The game day guest
Find a place to eat before or after the event.
Path
- Homepage
- Game day dining
- View Menus
- Upcoming Event
- Visit
Important information
Ticket holder access, opening timing, menu, and location.
601 Miami restaurant and events website
One destination. Three reasons to visit.
I helped shape 601 Miami into a clearer digital destination for dinner, game day, and private events. The work combined content design, seasonal publishing, brand alignment, SEO structure, and simpler paths to the actions guests needed most.
- Role: Web content, UX, and product design
- Company: Miami HEAT and Kaseya Center
- Focus: Menus, events, and game day dining
- Experience: Responsive hospitality website
02 · Overview
A hospitality site connected to a live event calendar
601 Miami needed to feel like a destination of its own while remaining connected to the energy and schedule of the arena. The website had to move easily between appetite, occasion, and event planning.
I focused on the moments when visitors needed confidence. What is on the menu. Can I host my event here. How does dining work on game day. Each question became a clear path through the page.
- Primary journeys
- Menus, private events, and upcoming events
- Content rhythm
- Seasonal food and event updates
- Brand relationship
- 601 Miami first, HEAT connection second
- Operational need
- Reusable content that stays easy to update
03 · The challenge
Beautiful photography was only useful if guests could act on it
The restaurant had strong visual material and a compelling location, but the site needed clearer priorities. Menu browsers, ticket holders, and event planners arrived with different questions. If every message had the same weight, the page became slower to understand.
Seasonal changes created a second challenge. New dishes, drinks, events, and availability had to be published without rebuilding the experience or creating inconsistent pages.
Dining discovery
Guests needed a faster path from a food image to the current menu.
Event confidence
Planners needed to understand the experience and reach an inquiry action without hunting.
Content upkeep
Editors needed reliable patterns for changing menus and event content throughout the season.
04 · Product thinking
Organize the experience around appetite, occasion, and action
Appetite
What can I eat or drink?
Content
Food photography, menu categories, signature items, and View Menus.
Occasion
Is this right for my game day or private event?
Content
Event spaces, atmosphere, waterfront setting, arena access, and upcoming dates.
Action
What should I do next?
Content
View Menus, View Event Spaces, View Upcoming Events, Contact, and inquiry paths.
This model kept the page focused on real visitor decisions. The imagery created desire, the content answered practical questions, and the call to action moved the guest forward.
05 · Visitor journeys
Three visitors, three clear routes
The menu browser
See what feels worth the visit.
Path
- Food story
- Menu categories
- Featured dishes and drinks
- Visit details
Important information
Clear categories, readable item names, and current seasonal content.
The event planner
Understand the spaces and start an inquiry.
Path
- Event story
- Spaces
- Setting and amenities
- Contact or inquiry
Important information
Event type fit, strong photography, useful details, and a visible next step.
06 · Structure
Give every major intent a dependable home
- Home
-
Menus
- Menu overview
- Food categories
- Drinks and cocktails
- Seasonal updates
-
Special Events
- Event spaces
- Experience and setting
- Inquiry path
- Calendar or Upcoming Events
- Contact and visit information
The navigation stayed short because the photographs and page content carried the story. The menu labels used the same words guests were already looking for.
07 · Content operations
Make seasonal updates feel routine, not risky
Image led hero
Fields
Image, alt text, focal point, optional link, display order.
Story split
Fields
Eyebrow, heading, short copy, image, and one primary action.
Menu section
Fields
Category, item name, description, dietary note when provided, and availability.
Event space feature
Fields
Space name, photography, best use, verified details, and inquiry action.
Upcoming event card
Fields
Event name, date, timing, dining relevance, and link.
Visit information
Fields
Address, phone, event day access, and verified opening information.
Update flow
- Content request
- Draft
- Review
- Publish
- Verify
The goal was not to remove editorial judgment. It was to give editors a predictable structure so each update stayed readable, accurate, and on brand.
08 · Menu experience
Let the food lead, then make the details easy to scan
- Start with strong photography and one sentence that sets the dining expectation.
- Group menu items into meaningful categories rather than one long list.
- Keep item names prominent and descriptions concise.
- Make seasonal availability easy to update.
- Keep View Menus visible before long brand copy.
Content model, not production screen
Menu section
Category name
One short line that sets the dining expectation.
Menu item, repeated
Item name
Seasonal
Description, plus a dietary note when the kitchen provides one.
