As flight booking becomes increasingly digitised, users are often left navigating complex, high-stakes decisions with limited clarity.
Between fluctuating prices, unfamiliar fee structures, and dense interfaces, booking a flight can feel more like risk management than planning a journey.
This project set out to explore those frictions and ultimately design a booking flow that feels seamless, empowering, and trustworthy from start to finish.
To explore what makes flight booking frustrating, I assessed 7 airline websites, surveyed 50 users, and ran usability tests. The results revealed recurring friction points—unclear pricing, hidden fees, and disjointed flows. While users could complete tasks, many did so with hesitation and limited trust in the process. These behavioural signals pointed to deeper gaps in clarity and confidence.
I synthesised the findings using an affinity diagram and customer journey map. By aligning feedback with booking stages, I identified patterns of confusion and emotional drop-off. Pricing pages, upsells, and checkout triggered the most hesitation from users. These insights defined where design needed to rebuild trust and streamline decisions.
Research insights drove three key design decisions: a persistent flight summary sidebar to maintain booking context, upfront pricing transparency to eliminate hidden fees, and streamlined add-on flows that feel advisory rather than transactional. Each intervention directly targeted user friction points, transforming hesitation into confidence through strategic information architecture and visual hierarchy.
The interactive prototype demonstrates these design principles across 7 key screens, from search results through final payment. Notable features include the persistent flight details panel and contextual micro-interactions that guide users through complex decisions. Built to mirror real booking scenarios, the prototype validates how strategic design choices collectively create a more trustworthy experience.
Instructor feedback on the high-fidelity prototype
The final design reflects a synthesis of user insights, interaction principles, and visual clarity.
Below are selected high-fidelity screens and annotations that demonstrate the core functionality and design intent.
Designing for airlines taught me to prioritise clarity under pressure. Next time, I’d focus more on accessibility and error resilience.
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