flexible browsing.

05 / PROPOSED USER RESEARCH

Learn before
adding complexity.

Research question: does centralization improve planning enough to earn repeat use?

Owner discovery

Confirm group scope, content ownership, permissions and maintenance capacity.

Guest interviews

6–8 locals and visitors; 30–45 minutes. Explore recent planning behaviour, trust and unmet needs.

Synthesis

Affinity-map evidence; refine personas, JTBD and prioritized product requirements.

Interview prompts & consent

Walk through your last bar choice. Which sources did you use? What information changed your decision? What felt missing or unreliable? When are venue updates useful?

Voluntary participation; recording opt-in with a note-only alternative. Anonymize findings, separate contact data, delete recordings within 30 days of synthesis, and obtain separate portfolio permission.

06 / PROPOSED USABILITY TESTING

Observe behaviour.
Prioritize the friction.

Who
8 adults: 4 locals + 4 visitors. Include 2 participants with access needs; mix language and device preferences.
What
Moderated task tests, first-click/tree testing, an accessibility review and a counterbalanced comparison with existing sites.
When & where
After owner discovery and interviews. Remote on participants’ phones or in a quiet Montréal setting; retest with 5 new participants after iteration.
Why
Validate findability, information trust and centralization value; assess whether alerts warrant their complexity.
How: engagement
Open the prototype, think aloud and complete neutral tasks: compare venues, find essentials, inspect a menu, open directions and control demo alerts.
How: collection
Consent-based screen/audio or structured notes. Log task success, assistance, wrong turns, time and post-task ease (1–7).
7 / 8Proposed target: complete essentials unaided
0 criticalUnresolved location, time or subscription errors
Test → revisePrioritize by severity; retest changed tasks

Targets are proposed acceptance criteria, not results. Report participant counts and observed patterns; this sample does not establish statistical uplift.

Accessibility & production checks

Review keyboard access, focus, contrast, screen readers, zoom, touch targets and map alternatives. Check missing-content and low-bandwidth states. Validate notification delivery, preference persistence and staff access separately in staging.

07 / OUTCOME & NEXT STEPS

A testable concept.
A clear validation path.

Current materials: an AI-built prototype, documented IA, reconstructed screen references, and a proposed research plan. I originated the concept, inspiration, and collected information. Guest outcomes remain unmeasured.

Verify content

Correct map geography, confirm Sample details and establish approved menus, hours, events and social sources.

Confirm scope

Resolve group naming, five-venue scope, and whether the venues want to participate before a public launch.

Validate the core

Test the guest guide first. Expand alerts and staff tooling when evidence and maintenance capacity support them.

Sources & evidence boundaries

Desk review and prototype inspection: 8 October 2026. Backend authentication, live social synchronization and push delivery were not verified. Personas, hypotheses and study plans are provisional.

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