Next Gig

Next Gig (originally Gig Hub) is a mobile-first progressive web app designed to solve the logistical and administrative challenges faced by independent gigging musicians in the UK.

Working musicians operate in a demanding environment: they must perform, coordinate ensembles, manage emergency bookings, and track complex freelance earnings. In practice, this coordination is fragmented across SMS, WhatsApp group-chats, and emails, leading to miscommunication, double bookings, and tax-season stress.

I designed and built Next Gig from scratch as a single, calm source of truth. The application acts as a transaction diary where bookings have explicit states, payment details are documented, and roster communications are automated.

Freelance live music operates on a network of backup players known as deps (substitutes). When a core band member cannot make a date, the band leader (MD) has to find a replacement.

In a typical setup, the MD messages multiple players. This informal system creates three main problems:

• Dep Churn: Messages get lost in busy WhatsApp chats. Band leaders end up chasing people individually, leading to phone tag and last-minute panic.
• Ambiguous Confirmations:Informal messages like “maybe” or “should be fine” are easily misread as confirmations. Gigs can go unfilled or get double-booked because there is no single record of who agreed to what.
• Scattered Finances: Musicians must track their earnings, travel mileage, and expenses for self-assessment tax returns. Since fees and details are scattered across messages and spreadsheets, completing tax returns is often a chaotic manual process.

Next Gig structures the communication around gig bookings. By treating each booking as a transaction with a defined state, we replace noisy chats with clean actions:

• For Band Leaders: A dashboard to manage gigs, coordinate lineups, and send automated offers to dep rosters.
• For Deps: A clean mobile interface to review gig details (date, fee, venue, load-in time) and accept or decline with one tap.
• For Ensembles: A shared schedule that automatically alerts members to date conflicts.
• For the Individual: A private ledger that tracks fees and expenses, rolling them up into a UK tax-year summary.

To refine the app, I conducted regular usability reviews against our primary user personas: Priya (the busy MD), Jamie (the dep on the go), and Cal (the committed band member).

These reviews highlighted three main friction points, which I addressed in the final design:

Next Gig is designed primarily for mobile-first usage. The visual design prioritizes readability and ease of use in low-light gig environments:

• FormSidePanel split-header pattern: A layout that places key action parameters (Date, Time, Fee) in a sticky header block above the scrollable details sheet, ensuring primary information remains visible.
• Semantic Coverage Badges: Standardized badges (Covered, Pending, and Offered) allow band leaders to check booking statuses at a glance.
• CSS Motion Staggers:Subtle staggers on list entries guide the user's eye and improve the perceived responsiveness of real-time data loads.

Next Gig is live at nextgigapp.com (opens in new tab) as an installable PWA research preview.

The project has achieved its primary goals:

• Pilot Validation: The app is actively used by a group of freelance musicians to coordinate bookings and track schedules.
• Performance and Accessibility: Built as a lightweight React application, Next Gig maintains high performance and meets web accessibility guidelines.
• Process Validation: Serving as a testbed for design patterns, real-time database syncing, and developer handoff processes.