Task: Redesign Crew Communication System (web app and hybrid mobile app)

My areas of responsibility: Sketching, Wireframes, Visual Design, Interaction Specifications, User Interviews

Tools: Sketch, Invision, Axure RP, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe XD

Result: Redesigned web application and a mobile hybrid app

United Crew Communication System (CCS) is a responsive web application for pilots and flight attendants for managing their schedule and other aspects of their work. The task for the design team was to redesign the system for the scheduling purposes based on a new contract with the flight attendant union. The application had to have modern design and be easy to use for people with different levels of area expertise and technical literacy, from new employees to employees who used an old system for the past 20 years..

1.     Business and Technical Requirements

Getting the finalised requirements was quite a challenge for our team because of the complexity of the new contract for flight attendants. In addition to that, the interpretation of the new rules was changing several times during our design process. Also, we faced a lot of technical limitations as the main system was very outdated. Our design team had to be more creative to come up with the best possible design solutions within the existing constraints.

2.    Design Ideation

The whiteboard sessions with the team, sketching and wireframing were the most important stages of our design process. It is crucial to start sharing the design ideas with the team as early as possible. First stage is to get a big picture, present the low fidelity prototype, then to address all the user scenarios and corner cases. Having in mind different personas created for that project, helped to find the optimal solution.

3. Design Mockups

Most of the final mockups were made by a visual designer as my role was focused mostly on the UX and interaction design. But I was responsible for the final visual design and was making the final corrections to the mockups. I worked on the mockups mostly using Sketch App. Also, I was creating interactive prototypes in Invision.

4. Mobile Solution

Mobile version of the app was a hybrid app with some of the native functionality. The rest of the pages were opening in the responsive view as web pages inside the app. The challenge for our design team was to understand the technical limitation of the hybrid solution, what native mobile app functionality could be implemented and what could not.

5. Usability Testing and User Interviews

During our design process we had an opportunity to perform multiple usability tests, on-site user interviews and observations. This way we were able to get most valuable feedback about our designs and learn about different user scenarios from different flight attendants.

6. Interaction Design Specifications

Supplying the developers with the detailed interaction design specifications was the main way to insure proper implementation of our design ideas. Also, the process of writing the documents helped me to refine our designs and fill all the small gaps that existed in the initial designs. The task of creating the documents was mostly on me because of my attention to details and ability to structure the document in the most logical and clear way.

7. Communication and Collaboration

One of the most important parts of any creative process is communication and collaboration. If you bring together a lot of talented people who are not able to communicate with each other, you won’t be able to create a good product. Great communication skills for a UX designer is the most powerful skill to contribute to creating a successful product. Constant collaboration with product managers, business analysts and developers was vital to stay aligned with the business and technical requirements. Knowing that, one of my goals was to keep all the parties involved and informed of the design decisions on every stage of the design process, and to clearly communicate the ideas and get the feedback as early as possible.