Variation 01 · Map-first

The reference build

Matches spec exactly

Photo-led collection cards above the map; Mapbox-tinted Daylight basemap with cover-image collection pins. This is the spec rendered literally: State C home → Goa detail → Plan Q&A "must-keep". Microcopy verbatim from §16. Map strip stays at full snap for spatial screens; hidden for the text-heavy Plan Q&A per locked decision #2.

1 Home — State C · 7 collections, 42 places
9:41
6
4
5
12
7
2
8
Your map
7 collections, 42 places
Sort
Goa
6 places · 2 cities
Vietnam
5 places · 2 cities
Japan
12 places · 3 cities
Themed
Cafés to try
8 places · 4 cities
Search collections, ask anything.
Home
Explore
Map shows your saves at a glance — pins are cover-image collections sized by save count. Sheet defaults to 55%, swipe up to browse, tap a pin to fly there.
2 Collection Detail · Goa · full snap
9:41
Goa
6 places · 2 cities
All
Stay
Eat
Drink
See
Do
North Goa · 4
Baba au Rhum
Café · Assagao
₹₹ · Veg-friendly
The Mustard
Restaurant · Sangolda
₹₹₹
Sea Shell Hotel
Stay · Candolim
₹₹₹
South Goa · 2
The Cape
Stay · Cabo de Rama
Ask about anything in Goa.
Map strip stays at full snap (~70pt) — the spatial anchor never disappears. Place rows grouped by city, brass CTA persists at the bottom of the sheet.
3 Plan a trip · "Must keep" · Q7 (S11)
9:41
Plan a trip
WhenThis weekend
Days3
WhoFamily · Kids in tow
Budget₹35–75K
FromMumbai
VibeChill, Foodie

Pick what's coming with you.
I've checked the ones that fit; uncheck whatever you'd rather skip.

North Goa 3 of 4 included
Baba au Rhum
Café
The Mustard
Restaurant
Sea Shell Hotel
Stay
Antares Beach Club
Kids in tow
South Goa 2 of 3 included
The Cape
Stay
Cape Goa breakfast
Eat
Leopard Valley
Kids in tow
5 of 7 places 1 night per city
Companion bar collapses during Q&A per spec. Auto-checked rows tinted brass; excluded rows show reason chips ("Kids in tow"). Algorithm runs client-side, deterministic.
Variation 02 · Map-first

Editorial atlas

Same architecture · Less photo

Same map+sheet+bar architecture as V1, but the sheet leads with typography, not photography. Italic country names sit large and quiet; eyebrows are mono-cap; place rows lose their thumbnails and gain a creator quote with a thin brass left border. The map keeps brass-tinted pins but drops the count badge — every detail dialed for editorial restraint.

1 Home — State B · 2 collections, 11 places
9:41
G
V
Your map
2 collections · 11 places
Goa · India
Goa
6 places · 2 cities
Vietnam · Southeast Asia
Vietnam
What's calling you next?
Home
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Italic Instrument Serif country names dominate. A 4-up photo grid (not a hero) per collection. Brass great-circle arc on the map connects what's been saved — pure decoration.
2 Collection Detail · Goa · editorial
9:41
Goa
6 places · 2 cities
All
Stay
Eat
See
Do
North Goa 4 places
Baba au Rhum
Café · Assagao · ₹₹
"worth the morning queue — the croissants ruin you for everywhere else"
The Mustard
Restaurant · Sangolda · ₹₹₹
Sea Shell Hotel
Stay · Candolim · ₹₹₹
South Goa 2 places
The Cape
Stay · Cabo de Rama · ₹₹₹₹
"morning swims are private, the sunsets aren't"
Ask about anything in Goa.
No thumbnails on place rows — italic name, mono eyebrow, italic creator-take with thin brass left border. One photo per city, used as a section strip.
3 Place Card · Baba au Rhum
9:41
saved

Baba au Rhum

Café · Assagao, North Goa · ₹₹ · Veg-friendly

French-leaning bakery and café in a Portuguese villa. Croissants, sourdough, slow weekends. Open daily 8:30am — 6pm.

"the croissants here ruined me for everywhere else"
From a saved reel

178 saved · 12 in the last week.

Directions
Share
Move
Ask about Baba au Rhum.
Italic name dominates. About body names hours bluntly. The saved-reel quote sits in italic with brass left border — evidence, not chrome.
Variation 03 · Counter-proposal

The Drift Calendar

Breaks architecture · No map

A user's saves form a personal travel diary. Reading them as a calendar gives the user a felt sense of momentum — "I've been thinking about Vietnam for a month now" — that a map never communicates. Companion blurbs sit between entries, always specific, never generic. The companion bar persists; the map doesn't.

