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HZ/LABExperiments, concepts and prototypes

Horizon Labs

Where we test ideas. Each build here is a working prototype made for an invented business, to explore a product problem before anyone has asked us to solve it.

Not client work. Every business on this page is fictional. The products we have shipped are under Work.

HZ/LAB 001

Concept

Practice website, patient portal and staff system

Northgate Dental

A concept build for an invented dental practice: a public website, a patient portal and a staff system running on one shared data set.

What it explores

  • One data set behind three interfaces: a booking made on the site appears in the staff diary
  • A waiting list that offers a cancelled appointment to the most urgent patient it fits
  • The same record in two registers: plain English for the patient, clinical notation for staff
Open the prototype (Northgate Dental, opens in a new tab)
The staff diary: four surgeries side by side, the day's figures above, and an appointment filled from the waiting list
The Northgate Dental website: headline, booking buttons, a photo of a consultation and the next check-up available

HZ/LAB 002

Concept

Gym website, class timetable and members' area

Ashmill Fitness

A concept build for an invented gym: a public site with a class timetable and a members' area that share one set of bookings.

What it explores

  • Shared state between two views: book in the members' area and the public timetable shows one space fewer
  • A waitlist that passes a cancelled booking to the first person on it
  • Class occupancy generated from the timetable rather than stored
Open the prototype (Ashmill Fitness, opens in a new tab)
The class timetable: a strip of days, class type filters, and each class with its coach, studio, spaces left and a Book or Join waitlist button
The members' area: next class, door code, visits this month, a waitlist place and a missed payment to settle

HZ/LAB 003

Concept

Electrician's website, online quotes and engineer's app

Castlow Electrical

A concept build for an invented electrical contractor: a website, quotes customers accept and book online, and the engineer's app, sharing one set of jobs.

What it explores

  • A quote that arrives as a link: the customer chooses, accepts and books without logging in
  • One set of jobs: an accepted quote appears on the engineer's day, and sign-off produces the certificate and invoice
  • Test results checked against BS 7671 limits as they are entered
Open the prototype (Castlow Electrical, opens in a new tab)
A customer's quote for an EV charger: the electrician's note, what the survey found, two chargers to choose between and the total with the deposit
The customer's quote page after booking: job progress, the appointment, a text from the electrician and the certificate and invoice

HZ/LAB 004

Concept

Letting agent website with map search and applications

Marlowe Lettings

A concept build for an invented letting agent, working entirely from public pages with no login.

What it explores

  • Property search with list and map views over a drawn map
  • Floor plans generated from room sizes, and deposits calculated from the rent
  • An application form that shows its affordability check as you type
Open the prototype (Marlowe Lettings, opens in a new tab)
Homes to rent in Millfield on a drawn map of the town, with a rent tag for each home beside the list of results
A listing for a two-bedroom apartment: a photo gallery, the rent, deposit and council tax, and a card to book a viewing or apply

HZ/LAB 005

Concept

Hair salon website, online booking and front desk

Aubrelle Studio

A concept build for an invented hair salon: a website, online booking and the front desk's appointment book, sharing one diary.

What it explores

  • Colour bookings that carry the skin test they need 48 hours before
  • Processing time, when a stylist is free to take another client inside an appointment
  • Prices that depend on which stylist does the work
Open the prototype (Aubrelle Studio, opens in a new tab)
The front-desk appointment book on a tablet: a column for each stylist, colour appointments with hatched processing time and a shorter appointment fitted inside it
Online booking: choosing a stylist or the first available, with each stylist's price for the chosen services and a booking summary

HZ/LAB 006

Concept

Restaurant website with allergen menus and table booking

Wrenfield

A concept build for an invented restaurant: menus, table booking, private dining and gift vouchers, all from public pages.

What it explores

  • A menu filter across fourteen allergens, with a full dish-by-allergen chart
  • A booking flow that models how sittings fill and falls back to a waiting list
  • A private-dining estimator and a gift-voucher builder with a live preview
Open the prototype (Wrenfield, opens in a new tab)
The dinner menu printed on a parchment card, with the allergens listed under each dish and a dietary and allergy filter above it
Booking a table: guests, a strip of dates, seating, and the dinner times, with full times offering the waiting list

Ground rules

How every Labs build is made

  • 01

    Invented, and checked

    Every business, person and address is made up, and each name is checked against Companies House and the open web before it is used.

  • 02

    Nothing stored or sent

    The prototypes run on local state. Nothing you enter is saved, transmitted or charged.

  • 03

    Built like the real thing

    Each one is written in Next.js, React and TypeScript, and works on a phone as well as a desktop.

Looking for software real people use? See our selected work

Have an idea worth testing?

A prototype is often the quickest way to find out whether something is worth building. Tell us what you want to try.

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Where we are
Zero Horizon Ltd, United Kingdom