Flight Centre Cancel Feature
New manage booking feature that allows users to self-cancel their flights.
TYPE
Booking Cancel Feature
TEAM
UX researcher
Business Analyst
Product Designer
Product Manager
Engineer
DATE
September - December 2023
TOOLS
Figma, Miro, UserTesting, FullStory
OVERVIEW
Flight Centre is a travel agency that extends throughout Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa. They want to be the world's most exciting and profitable travel retailer.
The aim of this project is to envision the future of managing a booking. I created an experience where users can cancel a flight booking by themselves without needing the assistance of an agent.
MY ROLE
I was the lead product designer, launching a 0-1 feature for desktop, mobile, and tablet. I collaborated with cross functional teams including engineers, product managers, UX researchers, UX designers, UX writers, development team.
Problem
Customers that use flight centre are frustrated by the long wait times and inefficiency of calling an agent to modify or cancel their flights.
Solution
Allow users the ability to self change and cancel their flights in their post itinerary page.
Discovery + User Research
I scheduled meetings with stakeholders like project managers, engineers, retail and online consultants, and the design team to explore existing information around the problem. My research encompassed:
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Competitive analysis
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Understanding how different platforms are linked into my design
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Regions we want to tackle
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Understanding the crucial information we need for different phases (phase 1, 2, 3)
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Existing research around the problem
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Day to Day tasks that need to be accomplished
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Timeline on the project
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How is the success of the tasks measured
*Click to enlarge
Results From Discovery + User Research
From the meetings with stakeholder, I gathered information on the general behaviors, motivations, demographics and the goal. The data collected between January 2022-2023 shows the specific reasons for user cancellations.
Findings:
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Changes: 90% of people change dates due to change of plans. This will inform my how I will design.
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Cancellation: Based on this information a lot of people take credit back instead of fully refunding. I'll need to consider this in the design.
Solution Exploration
Upon collecting information from the research, I gathered some pain points which guided me to some ideas to solve for them. I realized there was pain on both users and agents side.
"Is there some way to cancel online? I hate waiting hours on the phone just to modify my flight."
How might we allow users cancel their flight online?
"I call the agent just to see how much it would cost to cancel. Wish I could just know upfront."
How might we showcase the refund amount so that it's super clear on how much they are getting back?
"As an agent, I have so many calls to get through and need some assistance."
How might we assist users so that they cut down on their times being on the phone?
Entry Point Wireframe
If the entry point is designed incorrectly, the end to end design would not work. Therefore, I tested different entry points. Conclusion was that both were pretty important, so based on engineering timeline, I decided to design the entrance point at the bottom.
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4/6 scrolled all the way down to check the Manage booking
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2/6 immediately clicked the floating action button
Complex Iterations
For the Cancel Summary Screen, it went through many iterations. Engineering constraints, timeline, complexities, and user testing all played a role in the endless amounts of additional designs. Below is a sample of several iterations.
Additional User Scenarios
In Version 3 of the iterations above, it’s clear that working with payments are extremely complex. I needed to meet with engineers and my product manager to see what needs to be improved. Therefore below is a sample of additional user scenarios needed to be created for different refund scenarios.
Final Designs
After testing and several iterations, the final design has all the elements to be put out in the first phase that engineering can handle.
Impact
32%
Adoption Rate
9/10
Usefulness of Team
50% Increase in trust towards product
32% Decrease in agents calls in Australia
Next Steps
The travel industry has so much complexity. From the backend of the system that all travel airlines use, to the intricacies of refunding payments, I learned that I need to keep asking questions and learning. Furthermore, there is so much to design that I need to also plan well on how to split off into different phases based on syncing with all cross collaborators and the timelines. This is an ongoing project. Here are the next steps:
1. Designing the Future of Cancel
Sabre (travel reservation system used by travel agents) only allows for mainstream flights to be cancelled. Moving forward, I need to design how cancel would look for non sabre flights since you cannot cancel in the itinerary
2. Adding More Complexity
In addition to flight, I need to design cancel/change for an itinerary that has a mix of stays, packages, and flights
3. Post Cancellation Design
Need to sync with another product designer on how they will design post cancellation as it relates to me but is her field of work.
4. Regional Differences
Every region has different rules and language intricacies. Therefore I need to consider this when I hit different regions.
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