Flight status research

01 / 05

Design for the moment a flight changes

Cancelled, delayed, rerouted and renumbered flights can make a familiar itinerary suddenly difficult to understand. This research work focused on the flight-status feature and the messages travellers received when a journey changed.

The study’s objectives were to evaluate relevant status messages for cancelled and delayed flights, explain rerouting and renumbering, and show the relationship between an original flight and a newly numbered one.

02 / 05

A focused remote study

The original study describes six iOS participants using UserTesting. Eligibility included an iPhone 6, 7 or 8, residence in the US, UK, Canada or Australia, and use of an airline app or mobile website within the previous 12 months.

Sessions were designed to last four to ten minutes. UX Designer Ronan Kenny reviewed my proposal to check that the research was heading in the right direction.

03 / 05

Put the status in the context of a journey

The scenario asked participants to imagine travelling from Singapore to Los Angeles via Tokyo during severe weather in Japan. They had to locate the correct departure, inspect its status and explain what they understood.

The route and date were pre-populated so the task could focus on interpreting the results rather than entering a search. Participants talked aloud, located the flight in the list and looked for additional information.

The final question asked them to rate the clarity of the information from one to seven and explain their answer. This paired a simple rating with the reasoning behind it.

04 / 05

The decisions the study was designed to inform

Could a traveller recognise the correct flight when the number changed? Was the relationship between the original and replacement service clear? Did the summary provide enough information, and could the traveller find further detail when needed?

These questions made the study about comprehension as well as navigation. A flight-status screen needs to help someone understand what has happened to their journey, especially when the normal itinerary no longer applies.

• Find the relevant flight in the result list.
• Understand the displayed status and disruption message.
• Locate and interpret additional flight details.
• Explain the information in the participant’s own words.

05 / 05

Scope of this case

This case documents the research framing and task design preserved in the original project. The recovered material does not provide reliable flight-status-specific findings or a verified post-release result, so neither is claimed here.