Item name
Available
Primary action
View MenusI treated menu content as structured information, not a poster. That made it easier to update, easier to scan on a phone, and easier for search engines to understand.
09 · Event inquiries
Turn atmosphere into a confident next step
-
Step one
Inspire
Use the view, atmosphere, dining rooms, and Cabana spaces to help guests imagine the occasion.
-
Step two
Qualify
Explain what kinds of events the venue supports using only verified content.
-
Step three
Inform
Present practical details in a consistent and scannable format.
-
Step four
Inquire
Keep View Event Spaces and Contact visible and specific.
The event path needed to do more than look premium. It had to reduce uncertainty. I organized the information so planners could understand the offer, assess fit, and know how to continue.
View Event Spaces
Contact
Case study illustration of the action pair. Not a working form.
10 · Arena experience
Make dinner part of the event plan
-
01
Find the arena event
-
02
Discover 601 Miami
-
03
Review the menu
-
04
Arrive before the event
-
05
Dine, then continue into the venue
The official 601 Miami site says the restaurant opens to ticket holders 90 minutes before event start times.
The website connected dining to the event without making the restaurant feel like a generic arena concession. Timing, access, and location helped make the experience practical. Photography and voice helped it remain distinctly 601 Miami.
11 · Visual direction
Connected to the HEAT, confident as 601 Miami
-
Black creates an evening hospitality tone and a natural link to arena energy.
-
Deep red connects the experience to Miami HEAT without turning every section into team branding.
-
Warm white gives food photography and editorial copy room to breathe.
-
Large image blocks make the space and menu feel tangible.
Type specimen
Dinner, game day, events
Lede, 600 weight available for emphasis.
Body copy at 16 pixels, weights 400, 600, and 700 only.
Palette
- Night
- #0D0D0E
- 601 red
- #C8102E
- Canvas
- #F8F6F2
- Brass detail
- #B58B4A
The production page used an alternating image and copy rhythm to move between dining, private events, and game day.
12 · SEO and content structure
Help people and search engines understand the same page
Page structure
- One descriptive H1 for the main page purpose.
- Clear H2 headings for menus, private events, and game day information.
- Descriptive page titles and meta descriptions.
- Unique event titles, dates, locations, and links.
- Useful alt text that describes the food or space without keyword stuffing.
Structured data
- Restaurant for the venue identity and address.
- Menu, MenuSection, and MenuItem for published menu content.
- Event for verified public events.
- PostalAddress for location details.
- OpeningHoursSpecification only when the hours are accurate and maintained.
Structured data should reflect visible, verified content. Never add values only for search engines, and never publish hours or event details that the content team cannot keep current.
13 · Quality
Hospitality should feel easy on every screen
Responsive behavior
- Stack image and copy panels into one clear reading order.
- Keep primary actions visible without making them sticky over content.
- Preserve useful image crops with an intentional focal point.
- Keep menu categories easy to scan with one hand.
Accessibility
- Use semantic headings and landmarks.
- Keep visible keyboard focus and 44 pixel minimum targets.
- Maintain strong contrast over black, red, and photography.
- Give carousel controls readable labels and keyboard support.
- Never put essential text inside an image.
Performance
- Use responsive image sources and modern formats.
- Load the hero image with the correct dimensions to prevent layout shift.
- Lazy load images below the first viewport.
- Avoid autoplay video and heavy parallax.
- Keep motion light enough for a content rich hospitality page.
14 · Outcome
A clearer path from interest to visit or inquiry
I worked across copy, imagery, page structure, publishing, and quality assurance. Seasonal changes were reviewed in context, then checked after publishing on desktop and mobile. Event links, menu content, headings, metadata, and visible calls to action were part of the same release check.
- Created a clearer path to current menus and game day dining information.
- Made private event discovery and inquiry actions easier to find.
- Kept the restaurant connected to the Miami HEAT and arena experience while protecting its own identity.
- Improved the maintainability of seasonal menu and event content.
- Added a stronger semantic foundation for menu and event search visibility.
The best hospitality sites answer practical questions without losing the feeling of the place
This project reinforced that content operations are part of the guest experience. A beautiful page loses value when the menu is old, the event path is unclear, or mobile visitors cannot find the next step. The strongest solution combined visual appetite with dependable information and a publishing structure the team could keep current.
Good hospitality begins before the guest arrives.