GNLV Event Management

TL;DR

Golden Nugget's resident Digital Marketing Product Design Intern?

I arrived at Golden Nugget Las Vegas this past summer as a digital marketing intern by title, but ended up spending most of my time there designing and prototyping internal tools for the Special Events team.

01.

Research

I independently led 10 user interviews with Special Events staff.

02.

Design

I designed and prototyped an event management tool in React using Claude Code that cut registration time in half and fully digitized the seating process.

03.

Modernization Pitch

I wrapped up my internship by recommending a comprehensive modernization initiative to corporate IT leadership to improve internal operations.

USER RESEARCH

I began by interviewing GNLV's Executive Director of Marketing Operations and Special Events Manager

This gave me a clearer picture of their existing workflow and where it wasn't working:

Tracking Guest Data

Staff relied on a single Excel sheet to log guest information such as names, seat counts, and registration status.

Because the spreadsheet was so dense, it was difficult to quickly discern details at a glance.

Tracking Guest Seating

Staff used a 5-foot-tall whiteboard to plan table layouts and assign seats on event day.

While guests found it entertaining, working on such a large physical board was cumbersome for staff and contributed to long registration lines.

OUTLINE

I collaborated with the Executive Director of Marketing Operations to define the project scope

Using the insights from user research, I translated user needs into a clear set of product features.

📊 Capacity Snapshot

Quick visibility into guest counts at each registration stage

🎟️ Registration Statuses

Clear identification of each guest’s position in the registration flow

🪑 Seating Chart

Digital seating diagrams capable of showing when tables exceeded their intended capacity

IDEATION

Early explorations of the tabling system were really frustrating

My first instinct was to have tables change color as they approached and exceeded maximum capacity. However, that conflicted with the need to reserve color for registration statuses so they remained easily scannable, even in a tabling view.

I ended up on a solution whose interaction was partially inspired by the stamina bar from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Overflowing Tables

In Breath of the Wild, extra stamina is shown as outer rings around your core meter. Similarly, the table’s outer ring fills when seating exceeds its intended capacity.

This presented an entirely new challenge: staff needed to assign seats quickly while maintaining control over where they went

Most guests only wanted two seats at the same table, but we also had to support those who wanted <2 seats spread across different tables.

Refining Tabling Interactions

What began as an increment selector became a seat slider after testing revealed why the original interaction felt "off" (a lack of precise control).

FINAL DESIGNS

Registering and seating Golden Nugget Las Vegas' biggest events

Guest List View

The Guest List view provides a scannable read on event capacity and makes it easier to view and update guest information than a single Excel sheet.

Actionable Status Badges

Color-coded badges help staff instantly understand a guest’s registration stage and act on that information.

Seating Chart

The Seating Chart view gives staff a high-level event overview and the tools to manage tables and seated guests directly.

Registration Form

A standardized form, triggered by either entering a 14-digit number or swiping a player card, creates a consistent registration flow and reduces dependence on institutional knowledge.

Seating Flow

The seating flow uses the seat slider to let staff place and distribute seats across all use cases.

IMPACT

I built a React MVP prototype in Claude Code to simulate a full registration demo

50-67% reduction in registration time for invitees

2–3 minutes → 1 minute

33–50% reduction in registration time for walk-ins

3–4 minutes → 2 minutes

Significantly fewer manual corrections required

as confirmed by the Executive Director of Marketing Operations

Less time in line, more time on the casino floor.

PROTOTYPING + IMPACT

I built a React MVP prototype in Claude Code to simulate a full registration demo with Special Events staff

I wrote prompts such as...

What edge cases should I consider so the interaction doesn’t break?

At what point in the registration flow should guest data be persisted, and how should the system handle users who abandon the flow partway through?

If a real engineer saw this, what parts would they refactor immediately?

This gave me a window into the developer mindset and helped me build a prototype that...

Reduced invitee registration time by 50-67%

2–3 minutes → 1 minute

Reduced walk-in registration time by 33-50%

3–4 minutes → 2 minutes

Required significantly fewer manual corrections

Confirmed by the Executive Director of Marketing Operations.

STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK

Thank you to Golden Nugget Las Vegas!

"I've never seen tabling information like this visualized this way before. It makes you wonder why we pay so much for third-party software."

—VP of Casino and Hotel Technology; Landry's, Inc.

"I'd imagine that there's a need for this sort of thing for a lot of other employees across every department here."

—VP of IT, Golden Nugget Las Vegas

"Being able to use this would be huge."

—Executive Director of Marketing Operations, Golden Nugget Las Vegas

LESSONS LEARNED

This project taught me that inspiration can come from anywhere

🛠️

Refining an experience matters more than getting it right the first time.

I knew the increment selector felt clunky and imprecise so I tested it with users in order to better understand why.

↪️

If I was doing this project again, I would try to broaden usability testing to include volunteers.

The tool also needs to be intuitive for people who use it only once in a while.