Change of Flight App
Designed for Airlines Cabin Crew.
Project Overview
Change of Flight is a platform dedicated to managing crew roster availability and facilitating swaps. Its primary user base consists of individuals who require rescheduling their roster to accommodate personal needs.
Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and responsive design.
My Role
UX designer leading the app from conception to final design.
Project Duration
3 months
The Problem
The Airline’s cabin crew is rostered with a different schedule every month and the change of flight system is confusing. Crew needs to go through a lot of steps in order to send out the swapping request.
The Goal
Design a user friendly app that shortened and simplified the change of flight process.
Process Overview
Understanding the User
Having previously worked as cabin crew, I empathize with the challenges of rescheduling rosters. The process is arduous, requiring navigation through multiple platforms to reach crew members, and it doesn't end there. Many interview participants expressed frustration with the current flight change procedures. Feedback from our research unequivocally indicates that users would eagerly embrace a new platform if it provided a user-friendly tool to streamline the process.
Initial Research:
What is the Users’ Experience with the current change of flight system?
How the current change of flight works:
Send Flight Information
Currently, we are required to distribute flight information or search for specific crew members or flights across multiple group chats on WhatsApp.
Send Request
Once we've identified a crew member willing to swap the flight, we encounter several unnecessary steps when submitting the request.
Wait for Approval
At times, the system's slow response time leaves us with insufficient time to explore alternative options for rescheduling our flight.
I interviewed 8 Cabin Crew to understand:
What are their context and current behavior?
What are their frustrations?
What are their goals and needs?
What are the benefits I can provide?
Data shows that users are suffering:
60%
Change of flight failure rate
5
Days to complete flights swap
Interviews show that there are 3 major user pain points:
Persona &
Problem Statement
Jasmine, a senior cabin crew member, requires additional time to care for her four-year-old daughter due to her husband's weekday office hours.
User Journey
Starting the Design
Starting the Design
Digital Wireframes
After brainstorming ideas and sketching paper wireframes, I developed the initial designs for the cabin crew COF app. These designs are centered around providing personalized guidance to users, aiding them in effectively managing their roster.
Design Ideation
Design Principle for COF: User Control, Simple, Navigable, Consistency
How might we
…make the motivation and search bar easier to use and make it trustworthy and simplify the request workflow?
How might we
…organize and display crew member and flight information and deliver a clear visual hierarchy?
Usability Study Findings
In preparation for testing, I crafted a low-fidelity prototype. This prototype was utilized to carry out an unmoderated usability study involving 8 participants. Here are the key findings revealed by the usability study:
1. Respond Requests
Users pointed out that besides sending out requests they also need the options to accept/reject requests from other colleagues.
2. Clearer Indications
Users had difficulty recognizing the image is actually a button that links to another page.
Mockups
Drawing from the insights gleaned from usability studies, I implemented design changes such as introducing a distinct section on the My Request page, enabling users to easily choose between accepting or declining requests.
Before usability study
After usability study
Additional design changes incorporated simplifying the information regarding others' schedules. I transformed it into a button format, allowing users to click through to view detailed information.
Before usability study
After usability study
Accessibility Considerations
1. Screen readers
Ensure that interactive elements have clear labels that are accessible to screen readers.
2. Information Architecture
The primary objective of the home screen is to establish and clarify the main task or action for the user.
Final Design
01. Delivered Clear Information and Visual Hierarchy
02. Smoothened Workflow
High-Fidelity Prototype
The high-fidelity prototype included the design changes made after the usability study.
View the COF high-fidelity prototype
What Users Are Saying
— Cabin Crew, Jaclyn W.
“The design gives me the impression that it understands my needs and knows precisely how to facilitate easy schedule swaps.”
— Cabin Crew, Lily Y.
“This APP is so easy to use and I can achieve what I want without any frustrations.”
— Cabin Crew, Amy W.
“COF truly saves me a significant amount of time and energy. Typically, it would take me a week to reschedule my roster, but with this app, I can accomplish it within a day!”
— Cabin Crew, Annie L.
“How I wish this is a real APP!”
Going Forward
Takeaways
Impact:
Users have expressed that the app greatly simplifies the process of swapping flights. One quote from peer feedback that particularly resonated with me was, "The COF app makes the cabin crew's life easier in a way that's both simple and engaging."
What I learned:
Through this experience, I discovered that despite the complexity of the problem I aimed to address, systematically following each stage of the design process and closely aligning with user requirements enabled me to generate solutions that were both practical and valuable. It became evident that distinguishing between essential needs and desirable features was crucial. Personas played a vital role throughout the design journey, reminding me to continually reassess whether our design concepts were truly necessary or merely based on assumptions.
Next Steps
Research:
Continuously gather user feedback on the high-fidelity design, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods. Conduct research to assess the app's effectiveness in helping users achieve their goals of obtaining desired flights or days off.
Features:
Further explore various UI patterns and reconsider the navigation bar to enhance the workflow for seamless switching between different sections.