Navigator for United Airlines
Customer Service and Flight Rebooking Portal
What We Did
We consolidated multiple legacy customer service systems into a single application in order to reduce agent call times, ease workloads, and establish a unified source of truth for flight rebooking. The project required integrating diverse databases and systems within strict business and cost constraints, while complying with airline industry standards, government regulations, and United’s operational complexities. By streamlining workflows, surfacing the right data at the right time, and enabling both linear and non-linear customer interactions, the team delivered a centralized platform that improved efficiency and simplified processes.
Research and Iteration
The team was a diverse mix of expertise: a subject matter expert from United, a user researcher, two business analysts (one from IBM, one from United), a project manager, a client partner executive, myself as design director, and five designers. After a 4.5-day design thinking workshop, interviews with call center agents of varying tenure, and dozens of customer call observations, we transitioned into two-week sprints. The insights from research shaped and refined our business and design requirements, setting a clear foundation for the design phase.
I directed a highly collaborative and iterative design process. The design team gathered often around the whiteboard—brainstorming, diverging into low-fidelity wireframes, then regrouping to refine and push ideas further. Each sprint, I assigned one or two experiences to every designer, including myself, ensuring ownership while keeping momentum steady across the team. Monthly user tests informed iterations, while SMEs, BAs, and a developer joined design sessions to ensure compliance and technical feasibility.
Flexible Workflows Through Responsive Cards
Our research showed that customers rarely follow linear, step-by-step conversations. To address this, I directed the experience around moveable, responsive cards. This allowed the us to surface the right information at the right time, enabling agile, non-linear interactions. The priority was always agent flexibility—avoiding rigid, unescapable workflows.
Dynamic Layouts That Scale with Context
To reinforce this, the application was structured into columns that categorized information. A slim left column provides reference details, while the larger workspace hosts the primary process flows. When screen size allows, a third column expands the layout for additional context. Within each column, movable cards further organize information and adapt dynamically as they’re repositioned, giving agents the ability to prioritize functionality based on their immediate goals.
Direct Access to Key Agent Tasks
I set the UX strategy to support the three core workflows—Reshop (flight rebooking/search), Cancel, and Upgrade. Each can be initiated directly from the Itinerary Card, allowing agents to enter a flow while seamlessly moving back and forth between key information and supporting processes.
