Case study — project 02

Seasonal Booking Workflow

A focused project built around practical decisions and constraints.

The focus is practical and concrete, with enough detail to avoid a generic teaser. This case documents how we rebuilt a booking flow for a small hospitality group, balancing calendar limits, staff capacity, and seasonal demand.

The task

A restaurant group with three locations needed to replace a manual booking spreadsheet. The main constraint: each kitchen had different opening hours and a limited number of covers per service. The old process caused double-bookings and no-shows, especially during weekends and holidays.

We started by mapping the actual booking patterns for each site — peak hours, average party size, and how far in advance people reserved. That data shaped the entire workflow.

Approach

Instead of building a generic booking widget, we designed a rule-based system that respects each venue's real limits. The workflow checks three things before confirming a reservation: table availability, staff shift coverage, and a buffer between seatings.

We also introduced a simple waitlist feature for sold-out slots. It collects contact details and automatically notifies when a table opens — no manual chasing.

Implementation

The interface is intentionally minimal: a date picker, party size, and time slots that reflect live availability. For staff, a dashboard shows daily bookings, waitlist counts, and any conflicts flagged by the system.

We ran a two-week pilot at the busiest location, adjusting time-slot intervals from 30 to 20 minutes based on real kitchen turnaround. The final version reduced double-bookings to zero and cut no-shows by roughly a third.

Outcome

The workflow now handles around 1,200 reservations per month across the three venues. The waitlist recovers about 15% of cancelled slots, and staff report spending far less time on phone calls and manual updates.

The system also generates a simple weekly report — covers per service, peak times, and waitlist conversion — which the managers use to adjust staffing and menu prep.

Supporting materials

Booking flow wireframes — three iterations showing the shift from calendar grid to time-slot list.
Capacity matrix per venue — a table of covers, staff shifts, and buffer times used to set limits.
Waitlist notification copy — short, clear messages sent via SMS and email.
Post-pilot summary — a one-page breakdown of booking data and staff feedback.

This project was built for a real client in the hospitality sector. The main tradeoff was between flexibility and predictability — we chose a rule-based system over a fully open calendar to keep operations manageable during peak season.