DESCRIPTION
3 LINES MAX
Launch Project
Roles
UX Designer
UI Designer
Interaction Designer
Visual Designer
UX Researcher
Duration
4 Weeks
Tools
Figma
Optimal Workshop
Maze
Team
2024 Q1 Capstone
Agenda
001 Project Overview
002 Research
003 Creating Structure
004 Feature Roadmap
005 Visual Design
006 Understanding the User Experience
007 Early Wireframes
008 Usability Testing
009 Hi-Fi Wireframes
010 Future Steps
011 Lessons Learned
Project Overview
The Story
Starlux Airlines is a new luxury airline based in Taiwan that had its inaugural flight in 2020. Since then, they are quickly rising to be one of Asia’s premium airlines like its rival Eva Air and China Airlines. As of now, they serve 20 destinations across Western Asia with more added every year. While the airline offers services rivaling those of Singapore and Qatar Airlines, their online (desktop and mobile) experiences lack that luxury feel. The idea? Make users feel the same online as they do in the air.
The Problems
While Starlux has received an 8.7/10 and 39th in the world 2024 (Skytrax), their website has a meager score of 2.8/5 (Yelp) citing confusion booking, lack of features, and inconsistent experience between desktop and mobile.
Starlux is popular among frequent travelers but has struggled to bring in new customers - user testing concluded that travelers first priority is price, especially when it comes to an unfamiliar airline with with poor branding and UX,
The Solution
The ideal solution is to provide a brand that builds confidence and trust that Starlux is a luxury airline that competes with familiar competitors, mimicking the white glove in-person experience to online.
Research
Overview
My research first centered around the competition landscape. By capitalizing on competitors' weaknesses and acknowledging their strengths, Starlux can find its unique competitive advantage. Over 5 user interviews were conducted that helped understand their unique pain points and what they’re hoping to resolve.
Findings
Luxury airlines (EVA, Singapore, and Qatar) use a limited color palette that corresponds with their airline cabin with imagery that matches their hub (Taipei in Starlux's case).
Mobile and desktop share a familiar experience where Starlux's experience creates a disconnect and friction points.
Competitors have custom and unique icons that adds a feeling of class and luxury.
EVA Air
Pros: B
Cons: B
China Airlines
Pros: B
Cons: B
Delta
Pros: B
Cons: B
Defining key motivations through user personas
Superficially it might seem that everyone is interested in the same thing: Finding the balance between cost and experience…but upon closer inspection, user research made it clear that nuances existed between personas.
Separating these personas helped highlight these slight differences, which became important as it helped prioritize features and UI that would be the most effective to the largest group.
As I proceeded with design, I focused on one persona as they represented the largest group and would lead to faster revenue for Starlux if this succeeds.
"
I'd rather fly a familiar airline vs take the risk, especially when it's my money involved
"
I've never heard of Starlux but after seeing their website, I wouldn't fly…nice planes though
"
I don't want to be a guinea pig for an airline whose digital presence looks cheap and dated
DESCRIPTION
3 LINES MAX
Launch Project
Heighten user empathy by exploring common tasks
By creating and exploring journey maps of the main persona and their typical tasks, I uncovered key emotional/procedural moments that Starlux needed to address. Feeling of making the wrong choice to save a few bucks for example. Or a poor impression on the brand after only seconds of visiting the website. To ensure Starlux's success, it would need to conquer all of these problems.
Creating Structure
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Feature Roadmap
Must-Have Features
Based on my competitive analysis and talking with potential users, the main features and functionality Starlux needs to include are:
• Booking a flight
• Managing an exiting flight
• Checking in to a flight
Establishing Visual Design
Visually connecting the in-person experience to digital involved taking inspiration from their airline cabin, notes from their original branding about their story and mission, and define a new baseline design system that's elevated yet familiar. The goal was to make Starlux's refreshed visual design refer back to its core mission: to become their customers' go-to international airline and fulfill their every need, desire and dream.
Refining the existing color palette, simplifying the logo for versatility, and modern typography were keys to success.
Understanding The UX
Visualizing a User-Centric Experience
Quick sketching using the 8x8 method allows me to explore design patterns common among competitors, helping me understand what needs to transfer over into Starlux's refresh to ensure luxury and familiarity.
Early Wireframes
Gearing Up For User Testing
After sketching, low-fi prototypes were created to understand what’s going resonate and empower users. This step allowed me to garner valuable user feedback, initiate the design direction is correct, and make sure time is well spent. This ensured the final design would be more polished and user-centric.
Usability Testing
Surfacing New Issues
The high-fidelity prototype brought test users closest to the real experience yet, and it revealed some key issues that needed to be addressed. While some users were able to complete the flows, UX heuristics needed to be improved.
Users familiar with Starlux said it felt too different while new users understood right away that the airline was luxury and open to exploring more. This presented the new problem of how to find a middle ground that would appease both users.
Testers also presented feedback on having a redesigned About page that told the story of how the airline formed to create an emotional connection to the brand.
High-Fi Wireframes
The Final Product
The hi-fi prototype includes revisions from user testing and personal changes that I feel makes this interface a beautiful and intuitive product.
The prototype includes all revisions based on user testing that make Starlux a true luxury airline - in-person and digitally.
Future Steps
Issues to Address for Long-Term Development
Taking the refresh to the entire site not just the core three functions.
Refreshing Starlux's retail brand.
Create the full UI library that Starlux can use and build upon.
Lessons Learned
Key Takeaways
I went into this project with the mindset to rebrand Starlux and refine its user experience. While researching and testing, I found that building trust and confidence in the brand were the pillars to build upon.
While testing with users, I found out several divergent personas that differed wildly when I assumed most travelers were the same.
People travel in different ways - to have once-in-a-lifetime experiences, get away from work and relax, etc.. and refreshing a brand needed to match all travel needs.