Common Table
I’m exploring restaurant discovery and booking around what makes a table fit.
Independent product design & creative direction
Original static design specimens · illustrative content · not a shipped product
Interface concept · illustrative content · not a live product
Common Table · a generous supper club
A good evening starts with a good fit.
The plan comes first, practical details sit beside the atmosphere, and a selected time is never shown as a confirmed table. All restaurants are fictional.
The shared plan
- People
- 6
- Evening
- Friday
- Around
- 7:30 pm
- Area
- Riverside
- Needs
- Step-free entry · one vegan guest
| Detail | Olive & EmberWood-fired, long tables | Little SaffronSmall plates, lively room | The Pantry DoorQuiet, set menu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price guidance | ££ | £ | £££ |
| Step-free entry | Listed by restaurant | Not known — ask | Listed by restaurant |
| Vegan option | Request only | On the menu | Not known — ask |
| Example times for 6 | 7:00 · 7:45 | 7:30 | None shown |
Review your request
Olive & Ember, Friday at 7:45 pm, for 6
- Deposit
- Example: £10 per person, taken when the restaurant accepts
- Cancellation
- Example: free until 24 hours before
- Your notes
- Step-free entry; one vegan guest — sent as a request, not a guarantee
- Time selected (done)
- Reviewing terms
- Request sent
- Confirmed or declined by the restaurant
Status: Selected, not confirmed. No table is held yet.
01 / Idea, problem & leadership
What needed to change.
- My role
- Independent product design & creative direction
- Disciplines
- Product · UX / UI
The central idea
My concept brings practical requirements forward during restaurant discovery.
- Designed for
- Diners planning shared meals and restaurants needing clear reservation expectations.
- Scope of this study
- Self-initiated Product/UX · Restaurant comparison · Reservation journey · Booking states
- What is shown
- Common Table is an unbuilt, self-initiated concept. I show original interface compositions, a proposed core journey and edge-state studies with illustrative content. These are static design specimens, not a tested or shipped application.
Choosing for more than yourself
My brief considers someone arranging a group meal. Photography starts discovery, but suitability and clear terms enable a confident decision.
02 / Thinking, evidence & concepts
Making the thinking visible.
These visual studies explore a design hypothesis. No interviews, usability tests or commercial outcomes are claimed.
Confidence through the whole journey
My proposed journey covers discovery, comparison and reservation review. Clearer expectations could support suitable bookings; this commercial hypothesis has no conversion or cancellation results behind it.
03 / Solidified direction
A generous supper club
I start with the person choosing for a group, not just an attractive restaurant image. A welcoming visual voice sits alongside practical comparison and reservation-review information. The central tradeoff is asking for enough context to establish suitability without making the first step feel like a long form.
Current art-direction rationale · developed for this portfolio revision, October 2026.
Creative direction / Decisions
The choices behind the work.
Start with the shared plan
I propose entering party size, date and time early. It adds an initial task, but lets discovery respond to the meal someone is organizing rather than presenting irrelevant availability.
Make the practical details visible
I place price guidance, access and dietary information near the imagery. Details need restaurant confirmation; labels must distinguish verified information from requests that have not been accepted.
Keep reservation states explicit
I separate selected slots from confirmed bookings and show deposit and cancellation terms before submission. The flow needs recovery when availability changes, without implying a table is secured.
04 / Final result & next test
A coherent concept. An honest next step.
Original interface compositions, a proposed group-dining journey and edge-state specimens establish the concept direction. Restaurants, availability and booking details are illustrative; no live reservation service, confirmed access provision or conversion result is represented.
Design the awkward moments
I would test unavailable times, unanswered access questions and failed confirmations. I would check whether diners understand cancellation terms. Restaurant operations research would be necessary before proposing a production service.
Motion treatments and further production remain planned. The static work above is the current deliverable.
Credits & context
Self-initiated spec work. Original interface compositions and workflow studies developed for this portfolio. All publication, place and restaurant content is illustrative. No customer data, client commission, launched service or measured outcome is implied.
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