Enhancing the existing Delta Airlines mobile application by integrating new travel and customer retention features. The aim is to optimize the end-to-end traveler experience, from planning and pre-flight activities to in-flight services and post-travel engagement, thereby fostering increased loyalty and app utilization.
Approach
User-Centric Design & Iteration
My framework prioritizes understanding current user gaps in the Delta app, recognizing that the existing experience needed a fresh approach to online booking and travel engagement. I initiate this by deeply immersing myself in user research (e.g., ethnographic studies, data analysis) to pinpoint pain points and opportunities. This understanding then allows me to systematically define problems and translate observations into clear problem statements, personas, and user journey maps.
Following this, I move into ideating solutions through sketching and prototyping, rigorously coupled with validating designs with real users via testing and feedback. This iterative loop of design, testing, and refinement is fundamental to ensuring seamless development and launch of features that genuinely enhance the online booking and travel engagement experience, delivering tangible value to Delta’s users.
Challenge
Navigating Enterprise Complexities
Project complexities often involve aligning diverse stakeholders on a unified vision and the strategic value of UX, which can be particularly challenging within a large enterprise with varied departmental priorities. Managing resource limitations (time, budget, personnel) frequently necessitates careful prioritization and innovative solutions to deliver impact within defined constraints.
Accurately interpreting extensive data from various sources is crucial for deriving actionable insights that genuinely inform design decisions and strategic direction, avoiding assumptions. Ensuring technical feasibility within existing infrastructure is a constant consideration, requiring close collaboration with engineering teams to balance design ambition with implementation realities. Finally, setting realistic expectations for an iterative design process is vital and ensures sustained stakeholder buy-in.
Results
Driving User Value & Business Growth
The aim is to significantly boost user satisfaction and app engagement, improve usability, and specifically elevate the recreational traveler’s experience. From a business standpoint, this translates directly into increased conversions, stronger brand loyalty, accelerated future development, and fostering a deep user-centric culture within the organization.
Specifically, we anticipate a measurable increase in app session duration and frequency, a reduction in support calls related to common app functions, and a clear uplift in ancillary service bookings. Our efforts will also contribute to higher Net Promoter Scores (NPS) among app users, reflecting a more positive overall brand perception.