Scroll to top

United Airlines

Project Details

Overview

United Airlines is a global leader in air travel, known for its extensive network and innovative approach to customer service. While the airline excels in providing a seamless in-flight experience, there is an opportunity to place greater focus on sustainability and emerging technologies, aligning their fleet and operations with the industry's shift toward eco-friendly and digital solutions.

Tasks

  • Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB)
  • MobileCCS
  • My-Flight App Design
  • Pilot App Design
  • Training Materials

Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB)

Since the merger between United and Continental Airlines, flight attendants had been using separate systems. One of their key quality-of-life applications was highly robust but lacked a graphical user interface, relying primarily on a command-line interface. When I joined United, my primary task was to unify both groups of flight attendants under a single, streamlined system, merging the two subsets into a cohesive, user-friendly solution.

The Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB) is now used by over 20,000 flight attendants for daily crew operations. My team conducted extensive user research, persona development, and wireframing exercises before designing the UI and building front-end packages for developers to implement. We faced several challenges in modernizing the design, but close collaboration with our developers enabled us to creatively work around the technical limitations. Together, we developed a solution that improved the user experience while accommodating the constraints of the legacy system.

MobileCCS

In early 2018, United identified the need for a mobile application that would allow flight attendants to manage their quality of life on the go. The key goals for this app were enhancing security, providing offline access, and offering a quick overview of assignments from their schedules. We assembled a focus group of five flight attendants with diverse backgrounds and work experiences to conduct user research, identify pain points, and validate our designs. This user-centered approach helped ensure that the final look and feel of the application directly addressed the needs of the flight attendants.

My Flight

My Flight is one of United’s operational apps that enables flight attendants to track passenger counts and report cabin discrepancies. It also allows them to view customer-reported issues with seats or other areas of the plane. My role with My Flight involved creating iconography for the seat map, updating the design to align with other United applications, and developing internal features to assist flight attendants throughout the flight, ensuring a more efficient and user-friendly experience.

PilotCCS

In early 2020, a pilot system overhaul became necessary to enhance security and modernize the UX/UI. For the mobile version, PilotCCS, we focused on key features: improved security, offline access, quick trip trading, and a streamlined overview of pilots’ schedules. We began by conducting user research, developing a persona, and quickly building a design prototype to present our vision to the business. We are currently awaiting full requirements to iterate and refine the design further.

Pay Register

Pay Register was developed to give flight attendants a clear breakdown of their pay stubs, detailing flights and assignments scheduled for the month. To promote transparency, we included features that allow them to compare their current pay with previous months, view estimates for credit hours, and access data on how their pay is calculated. My role in the Pay Register project was to take the insights gathered by UX researchers and design the user interface, as well as create the HTML/CSS packages for the developers to implement.