Knowhere
An index of New York’s music schools, shops, venues, and organizations
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List and Map, together
List on a laptop with results filled in, and the same results on Map on a phone beside it.
Helping people find their way into New York’s music scene
Knowhere is a directory of New York’s music places, searchable by what you want to do, like learning, rehearsing, or fixing gear. Nothing is ranked by popularity, so small shops appear alongside large institutions. I designed and built the first release on my own, and it’s now live with testers.
Problem
Most people start on Google Maps, but they act on word of mouth.
I spoke with 8 people, including 3 musicians, 3 newcomers, and 2 longtime New Yorkers. Search favored larger businesses, and even friends who go out often didn’t know every venue in their own neighborhood.
Independent teachers, repair shops, rehearsal rooms, and small venues are often where someone starts playing or finds a community, and they’re the hardest places to find.
The design question was how to make a city’s worth of music places navigable without hiding any of them.
Decisions
Four decisions shaped the first release.
- No ranking by popularity. Results rank by how well they match, so small shops and community spaces stay visible next to large institutions. The cost is a “most popular” shortcut some people might expect.
- Places now, people later. People will be added later, only with their consent. The tradeoff is that independent teachers and session players are missing for now.
- Show the gaps. Unknown information is never presented as confirmed. The cost is a directory that can look unfinished, since some entries are missing an address or hours.
- Two views for the first release. I cut a third view, Explore, an open canvas for browsing without a goal, to keep the product simple and accessible. It will return in a later version.
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Showing the gaps
A composite of five listing details side by side: by appointment, book ahead, tickets, open to the public, and an office closed to visitors. Include one with no hours, so the missing information is visible.
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Before: Explore
The earlier open canvas for browsing without a goal.
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After: List and Map
The first release, framed at the same size, with the view switch visible.
Product
List and Map are two views of the same results.
Menu
Navigation has two levels: editorial, index, and info at the top, then list, map, and filters for browsing the index. Every filter shows how many results it leaves, so you never reach a dead end.
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The menu and filter panel
Move between editorial, index, and info, then open filters with “I want to” at the top. Tap a goal as the counts update and empty options gray out.
Filters
Filters start from what you want to do, because a goal is the one thing a newcomer already knows. Someone looking for somewhere loud to practice may not know to search for a rehearsal space.
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From a goal to results
Choose a goal such as rehearse, narrow by borough or genre, then search an everyday word like “gig.”
Map and List
Tapping a pin opens a card you can step through, so you can compare nearby places without leaving the map. List is a sortable table of every result and a complete alternative for anyone who can’t or would rather not use the map.
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Near me
Tap near me to center the map, tap a pin, then step through nearby places on its card.
Web and mobile
Web and mobile share the same parts. On a phone, the name column stays fixed while the rest scroll sideways.
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List on web
Controls across the top and every column visible.
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List on a phone
The same results, with controls at the bottom and the name column fixed.
Listing details
Details lead with a next step, such as the official website or directions. Every entry ends with a “suggest a fix” link.
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A listing on a phone
One screen of a listing: its next step, how to visit, the save control, and “suggest a fix.”
Visual system
The visual style was pared back so it’s simple to read and accessible.
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Type, color, and pins
The type scale and color swatches next to pins in each type’s icon and color, shown with real listings.
How I worked
Design and data run on separate tracks, and both pass through a review before anything reaches the build.
Define
Design
Build
Review
Release
Learn
Data
↑ Feedback from Learn shapes the next spec
I prototyped early because the open questions were about behavior.
Early concepts were static artboards, but the questions were how filters carry across views and how crowded the map gets in Manhattan.
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Static artboard
An early concept of one screen, before any code.
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Working prototype
The same screen running, with filters carrying from List to Map.
Coding agents helped build it. The judgment calls stayed with me.
Agents handled implementation, refactoring, and tests, working from a spec and design rules I wrote. The research, the category system, the final call on uncertain listings, the copy, and the accessibility review stayed with me.
In an earlier build, an agent-built map layout pushed overlapping pins up to 147 pixels from their real addresses as you zoomed. It looked tidy. I caught it in browser review, set the rule that pins stay at their real coordinates, and added tests so the problem couldn’t return.
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Pins pushed from their addresses
Zoom the earlier map as pins drift from their real addresses, then repeat the same zoom with pins staying at their real coordinates.
No single source covers it, so every listing gets reviewed.
One source files Carnegie Hall as a historic site and Brooklyn Bowl as a bowling alley, so I also keep a hand-added list and read anything uncertain myself.
Outcome
Knowhere is live for testers.
I’m gathering more feedback before a public beta. The index holds 1,156 listings, with 992 mapped. Coverage thins outside Manhattan and Brooklyn, so outer-borough sourcing is next.
I’m also working with collaborators on a search helper for people who aren’t sure what to look for, and on profiles for individual musicians and teachers, with consent built in.
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992 mapped places
Map zoomed out to all five boroughs with every mapped place showing, so the thinner coverage outside Manhattan and Brooklyn is visible.