.png)
Lighthouse on the Lake App
Designing a Seamless Dining and Ordering Hub
A unified mobile experience for reservations, takeout, and event inquiries.
Project Overview
Timeline: 2 Months (Mar-Apr 2025 )
Role: End-to-end UX/UI Designer (Mobile IA & Usability Focus)
Tools: Figma, Moderated Remote Usability Testing, SurveyMonkey
I designed a comprehensive mobile app for Lighthouse on the Lake to centralize reservations, takeout ordering, and event inquiries. The goal was to remove friction, improve clarity, and create a visually immersive digital experience aligned with the restaurant’s lakeside atmosphere.
01
The Chanllenge
01
Customers relied on OpenTable + phone calls → friction + poor data capture
02
Digital touchpoints didn’t convey the scenic brand experience
03
Navigation issues caused drop-offs (missing back button, unclear flows)
01
The Chanllenge
01
Impact Goals
01
Increase successful To Go orders
02
Reduce reservation drop-off
03
Reduce administrative load
04
Improve task flow clarity
05
Increase visual engagement (hero gallery)
03
Research
-
Catering inquiries needed a dedicated path
-
Missing Back Button = major frustration
-
Users expected active cart icon at all times
-
Gallery needed to be visible on the Home screen
-
Buttons needed clearer hierarchy
-
OpenTable → validated Date + Time first
-
Leading restaurant apps → bottom navigation standard
04
Define
Problem Statement
Usability & Navigation: Users struggle with the unpredictable navigation of the app, encountering missing back buttons and inconsistent interaction patterns, which increases cognitive load and causes task abandonment
Service Clarity & Visual Immersion: The initial design did not adequately showcase the restaurant's key visual assets (food, atmosphere) or provide clear access to high-value services like Catering, limiting user engagement and lead generation
User Flow
This flow illustrates the newly integrated path for high-value Private Event inquiries. The goal was to make this process feel personalized and direct, converting initial interest into a solid lead.
Key
Lighthouse on the Lake Make a Reservation
Lighthouse on the Lake Make a Reservation
Reservation Flow Redesign
The Optimized Reservation Flow prioritizes Date and Time selection before Party Size — aligning with user mental models and eliminating unnecessary trial-and-error.
Dynamic Hero Section
The Dynamic Hero Section integrates the gallery directly into the home screen, increasing visual immersion and giving customers instant clarity about the ambiance and food quality.
05
Design & Iterations
06
Conclusion + Key Takeaways
Navigation is Usability: The project highlighted that even in high-fidelity design, fundamental navigation components (like the back button and active states) are the most critical factors determining perceived usability.
Efficiency of Flow: Aligning the Reservation flow with external benchmarks (Date/Time first) and creating dedicated Catering CTAs optimized the app for conversion.
Visual Content Sells: Moving the Gallery to the prominent Hero section was a key strategic change, enhancing user engagement and brand immersion instantly.
This project confirmed that designing for mobile success is about reducing friction through absolute clarity and predictability. By translating user frustration (e.g., "missing back button") into a core design principle (Global Back Button), I ensured the aesthetic success of the app did not compromise its functional utility
Impact
The new mobile application establishes a credible, efficient, and visually rich platform, immediately reducing reliance on third-party vendors and positioning Lighthouse on the Lake to capture customer data and support future e-commerce growth.