Fly UX
Rethinking the airline booking process
The challenge for the Fly UX website was to create a user-focused airline website with the primary goal of streamlining the flight search and selection process. I wanted to discover and address any barriers that prevent users from accomplishing their goals in the current flight booking process and to understand how I could make the online flight booking process as friction free as possible.
I completed this project as a part of the graduation requirements for the UX Design Institute’s Professional Diploma in UX Design.
ROLE: Researcher and UX/UI designer
TIMELINE: March 2020 – June 2020
TOOLS: Adobe XD, Zoom, Miro, Survey Monkey, Adobe Illustrator
TEAM: Me, Myself, and I!
Research
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
⭐KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Simple flight selection above the fold, with flight management as secondary option
- Flight selection page with several options for date/time that are clearly laid out for easy comparison
- The ability to adjust the search based on what is most important to the user
- The use of visual hierarchy to make it easy to make sense of large amounts of important information
SURVEY
I created a survey focused on discovering both traveler’s impressions and the frustrations when using airline websites. I found that many users were frustrated with the lack of user focused design – the websites weren’t helping users accomplish their core goals.
⭐KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Among the key complaints were an overabundance of advertisements and add-ons, faulty navigation, and the lack of the ability to easily compare different options.
USER INTERVIEW AND USER TEST
I first interviewed the user to discover her behaviors, goals, and the context in which she uses travel websites. Afterwards, I conducted a comparative usability test with the user to determine how two best-in-class websites facilitate (or fail to facilitate) the high-level flow of booking a flight. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the test was conducted remotely over Zoom.
⭐KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Users emphasized the importance of price and convenience when choosing flights.
Analysis
AFFINITY DIAGRAM
After conducting my research, in conjunction with the research provided by the UX Design Institute, I had a large amount of raw qualitative data to sort through and organize. To give structure to this data, I led an affinity diagraming session with my fellow UXer Teresa Fong remotely using Miro. A mountain of data became actionable insights in a matter of hours!
PERSONA
I developed a user persona based on analysis of the qualitative data to guide design decisions and priorities moving forward into the design phase.
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP
To give further structure to the qualitative data and to create visual documentation of the key findings from the research phase of the project, I created a customer journey map using the insights from the affinity diagraming session and the priorities of the user persona.
Ideation
MICRO FLOW DIAGRAM
In order to prepare for designing screen details, I created a micro-flow diagram that focused on the minutia of action and reaction between the user and software during the flight booking process.
SKETCHING
After gathering and analyzing my data, it was time to start putting pen to paper! I drew and refined several iterations of sketches, keeping Morgan’s wants and needs in mind, until I felt I had a good blueprint for moving forward.
Development
PROTOTYPING
Using Adobe XD, I created a mid-fidelity prototype following the high-level flow of booking a flight.
USER TESTING (VALIDATING THE DESIGN)
Using my mid-fidelity prototype, I conducted two more usability tests. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the tests were conducted remotely over Zoom.
During the session, I gave users the task of booking a flight through the Fly UX website. Although the users generally felt the website was easy to use and were able to navigate throught it without difficulty, the tests revealed that the flight selection page did have issues with readability , which I remedied in the next iteration of the prototype.
MAKING THE APP
Although not required by the UX Design Institute in order to graduate, I decided I wanted to challenge myself by building a companion app for the Fly UX website.
To develop the app, I utilized my findings from the research and analysis phase, alongside new user tests and competitive analyses of competitors’ apps. I then followed the same process of ideation and development as the website, including user testing.
Reflection
The Fly UX project was a wonderful opportunity for me to gain a wealth of knowledge in the different tools, concepts, and practices within the field of UX. Although limited in scope, it provided excellent insight into how to properly conduct effective user research, and how to then reflect that research in a meaningful way in a product’s experience and visual design.
From beginning to end, this project was a welcome challenge to my skills in design and research, and through this challenge I have seen myself grow monumentally as a UX designer.