1 Home — Calendar feed
9:41

Your saves

Vietnam keeps showing up — five places this month.

This week

Goa

Three new places landed today.

6 places · North + South Open
Earlier this month

Vietnam

Cafés in Hanoi, mostly.

5 places · 2 cities Open
March

Japan

12 places · 3 cities Open
Vietnam keeps showing up. Plan it?
Home
Explore
No map. Time-stamped editorial entries. The companion's blurb sits as a quiet italic line between the photo strip and the meta — earned commentary, not marketing.
2 Collection Detail · Goa as diary
9:41
Goa
6 places · 2 cities · updated today
Today
Baba au Rhum
Café · Assagao
today
The Mustard
Restaurant · Sangolda
today
Last week
Sea Shell Hotel
Stay · Candolim
3d
Antares Beach Club
Drink · Vagator
5d
March
The Cape
Stay · Cabo de Rama
Mar 22
Leopard Valley
Drink · Palolem
Mar 18
Plan this in 3 days?
Home
Explore
Same diary read at the place level. Brass CTA stays at the top of the scroll. Each row is a single save with a small thumb, italic name, mono meta, day-saved tag.
3 Companion chat · full-bleed
9:41
From Goa

Six places in Goa, mostly North. Three days, family with kids — most of it works as a Saturday-to-Monday with one day in the south.

3 days, this weekend

Beach-shacks-and-sunsets Goa, Assagao-cafés-and-vinyl Goa, or both?

"the croissants here ruined me for everywhere else"From a saved take
South Goa, day 3
Cape de Rama · slower, fewer crowds

Both

Got it. Drawing it now — should take 20 seconds.

Slot in a beach day
Find a stay near Assagao
Cheaper option?
Ask about anything in your collections
No map, no avatar, no name. Italic prose paragraphs left-margin'd 12pt; user messages right-aligned in sand bubbles. Inline DestinationCard + brass quick-reply pills.
Variation 04 · Counter-proposal

The place diary

Breaks architecture · No collections at top level

Collections are a layer the system imposes (state, country, theme). Maybe the user's actual mental model is just "the things I've found, in the order I found them." V4 honors that as a counter-proposal: a flat, time-led, letterboxd-style log of every place ever saved. Newest first. Date headers separate batches. Filters slide in to narrow without re-grouping.

1 Home — Diary feed
9:41

Your places

87 places · 6 countries
This week
Baba au Rhum
Café · Goa
today
The Mustard
Restaurant · Goa
today
Sea Shell Hotel
Stay · Goa
2d
Last month
Café Yu
Café · Hanoi
12d
Bún Chả 34
Restaurant · Hanoi
14d
Hoi An Lantern Café
Café · Hoi An
18d
March
Fushimi Inari
See · Kyoto
Mar 22
Bamboo Grove
See · Arashiyama
Mar 18
87 places, 6 countries — what's next?
Home
Explore
Each row is one place. Tiny category dot (bordeaux=eat, sage=stay, sky=see, brass=do). 32pt thumb. Italic name. Mono date stamp. Brass section dividers. No collections at top level.
2 Filtered · Vietnam · Café
9:41

Your places

4 cafés · Vietnam · all time
Vietnam
Café
Mood
Creator
Last month
Café Yu
Café · Hanoi
12d
Cộng Cà Phê
Café · Hanoi
15d
Hoi An Lantern Café
Café · Hoi An
18d
February
The Note Coffee
Café · Hanoi
Feb 14
— end of cafés in vietnam —
Plan a coffee crawl in Hanoi?
Home
Explore
Filters slide in inline as brass-active chips. The diary remains chronological — filters narrow, never re-group. Companion picks up the new context: "Plan a coffee crawl in Hanoi?"
3 Place Card · with diary signature
9:41
saved

Café Yu

Café · Hanoi · ₹
Saved Sunday, Mar 22 · 12 days ago

Old-quarter coffee window. Pho-grade espresso, rotating single-origins. Open 7am — 9pm.

42 saved · 6 in the last week.

Directions
Share
Move
Ask about Café Yu.
Home
Explore
Diary signature appears as a brass mono caption right under the eyebrow ("Saved Sunday, Mar 22 · 12 days ago"). Reinforces the V4 thesis at every level: time first, place second.