CLUB70
Club70 is a premium racquet-sports gym and social club opening in Long Island City, NY in 2027. The facility includes badminton courts, tennis courts, a first-floor café/bar, mezzanine, members lounge, showers, and mahjong tables.
I designed the app, which is a mobile-first companion to the physical club: members manage their membership, book facilities, and pay all without touching a desk.
Problem
User problem
Badminton court booking in New York today is entirely informal: no shared system, no visibility into availability, no easy way to pull a group together. Players who want to play have to book in advance in a multi-step process that often involves texting owners directly and coordinating through group chats. Club70 will create a space to meet that need for badminton-centered community, and the team needs an app to facilitate and enhance the core experience.
Business constraints
- Members-only access. No browse mode, no guest access.
- Pro tier is invite-only. Members can't self-upgrade.
- No payments at the desk. Court bookings are paid upfront in-app; café/bar purchases happen via QR scan charged to the account on file.
Rapid prototyping
Club70 includes courts, tennis simulators, showers, café/bar, lounge, mahjong tables, and future lessons and events. The information architecture needed to stay simple, especially for V1. I mapped out the core user flows before designing any screens:
Primary flows
Defining an intuitive booking flow
One of the key design challenges when prototyping was defining the booking experience. Working within a few fixed business constraints (no court selection, 6-hour max booking, no recurring bookings through the app), I had several open user questions:
- What booking intervals do players need?
- How far in advance do players typically book?
- Do players care more about start time or booking duration?
How might we design a booking flow quick and intuitive to members that still achieved business goals?
I spoke to a few badminton players to answer these questions and understand their needs, seeking to design a booking experience that members could complete within just a few clicks while also allowing Club70 to minimize court down time.
Selecting a start time and duration in 2 steps
Selecting a start time and duration through 30min interval slots
One variation I explored combined the “select start time” and “select duration” options. It reduced the overall number of steps, but increased tap friction when a member wanted to book 2+ hours. But users actually expressed a preference for the simplified layout in spite of the extra taps.
“If I'm booking court time, I mainly just want to see all the availabilities upfront to select from those options.”
Design system
There was a rough sense of brand identity, fonts, and color, but nothing locked in, and there was no design system. The app needed to match the physical space: sleek, elevated, premium.
The existing visual identity consisted of a logo, building renderings, and general visual aesthetic
I iterated on the brand color palette and style variations, landed on a clear visual language, and set up the design system foundations and components.
A few select components illustrating how Club70 brand is reflected in the UI.
Core Flows
There were a few key business design constraints that directly impacted the signup flow. First, app users are intended to primarily be existing members, and only paying members could have access to the app. Second, Pro membership is invite only and exclusive; pricing should not be immediately disclosed to all members, but standard members should know the tier exists.
Key app functions are booking and tracking club events. Thus, the home page surfaces quick books, upcoming reservations, and highlight club activities. Its content varies depending on user activity and club highlights.
Home in empty state
Home with promo banner
Named member groups, or “clubs” allow players to book as a unit and track group activity. Builds community identity beyond just booking utility.
Creating a new club
Members can check in digitally, and all transactions happen in-app. Court bookings are paid upfront; on-site cafe and bar purchases are made via QR code charged to account on file. The members ID must be a quick top action, and users can manage their membership and booking + billing details directly in app.
Scanning in with a member QR code
Managing account details
Members can invite a club or individual members to their booking after they reserve. With calendar integration, Club70 app becomes source of truth for member court time. Booking host can edit reservation times and players, and members accept or decline invitations to RSVP.
Accepting a booking reservation
Editing an existing reservation
Future state
The app is currently in development for an MVP private beta release. The next iterations of the app and designed flows include several other wish-list functionalities.
- Clutch integration & player insights: Embedding player statistics. Players get recordings, AI-generated clips, and a skill rating that updates after every session.
- Passive social layer: Opt-in presence: see who's at the club right now, create challenges and surface leadersboards within groups
- Coaching marketplace: Browse coaches, see availability, book and pay. A natural extension of the booking flow and a solid revenue line if the club brings on pros.