Our team approached this project using a Design Thinking methodology. The first step was researching the existing end-to-end redemption process. Our goal was to understand our users, their needs and pain points. With this in mind we conducted 14 interviews and usability testing on the current site. The results allowed us to clearly map out the existing user journey, develop personas and identify major problems to tackle in the next step of the design process.
After the research, I began designing low fidelity wireframes. I went through several rounds of iterations, designing key functionality and user flows that addressed pain points uncovered during research. One example was the cumbersome process of finding available dates to redeem flights. On the existing site users had to perform multiple searches to find available dates. To address this issue I designed a date picker that marked the availability of flights. In the event flights were unavailable the AFR would recommend alternate destinations. However, a technical limitation would only allow users to view availability up to 90 days in advance. Regardless, users found this function to be extremely useful which we were glad to find out during the user testing phase.
After wireframes I moved on to creating high fidelity mockups. Using the mockups, I created an html prototype using Axure for conducting usability testing. During the test we observed members try to accomplish 5 tasks: redeeming a flight, finding an alternate flight, redeeming for a companion, redeeming a multi-city flight and finding a destination based on their interests. Using the usability testing feedback we made final adjustments and refinements before moving forward to development and finally launching AFR in 2016.
The launch of AFR was a success. There was a 6% YoY growth recorded 6 months after launch. Members were navigating through 44% less pages to find their desired flight awards. Lastly, there was a 27% increase in online redemptions.
After the success of AFR our team moved on to win another project with Asia Miles involving the revamp of the redemption booking engine. The project was a huge undertaking and spanned over a year. Working in a small team of 2 UX/UI designers including myself and 2 developers we sought to optimize the booking process and create a responsive, intuitive and hassle-free redemption experience. Our hard work paid off as the new booking experience went on to win 5 Mob-Ex 2019 awards including Best User Experience.
