The Ivy
Shaping the future: Revolutionising the digital guest experience in modern hospitality.
Project:
End-to-end
Digital ExperienceRole:
Ideation/
Concept Development
UI Design/
PrototypingProject Overview:The Ivy's advantage had always been the experience inside its restaurants. Digitally, that experience largely stopped at the website and OpenTable handling the reservation. The brief was more than a list of features — it was to find where guest friction, service pressure and commercial opportunity overlapped, and design specifically for those moments.
Working as part of the product design team, I contributed across ideation and prototyping, translating research into concepts and helping shape them into a single chronological journey spanning the visit. That research consisted of 22 guest interviews, eight general-manager interviews and a survey of 9,360 guests, which gave us the evidence to argue for ideas that were commercially viable rather than speculative.
The result was a complete concept prototype handed to The Ivy for internal consideration, designed to streamline operations and strengthen brand positioning while creating personalised moments of delight.
KEY MOMENTS 1/3:The full house.
When a venue was fully booked, OpenTable could send the guest to a competitor — even when they still wanted The Ivy. 49% of surveyed guests wanted another nearby Ivy recommended instead. We broadened the availability search beyond a single restaurant to nearby locations, dates and times, so a failed booking became another route in rather than the point where demand left.
KEY MOMENTS 2/3:The occasion.
Guests were arriving with cakes, balloons and decorations, leaving staff to enforce a no-outside-items rule during someone's important occasion. 46% wanted celebration packages; 23% asked for flowers. We moved that conversation into the reservation itself, which gave guests a better option before they arranged it elsewhere, and gave the restaurant something it could prepare for.
KEY MOMENTS 3/3:The first drink.
At peak times the bar was already under pressure by the time guests were seated, and 33% said slow drinks service could stop them returning. Rather than digitising another interaction at the table, we moved the decision outside the peak window — a prompt around an hour before arrival attached the drinks order to the booking, giving the bar time to prepare.
the outcome:Three moments, one journey. Not new features for their own sake. Friction removed where it cost The Ivy most.