Local vs Visiting — the two doors, designed

What “Visiting” actually changes

We’d designed the switch — the fork in onboarding, the persistent mode chip — but not the two destinations. If picking “Visiting” only swapped your default neighborhood, the mode wouldn’t earn its prominence. So here are the two Todays side by side. Same app, same components — but a local and a visitor are asking different questions, and the page answers each one. The web dropped this gate; the app keeps it, because only native has the geo and the trip context to make it real.

You’re here
through Sunday

◴ 2 nights left

Two nights in town — here’s what you’d be sorry to miss.

While you’re here · can’t-miss

Riverfront Nights — the big summer one

Sat · Ross’s Landing · 7 min from The Edwin

Nightfall: The Pinkerton Raid

Tonight · Miller Plaza · 4 min walk

What Chattanooga’s known for

First time here? Start with the river.

The Aquarium, the Incline Railway, Songbirds — the few things locals would tell you not to skip.

A short orientation · tap to see the list

Walk from The EdwinMap →

Whiskey flights on the rooftop

In your hotel · 0 min

While you’re here · easy day trip

Ruby Falls & Lookout Mountain

~15 min · go before you leave

Where the window comes from — setting up Visiting

Stacy’s catch: if it says “2 nights left,” we have to know the dates. So the “Your area” onboarding beat is mode-aware — a local picks neighborhoods; a visitor sets an anchor and, optionally, their dates. Dates are what power the countdown and the trip shortlist that closes when they head home.

Visiting ▾

Visiting · your trip

Where are you staying,
and when?

Your stay

The Edwin Hotel · Downtown

Change

When? · optional

Check in

Thu Jun 11

→

Heading home

Sun Jun 14

◴ 3 nights · we’ll count it down

That’s my trip I’m not sure yet — just show me what’s on

Visiting setup · anchor + dates

Dates are optional — and it degrades gracefully

Give them, and Visiting gets the “2 nights left” countdown and a shortlist that auto-closes when the trip ends. Skip them (“I’m not sure yet”), and Visiting still works — it just drops the countdown and scopes to “what’s on now,” the anchor still doing the spatial work. We never claim a number we didn’t ask for.

The anchor does the rest

Even with no dates, one anchor (the hotel) powers the whole spatial model — “4 min walk,” “7 min from The Edwin,” the walkable ring. Dates add time; the anchor adds place. Either is useful alone.

Where it lives in the flow

This is the Visiting branch of onboarding Beat 3 (“Your area”). A local never sees it; a visitor gets it instead of the multi-area picker. One beat, two faces — same as every other mode-aware surface.

The seven axes the mode actually changes

This is the part we hadn’t designed in. None of it is a different app — it’s the same Today, re-ranked and re-framed by one parameter (who you are right now). That keeps it one codebase: mode is a ranking + framing input, plus a thin visitor-only orientation layer.

1 · Space

LocalSeveral areas you move between — multi-select chips (Northshore + Downtown).

VisitingOne anchor — your hotel — and everything ranked by distance from it (“4 min walk”).

2 · Time

LocalOpen-ended. This week, ongoing, save it for whenever.

VisitingA fixed trip window scopes everything — “through Sunday · 2 nights left.” A gentle countdown.

3 · What surfaces

LocalThe new and the rare — what you’d miss if you weren’t paying attention.

VisitingThe signature and the can’t-miss during your window — greatest hits, not the regular Tuesday.

4 · Orientation

LocalNone — you already know the city.

VisitingA quiet “what this place is known for” layer — the canon a local carries in their head.

5 · The regulars

LocalWeeklies are useful background — your trivia night, your run club.

VisitingHidden by default. Nobody flies in for neighborhood trivia.

6 · Your people

LocalFloat a night to your crew who live here — the full differentiator.

VisitingCoordinate with who you came with — share a trip shortlist, not rally a local group.

7 · Saving

LocalAn indefinite library you return to.

VisitingA finite trip shortlist that closes when you head home.

How far to diverge — the recommendation

Not two apps, and not a skin. The skeleton (Today, What’s On, Where to Go, the tab bar, every component) is shared. Mode flips four things: the spatial primitive (areas ↔ anchor + distance), the time container (ongoing ↔ trip window), the ranking (novelty ↔ signature, regulars shown ↔ hidden), and it adds one visitor-only orientation layer (“what this place is known for”). The social layer doesn’t disappear for visitors — it reframes to trip companions. That’s enough to make the two doors feel genuinely different to the reader while staying one buildable codebase. It also justifies the onboarding fork: the answer to “live here or visiting?” visibly changes the first Today they ever see.

Demo market: Chattanooga (anchor = The Edwin Hotel). Visiting mode shown in teal to read as a distinct door; production keeps the market accent and signals mode by content + the chip, not a second palette — palette divergence is a flag for Stacy, noted below.

One call for Stacy

Should Visiting get a faint visual signal of its own (the teal hint used here), or stay on the market accent and rely on content + the mode chip alone? My lean: content + chip only — a second palette risks reading as a different brand. The teal here is just to make the contrast legible on this board.