Con Alma Corporate Partnerships
Reframing a B2B service that fills weekday capacity while maintaining brand integrity for a local jazz venue.
KEY IMPACT
Designed a corporate booking service to fill weekday capacity while maintaining brand integrity.
ROLE
Product Designer
TOOLS & SKILLS
Service Blueprinting, Stakeholder Mapping, Experience Architecture
TEAM
5 Product Designers
TIMELINE
Fall 2025
CHALLENGE
A Jazz Venue with Quiet Weekdays
Con Alma, a Pittsburgh jazz venue and restaurant, struggled with weekday traffic and wanted to attract higher-spending customers without changing the experience that made the venue special.
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
Exploratory Research and Value Mapping
Owner interviews, customer conversations, and in-venue visits grounded the work in how Con Alma actually operated. I led early brainstorming sessions using reverse assumptions, value mapping, and service blueprinting to generate a wide range of concepts before narrowing our focus.
THE PIVOT
From Discounts to Corporate Clients
Client feedback + everyday observation reframed our entire approach:
INITIAL CONCEPT
A weekday special: “$20 jazz ticket with a free drink.”
FINAL CONCEPT
A B2B corporate partnership service designed for clients who already matched Con Alma’s desired spend and sensibility.
DESIGN PROCESS
Designing the Service Ecosystem
By repositioning corporate buyers as central actors in Con Alma’s service ecosystem, we could build around the desire, budget, and behavior patterns that aligned with the venue’s goals.
There was no clear way for corporate clients to discover, understand, or initiate a booking, which meant the new service needed a distinct front-end entry point.
THE SOLUTION
A Modular Corporate Booking Experience
The website redesign addressed a discovery problem: it transformed Con Alma’s weeknight capacity into a premium team experience with clear, pre-defined food, beverage, and live jazz tiers.
FOR CON ALMA
Fill weekday gaps with high-value customers while maintaining brand integrity and keeping operational overhead low through standardized packages.
FOR CORPORATE CLIENTS
A distinctive, hassle-free way to host a team event in an environment that feels genuinely special.
IMPACT
A New Revenue Stream that Feels like Con Alma
The service targets high-spending groups seeking unique venues for team events. By filling weekday capacity with advance corporate bookings, it creates more predictable revenue without compromising the weekend experience that defines Con Alma’s character.
WHAT THE TEAM DELIVERED
A fully designed corporate partnership service with an operational blueprint, modular package structure, video prototype, and business case for feasibility.
WHAT I DELIVERED
A website redesign concept that introduces the corporate service as a distinct B2B entry point.
REFLECTION
Designing with a Business’s Soul Intact
Good service design isn’t always about inventing something from scratch; it can be about reconfiguring existing value in ways that better serve specific people.
This project taught me to…
Let client feedback reshape the vision
Stay open to insights from everyday observation
Balance stakeholder needs with the real needs of end users
Thank you to Con Alma’s owners for their openness, trust, and for sharing what it means to run a business with soul.