Local vs Visiting — the two doors, designed (reconciled 2026-06-14)

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 Built · What’s On

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

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

LiveShipped in What’s On: Local filters to your areas; Visiting sorts by closeness to anchor + distance labels. Scoped to events only — Where to Go + the Today feed aren’t mode-aware yet (see #3).

2 · Time Designed

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

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

NextThe countdown needs trip dates, captured in the Visiting onboarding beat — so it builds when onboarding builds. Degrades gracefully without dates (anchor still works).

3 · What surfaces Designed

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.

NextA curation/ranking difference — APP left the Today feed + Where to Go unscoped this pass (null-heavy data makes blind filtering risky). The highest-value unbuilt axis: extend mode-ranking to those surfaces.

4 · Orientation Designed

LocalNone — you already know the city.

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

NextA small visitor-only module (needs an editorial “city canon” list per market — Content/Research input). Genuinely new surface, not just a re-rank.

5 · The regulars Designed

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

VisitingHidden by default. Nobody flies in for neighborhood trivia.

NextA visibility rule (hide recurring/weekly in Visiting) — cheap once mode-ranking reaches the feed (part of #3’s work).

6 · Your people Float deferred

Local~~Float a night to your crew who live here.~~ Deferred with the float (post-momentum).

Visiting~~Coordinate with who you came with — a trip shortlist for the group.~~ Deferred with the float.

Live nowThe personal layer that shipped instead = Follow (a band/venue you follow → alerts). It’s mode-agnostic — same in both doors — so this axis stops being a Local/Visiting difference for v1. When the float returns, its Local/Visiting split (rally-a-crew ↔ trip-shortlist) comes back with it.

7 · Saving Designed

LocalAn indefinite library you return to.

VisitingA finite trip shortlist that closes when you head home.

NextThe “trip shortlist that auto-closes” needs trip dates (rides with #2/onboarding). Saving itself works today; the trip-scoped variant is the unbuilt part. (Note: this is personal saving, not the deferred group shortlist in #6.)

How far to diverge — the recommendation (updated 6/14)

Not two apps, and not a skin. The skeleton (Today, What’s On, Where to Go, the tab bar, every component) is shared. After the re-spin, mode flips three things that are real for v1: the spatial primitive (areas ↔ anchor + distance) — built; the time container (ongoing ↔ trip window) — designed, builds with onboarding; and the ranking (novelty ↔ signature, regulars shown ↔ hidden) — designed, the highest-value next step — plus one visitor-only orientation layer. The social/coordination divergence (axis 6) is deferred with the float; the live personal layer (Follow) is mode-agnostic, so it isn’t a Local/Visiting difference for v1. That’s still enough to make the two doors feel genuinely different while staying one buildable codebase — and it still justifies the onboarding fork: “live here or visiting?” visibly changes the first Today they ever see (spatially, today; in ranking + time, as those land).

The build order for APP (what to reach for next)

1. Extend mode-ranking past What’s On to the Today feed + Where to Go (axes 3 + 5) — the biggest felt-difference for the least new surface. 2. Wire the Visiting onboarding beat (anchor + optional dates) → unlocks the trip window, countdown, and trip-shortlist (axes 2 + 7) — rides with onboarding whenever that builds. 3. The visitor orientation module (axis 4) — needs a per-market “city canon” list (Content/Research input), so it’s the most cross-desk. Axis 6 waits for the float.

Demo market: Chattanooga (anchor = The Edwin Hotel). Visiting mode shown in teal on this board only, to read as a distinct door.

Palette call — RESOLVED

Visiting stays on the market accent — mode is signaled by content + the mode chip, not a second palette (a separate color risked reading as a different brand). The teal here is board-only contrast. APP shipped the chip on the market accent, consistent with this.