Helping CapAir compete as a Tier 1 airline through a more seamless, self-service travel experience.
My Role
Product Designer
Team
Engineering, Management Consulting, Data & Analytics
Timeline
June - August 2026 (8 weeks)
01
Overview
CapAir was a simulated client consulting engagement. During this project, I owned the UX for the core booking and loyalty experience, from product definition and interaction design through prototyping, usability testing, and engineering handoff. In 8 weeks, our cross-functional team translated broad business goals and evolving requirements into an optimized digital travel experience.
Key Deliverables
Flight Search & Comparison
Trip Booking
Trip & Account Management
Loyalty integration
02
The Challenge
CapAir's previous booking and trip-management experience created friction for travelers, and limited self-service options increased reliance on call-center support.
These challenges created customer retention and operational efficiency risks. The airline also needed stronger reasons for customers to return beyond price alone.
Business Goal
Position CapAir to compete as a Tier 1 airline through a more seamless, self-service, loyalty-driven travel experience.
Increase Booking Rates
Reduce Customer Support Dependency
Increase Loyalty & Retention
Target business outcomes for this simulated engagement, not measured post-launch results.
A main challenge was determining what the airline should build first, and how booking and loyalty could work together without competing for the customer's attention.
03
Turning Ambiguity into a Buildable MVP
The potential product scope was much larger than we could responsibly solve in 8 weeks. I started by prioritizing the foundational search → booking → trip management journey, then layered account and loyalty functionality around it.
The goal wasn't to design everything, but to create a foundation my team could build on.
Early user flows that established the foundation (click to expand)
04
Key Design Decisions
Simplifying flight comparison
The flight results page had to help travelers compare several factors like price and duration without causing confusion.
Exploration A — Collapsable filter panel
Provided a cleaner interface
Reduced discoverability
Click to expand
Click to expand
Exploration B — Quick-filter tabs
Fast access to common preferences
Overlapped with sorting and became difficult to scale
Final Decision: Removed redundant sorting and deferred personalization for the MVP
Exploration C — Visible filter controls
Discoverable and easy to scan
Uses more horizontal space
Click to expand
User Testing
I tested these approaches using interactive prototypes with realistic tasks like narrowing results and comparing flights.
Early testing showed users could use the filter layout of Exploration C successfully, while difficulty locating the sorting feature led me to increase its prominence.
Streamlining the Booking Process
It was important to preserve CapAir’s required business rules while preventing the booking experience from becoming a long and fragmented checkout process.
Consolidating Steps & Grouping Related Decisions
I seperated the booking journey into five clear steps and designed each step around what users needed to know and do at that very moment.
Flight details >> Personal info >> Customize >> Review & pay >> Confirmation
Related decisions like seat selection, baggage, and extras were grouped into a single step, making the journey feel simpler while still accommodating necessary business rules and edge cases.
Designing for real booking scenarios
Handles required seat selection, multiple passengers, validation, and airline-specific business rules.
Reducing checkout friction
At checkout, I prioritized familiar payment patterns and clear review of the itinerary and selections before purchase.
I created a clear progression with familiar payment options and a final review before purchase.
Integrating loyalty without disrupting booking
Many airline websites make loyalty highly visible throughout the booking experience using prominent branding, imagery, and rewards messaging.
But will more loyalty visibility actually increase perceived value? I gathered reactions to both highly branded and simplified promotions.
What I Learned
In concept preference testing, 3 of 5 participants preferred the more subtle loyalty treatment.
Participants found overly prominent loyalty messaging distracting from the primary task and, in some cases, less trustworthy.
Rather than making loyalty compete with booking, I looked for moments where it could naturally support the customer's decision.
Flight Comparison
Surface relevant points or member benefits when they help customers evaluate options.
Fare Selection
Make rewards value visible without interrupting the purchase decision.
Post Booking
Use the itinerary experience as an opportunity to reinforce the ongoing value of membership.
Surfacing Loyalty Value
Incorporate an informational section on the website so users understand loyalty value.
05
From Prototype to Engineering-Ready MVP
Once the main user journey was validated, I worked with engineering through implementation reviews and handoff.
I also documented interaction behavior, component states, authentication scenarios, loyalty states, accessibility considerations, and MVP boundaries.
06
Impact & Outcome
At the end of this 8-week project, we presented a polished deliverable to our clients and the entire company. If continued, I would validate the implemented experience through booking completion, funnel drop-off, self-service task success, support-contact rate, loyalty engagement, and retention.
Reflection
Design isn't always about producing the most complete produc. Oftentimes we need to decide and prioritize what should exist first. The strongest outcome was creating a product foundation that provided CapAir a clear direction toward their business goals.
