Turning in-venue gameplay into a connected digital experience for Lane7

They’re recognised for their vibrant, high-energy atmosphere and modern approach to social gaming. Blending boutique bowling with interactive experiences such as karaoke, beer pong, mini golf, and arcade-style games, Lane7 has created venues designed around competitive socialising and memorable nights out.

Their venues are built to encourage group interaction, immersive entertainment, and repeat visits, making technology and customer engagement a key part of the overall experience.

Lane7 chose us to produce an interactive portal that allows customers to compete in groups and track who can achieve the highest scores across a range of fairground-style games throughout the venue.

Lane7 approached us with the brief to design and develop a game-ready scoring system that could be displayed across tablets, venue screens, and large-format displays. The platform needed to reflect Lane7’s bold and modern visual identity, while also providing reliable real-time score tracking, player management, and leaderboard functionality.

The system needed to support multiple touchpoints throughout the venue, allowing guests to seamlessly create groups, join existing teams, compete in games, and view live scores during their visit. Alongside the customer-facing experience, the solution also required a scalable backend capable of storing player information, syncing scores across devices, and integrating with third-party hardware such as RFID card readers.

A key objective of the project was to enhance the competitive atmosphere within the venue by making scores and rankings highly visible, interactive, and engaging for guests throughout their experience.

Tablet-based frontend

The web application needed to perform reliably on in-house tablets while maintaining a polished, engaging user experience consistent with the Lane7 brand.

The interface had to be intuitive enough for first-time users to navigate quickly in a busy venue environment, while also remaining visually exciting and responsive across multiple screen sizes.

User Interaction with Tablets

To begin their experience, players are required to either create a new group or join an existing one. When creating a group, multiple users can be added to the team, streamlining the process for tracking collective scores and encouraging social competition.

Each player is prompted to enter their details, including their name, email address, and other relevant information. This group-focused onboarding process creates a more engaging experience, whether guests are playing casually with friends or competing against other groups across the venue.

Tablet Onboarding

Upon arrival, guests are greeted by tablets in a standby state displaying a clear “Tap to Begin” prompt. While idle, the screens showcase animated backgrounds, looping B-roll footage, or slideshows featuring the games available throughout the venue.

This approach transforms otherwise inactive screens into visually engaging digital signage that captures attention, builds anticipation, and introduces guests to the available experiences before they even begin interacting with the system.

Main Menu Navigation

Once a user interacts with a tablet, they are taken to a central navigation menu featuring options such as:

• Create Group
• Join Group
• See Your Scores
• Leaderboards

This menu acts as the primary navigation hub, allowing users to quickly access the features most relevant to them while keeping the overall experience simple and easy to follow.

Group Creation and Joining

Multiple tablets are positioned throughout the venue, enabling guests to create groups and track their progress from anywhere on-site.

When selecting “Create Group,” users are prompted to enter a unique group name and select a group icon to establish their team identity for the session. Other users can then join that group from any tablet by entering the correct group name.

To avoid conflicts between active sessions, group names must remain unique for the day. One of the main challenges within this flow was balancing simplicity with reliability, ensuring that joining a group remained quick and intuitive while still maintaining the integrity of the scoring system.

Web frontend

We worked closely with Lane7’s internal design team to define the available user journeys, frontend functionality, and overall experience across tablets and public-facing displays.

The frontend platform was designed to be accessible both within the venue and externally through leaderboard.lane7.com, allowing players to revisit scores and leaderboards beyond their visit.

Using functional mockups provided by the Lane7 team, we focused on building a clean, responsive interface optimised for touch interactions and large-format displays. The experience was intentionally designed to remain simple and highly accessible, ensuring guests could quickly navigate the platform in a fast-paced venue environment.

The frontend architecture was designed around a lightweight modern framework, enabling fast loading times, smooth transitions, and easy deployment through Cloudflare Pages. The application communicates directly with the Scores API using JavaScript, providing near real-time score updates across all connected devices.

Key frontend features included:

• Tablet onboarding experiences
• Group creation and management
• Live score tracking
• Interactive leaderboards
• Game filtering and venue filtering
• Public-facing score displays
• Responsive layouts for tablets and large screens

Real-time Venue Experience

A major focus of the project was creating a connected venue-wide experience that extended beyond individual games.

By combining tablets, live leaderboards, and venue-wide display screens, the system transformed scoring into a central part of the customer experience. Guests could instantly see where they ranked, follow their group’s progress, and compete against others throughout the venue in real time.

The result was a digital experience that enhanced engagement, encouraged repeat gameplay, and reinforced the social, competitive atmosphere that defines the Lane7 brand.