Lead Product Designer Toast Tables

Table's marketplace

Designing a consumer marketplace to drive demand and scale a two-sided restaurant platform.

Table's Marketplace - hero image
My Role Lead Product Designer Strategy, UX, and visual ID
Duration 8 Weeks Launch: Q3 2025
Industry Restaurant Tech Toast Tables
Key Outcome ~70% waitlist conversion ~8% growth in customer acquisition

The Challenge

Toast Tables had built strong tooling for restaurants, but lacked a meaningful way to generate consumer demand.

Without a dedicated discovery surface:

  • Diners had limited ways to find restaurants on Toast
  • High-intent users were going to third-party platforms
  • Restaurants relied on external channels to fill seats

The Solution

Introduced a consumer marketplace that surfaces real-time availability and connects diners directly to booking.

By focusing on high-intent, same-day dining, we turned discovery into a primary driver of demand.

Case study visuals

Designing a discovery surface

The marketplace needed to balance exploration with immediacy - helping diners quickly find relevant options while making it easy to act. We focused on three key areas: discovery, decision-making, and conversion.

Discovery and ranking UI

Discovery & ranking

The core of the marketplace is helping users find the right option at the right moment. This experience prioritizes real-time context, surfacing restaurants based on proximity, availability, and intent to drive faster decisions.

Responsive web Conversion-focused UX
High-intent discovery UI

High-intent discovery

Designed for users looking to dine now - prioritizing nearby restaurants with immediate availability.

Smart ranking signals UI

Smart ranking signals

Balancing proximity, popularity, and real-time availability to surface the most relevant options.

Restaurant detail and decision making UI

Restaurant Detail & Decision Making

Once users land on a restaurant, the experience needs to quickly answer: Is this the right choice? I focused on reducing cognitive load by surfacing the most important information upfront - helping users evaluate options without friction.

Responsive web Conversion-focused UX
Clear information hierarchy UI

Clear information hierarchy

Key details like availability, pricing, and booking options are surfaced immediately - allowing users to quickly understand what's possible without digging.

Clear availability and options UI

Clear availability & options

Unifying reservations, waitlists, and experiences into a single view - making next steps obvious and easy.

Booking and conversion flow

Booking & Conversion

The final step is turning intent into action. This required minimizing friction and reinforcing urgency, ensuring users could move from discovery to booking without hesitation or drop-off.

Responsive web Conversion focused UX
Easy booking flow UI

Easy booking flow

Reducing steps and maintaining context from discovery through checkout - supporting quick, high-intent decisions.

Urgency-driven decisions UI

Urgency-driven decisions

Highlighting real-time availability and scarcity to encourage faster commitment and increase conversion.

"I love that guests can see the experiences I offer in the same page"

Toast Tables Customer

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