DELTA: Flight Search Improvement
The goal of this project was to improve the online flight booking process
for Delta Airlines.
​
​
My Role
Competitive Research, Usability Testing, User Interviews, User Flows
Wireframing, Prototyping, Responsive Design
​
Team and Timeline
Solo Project, 11 Days
​
Tools
Figma, Miro
Background
As a solo project, I was able to choose the client and scope of work. I wanted to find a feature with some complexity that I could explore, but also needed to take into consideration that users would need access to the feature for research and testing purposes. Booking a flight online is easily accessible, so I chose to work on Delta's desktop flight booking tool.
Heuristic and Competitive Audit
To find a way into a problem space, I chose to first look for any potential heuristic issues and then I compared those issues to competitors.
​
One of the minor issues discovered during the Heuristic Evaluation was Visibility of System Status. When scrolling down the page, visibility is lost to filter choices, day of the week, inbound vs outbound, and type of payment. A user would need to scroll back to the top of the page to access this data and to modify any choices made.
I audited two competitors, Southwest and JetBlue, who had a similar level of brand loyalty to Delta to see how they fared with visibility to user choices and if their features potentially made searching for and booking a flight easier.
Both airlines had the same issue that Delta had and lost visibility while scrolling, but I discovered they had four unique features that Delta did not have. These included a filter option to search by time block, recent searches, estimated total trip dollar amount, and listing outbound and inbound flight options on the same page.
Current Delta.com:
Key information at the top of the page (Outbound, Day of the Week, Payment Options, Sort & Filter) is lost when a user scrolls down the page.
Using Research to Define the Problem Spacee
User Flow
I built a user flow to understand if there were any gaps or inefficiencies in the process of booking a flight. The user flow shows that the process is tightly organized and really simple for users to move forward and to go back and make changes.
.jpg)
Usability Testing + User Interviews
Since the user flow didn't reveal any major problems, I wanted a first-hand glimpse into how users booked a flight. I used a combined usability test and user interview to understand the user's process and to determine how users felt about the visibility of their choices. I was also interested in finding out if any of the competitor's features that Delta lacked would improve the user experience.
​
Users thought most of the features the other competitors had were unnecessary, such as having inbound and outbound flights on the same page. And while users did not encounter any major issues during the usability tests, the one point of frustration came when asked to find a late evening flight.
Since there was no filter function for time of day and the default sort of the results is Best Match, users spent extended time scrolling to find an appropriate flight. As users started scrolling, they looked for the Sort & Filter button and had to scroll back to the top to find it. Some tried to use the Modify button on the top tool bar, but sorting and filtering was not available via that button.
​
One telling quote from a user about visibility during the interviews was, "My least favorite part of the process is that I always get nervous that I selected the right airport, right time, and right dates. I always triple check."
​
​
There are many variables that can go into choosing a flight. Lack of visibility and having to remember choices made and not being able to quickly change them can be frustrating.
​
How might we provide an experience that allows users to quickly book a flight with ease and certainty?
Prototyping Solutions
With insights from my research, I focused on areas of improvement for two problem spaces: Filtering and Visibility of Status. I started with a lo-fi wireframe before moving to a high-fidelity working prototype.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Solution for Problem Space #1 - Filtering
Eliminate unnecessary scrolling by giving users the ability to narrow down search results based on time of day.
​
I added a new Time of Day filter option within the existing Sort & Filter button that allows users to see flight options within certain time periods.
Solution for Problem Space #2 - Visibility of Status
Make user selections and tools for modifying search results easy to access and use.
​
I moved the Sort & Filter button to a second fixed toolbar under the main toolbar that allowed users to see additional information about their selections and always have access to the filter button (which includes the new Time of Day option), no matter how far down the page they scroll.
​
​
Current Delta.com
My V1 Prototype
Iterative and Responsive Design
I conducted usability testing of my prototype by asking users to book a roundtrip Comfort+ flight departing between 8:00pm - 9:30pm. Out of six users, four found and used the Time of Day filter option. However, two failed to use the filter. One user clicked and opened the filter, but failed to see the Time of Day option, and one user didn't see the filter at all.
I built a revised desktop prototype and a responsive mobile version that addressed these usability issues.
​
​
Usability Issue #1 - Visibility of Time of Day Filter
Because one user opened the filter but didn't see the Time of Day option, I changed the color of the filter labels from black to blue to make them stand out and easier to read.
V1 Prototype
V2 Prototype
Usability Issue #2 - Visibility of Sort & Filter Button
I added an additional pill shaped filter (that also displays the filter results) in the body of the page to give users an additional place to access the filter. I chose to use blue because a user failed to see the red button in the v1 prototype.
​
​
V1 Prototype
.jpg)
V2 Prototype
.jpg)
Responsive Mobile Design
I wanted to maintain the visibility of status solutions I created in my desktop prototype and make sure they carried through in the mobile version. The gray bar that contains the filter and filter results stays fixed while scrolling.
​
In another iteration I would like to build out a fully working mobile prototype. Currently, this prototype shows the essence of the mobile version of the app and the functionality of the filtering system.
​
​
Lessons Learned and Next Steps
With more time and budget I would love to include more users in my research to truly vet out my ideas and use a digital usability testing software.
​
This is an edge case solution. These features are not going to affect Delta's bottom line and may only be used by a small subset of users. I would need to work with the Product Manager and the development team to determine if this is something that requires resolution.
​
My revised prototype has two Sort & Filter buttons, which is a little clunky. With more time, I would have liked to conduct usability testing on my V2 prototype to determine which placement of the button is better: in the tool bar, in the body of the page, or keeping both buttons. I would also test for color of the button and filter labels to achieve ideal visibility.