24 Hour Check-In Email Redesign
Helping customers prepare for travel
Role
Principal UX Designer
Team
3 others- Junior UX Designer, Design Lead, Copywriter
Timeline
4 months
Tools
Figma, Userlytics
Key Outcomes
Created a more user-friendly communication touchpoint that helps users prepare for travel better
Addressed key stakeholder needs, reducing strain on customer relations teams
Modernized the visual design, aligning it with Porter's new brand style
The Project
The 24 Hour Check-In Email is sent to customers 24 hour before their flight, encouraging them to check in for their flight. It is an important touchpoint that Porter uses to help prepare the customers for travel. When customers are better prepared, they are less stressed, but also it reduces the strain on the customer service teams at the airport.
The existing 24 Hour Email looked dated, was information-dense and not easily understood. It was our task to:
Align the visual design to our rebrand
Make it easier to understand through layout and context
Increase awareness of our services
Encourage self-service
Provide value to different types of users
Create a reusable template that could be easily modified as travel requirements change
The Design Problem
Before diving into the redesign, we took a step back to assess the purpose of the email.
What should we communicate in this email?
What do customers need to know at this point in their journey?
Learning the Problem Space
To begin answering these questions, we analyzed how this email sits in the customer journey. We considered:
Other emails that customers are sent (ex. booking confirmation, 96-hour)
Different user types and their needs (ex. special service requests, travel agent bookings, basic fares)
We created a list of assumptions that we took into interviews with different internal teams that had insight into related aspects of the customer's journey. We met with Customer Relations at the airport, Call Centre, Revenue Management, Disability Assistance, and Loyalty. We collected a lot of data on what kinds of problems the business and customers experience around check-in, and what we need to communicate to customers.
We synthesized our findings and mapped them to our original assumptions, organized by category.
Bridging Business Goals with Good UX
We used the data to identify content needs, which we worked with the stakeholders to prioritize. Keeping in mind that some users may want a lot of information to prepare for travel but others may not, we came up with a strategy for the redesign:
Make the email highly scannable, easily digestible
Limit the content in the email to essential information, linking to the web for further details
This email can't solve every problem
We wanted to keep this email focused, and therefore suggested that other areas of the customer journey be re-evaluated for opportunities to provide additional information. We also suggested that there be an entirely separate email to address the many unique needs of customers with special service (disability) requests.
Testing to Optimize Clarity
Collaborating with the content designer, I started with a content plan and applied our email design UI kit. We iterated on these designs and took our high fidelity prototype into testing.
The testing showed that we achieved our goals of scannability, providing useful information at this stage of the journey in a supportive tone.
Users thought that some of the information in the email should be reordered. This was an assumption that we had made, balancing user needs and business goals.
We uncovered a larger knowledge gap that couldn’t be addressed in the email. Our proposed solution to this was suggested improvements to the baggage web page to support the customer’s learning.
The Result
The final design achieved our initial goals. It was a modular template updated to our brand styling. It was easy to understand, increased awareness of services, and encouraged self service. It provided value to various types of users, and addressed the most important business challenges.
Implementation and Educating Teams
I worked closely with the development team to implement the email, problem solving as needed. I then met with the internal teams I had interviewed to share the new designs. These teams provided positive feedback on the changes, citing that their initial concerns had been resolved.
Learnings
Importance of a holistic approach
This project strengthened my belief in the importance of holistic approach. To design a truly effective solution, it is necessary to have a full understanding of the product’s placement in the entire journey.
Cross-team collaboration is vital
Teams that work with customers in different ways have different insights that can be valuable to the project, even if it’s just to further my own understanding of all the moving parts.
This was a digital product, but it had implications on other teams that deal with customers (ex. CSRs at airport, call centre).
Managing business goals and user needs
This project was an excellent exercise in balancing the needs of various stakeholders. Our design strategy achieved the goals of the various stakeholders, while ensuring a great user experience.
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