WORKING DEMONSTRATIONS

Don’t imagine it. Have a poke around.

Three different business problems, shown properly. See the customer-facing website, try the useful bit, then look at what happens for the business.

Exterior of the fictional Ye Olde Tadger pub used in the Smiley Starfish hospitality demonstration DEMO 1 · HOSPITALITY

BOOK IT · LIVE

Ye Olde Tadger

See the pub. Book a table. Then look behind the bar.

Start with a real customer-facing pub website. Book a fictional table, then switch to the owner view and watch that booking appear on the floor plan.

Pub websiteGuest bookingTable availabilityOwner view
Also planned: Menu Maker. Update dishes, prices, dietary notes and sold-out items without rebuilding the website.
Open Ye Olde Tadger

OUTDOOR CATERING · EVENT HIRE

Food, hire and a price before the faff begins.

Hog roastPlant feastBuild your event
DEMO 3 · EVENT HIRE

BUILD THE EVENT · LIVE

Stuffed Like a Pig

Feed them. Seat them. Price it before the faff.

Start with the customer-facing event site, then build a real demo event from guest numbers, food, marquee, bar and extras. The live estimate changes with the choices, while the business gets a structured event record instead of a vague enquiry.

Outdoor cateringEvent hireLive estimateStructured event record

The same pattern can work for caterers, hire firms, venues, removals, landscaping, printing, cleaning, photography and plenty more.

Open Stuffed Like a Pig

WHAT YOU’RE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT

Not mock-ups. Small pieces of useful work.

1

Try it

Buttons should do something. Forms should behave properly. Mobile should feel like mobile.

2

See both sides

A useful customer experience is better when it also removes work for the person running the business.

3

Take what works

Your business should still look and feel like your business. Use the ideas that make sense, and shape them around the way you actually work.

SEEN ENOUGH TO GET THE IDEA?

Start with the awkward bit on your own website.

The repetitive job, the underperforming page or the thing customers keep getting stuck on is usually the useful place to begin.