DISCOVER

Problem space

Study after study finds that users are claiming to be comfortable with booking flights on their mobile devices (1-5), but the majority of flights are still booked on a computer or via phone (6).

In order to design an improved mobile flight booking experience, I first needed to empathize with users and learn what their motivations, goals and pain points are when searching for and booking flights (both in general and on mobile). I started with crafting a research plan to ensure I had clear objectives to guide my research process.

Research plan

Objective

Identify opportunities to improve the flight search and booking process. Understand individuals’ attitudes towards using chatbots to assist in mobile booking processes. 

Research questions

1. What pain points do people experience when searching for flights online?

2. What pain points do people experience when booking flights online?

3. What is most important to people when searching for and booking flights on a mobile device?

4. What are travelers’ attitudes towards using chatbots during the flight search and booking process?

Methodologies

• Screener survey to identify participants.

• User interviews (5) to gain further insights into flight searching and booking.

Participants

• Has booked a flight in the last 12 months

Market research

I combed credible travel industry sources and reports online, especially those completed by Phocuswright and SITA. I discovered that American and British travelers describe their top mobile flight booking pain points as

• Too much information

• Too much time

• Varying prices

• Lack of useful visuals (7)

I also read about the growing implementation of chatbots by airlines. As of 2019, SITA reported that over 25% of airlines have implemented chatbots and another 55% plan to implement them by 2021 (8). However, the most common tasks for chatbots are to direct passengers to FAQs and provide flight status information (9).

Competitive analysis

Next, I wanted to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the leading flight booking apps. I varied the types of apps in the analysis, including airline apps, online travel agency apps and Google Flights (which is currently only available as a mobile or desktop site). 

I dug deep into each step of the search and booking process, noting where apps excelled or could be improved. Some examples of my analysis are below. 

For a very detailed competitive analysis, click here.

Screener survey

To ensure I would be connecting with people who had booked at least one flight in the last 12 months (and who may have experience with chatbots), I used a screener survey. This also allowed me to collect a bit more data about device use for air travel planning.

34 people completed my screen survey. The results were a reflection of the information I discovered during my secondary research.

While 90% of survey respondents shared that they had used a computer to search for a flight in the last 12 months, less than 60% had used their mobile device to do so (whether it was via an app or a mobile website). It gets worse from there; less than half used a mobile app to book the flight while only 13% used a mobile website to do so.

What device(s) did you use for searching & booking the flight?

Check all that apply.

User interviews

Next, it was time to actually start talking with users (one of my favorite parts of the process). I developed an interview script to guide my conversation with the 7 people I selected for interviewing. I completed most of the interviews over Skype or on the phone, taking an audio recording of each and recording notes in a Google Sheets file. The script served as a guide, but I allowed the conversations to flow naturally.

Define

DESIGN

Solution concept development

After reviewing the pain points and goals of users, I decided to forego exploring the use of chatbots for flight searching and instead focus on a purely mobile app design. This was partially due to a resource and time constraint as I was the sole designer on this student project.

At the time, I was still considering a price alert feature in my solution. I also considered creating “sticky” filters (filters which would apply to every future flight search session).

Before sketching solutions, it was important for me to understand the key uses, functionality and information architecture of the app. I worked through this by writing user stories, creating user flows and creating a site map.

User stories

User flows

(Note: My user flows reflect my initial idea of applying filters to the search results before viewing them, with the option to save them as “sticky” filters.)

Site map

Sketches & scope refinement

Before I began sketching, I reviewed my solution concept again with my mentor. We discussed the need (or lack thereof) for the “sticky” filter feature and the logistics of coding this.

Ultimately, we opted to forego the price alerts feature and sticky filters to focus solely on improving the flight search and booking process in a mobile app.

Then I created rough sketches for the app, some of which are below.

deliver