Making complex trip changes easier to navigate

Three platforms. Three design styles. One disconnected experience.

The pandemic exposed how difficult managing travel changes had become. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation received 89,518 refund complaints, representing approximately 87% of all air travel consumer complaints that year.

At United, Cancel Trip, Change Flight, and Trip Details operated across three separate technical platforms with different layouts and interaction patterns. This created friction for travelers and increased the complexity of maintaining a consistent experience.

The opportunity was to simplify digital self service, reduce uncertainty, and make important trip management actions easier to discover.

Three workflows. Three different customer questions.

Existing usability research, observed customer behavior, and concept testing revealed three distinct problems. Each workflow pointed to a different priority, while the underlying interaction patterns could stay consistent.

These findings established the priorities for each workflow while keeping the underlying interaction patterns consistent.

Three workflows. Three different customer needs.

I redesigned each workflow around its most important customer decision while using consistent interaction patterns across the experience.

Workflow 01 · Trip Details

Making important actions easier to discover

During usability sessions, some travelers overlooked controls for changing flights, selecting seats, purchasing upgrades, and managing other parts of their reservation. One proposal was to make each of those actions a primary button.

Heuristic evaluation

I evaluated how the proposed buttons would affect visual hierarchy, consistency, and the risk of unintended actions.

• Visual hierarchy. Giving every action primary button treatment created competing priorities.

• Consistency and standards. Introducing another component pattern conflicted with the shared design system.

• Error prevention. Giving optional and consequential actions equal prominence could increase the risk of unintended interactions.

My solution

I redesigned the control area using existing design system components.

1. Introduced a neutral gray background to separate trip management actions from itinerary information.

2. Increased label prominence and used underlined text to improve discoverability.

3. Standardized icon link components.

4. Relocated Share, Print, and Calendar beside the Itinerary heading.

The design improved action visibility while preserving meaningful visual hierarchy.

Visual comparison

The comparison below shows the original control area, the proposed primary button treatment, and the accepted redesign. Select any screenshot to view it at full size.

I shared the heuristic findings and my recommendation with research, design system partners, and product leadership. We agreed to move forward with the redesign using the existing icon links and decided against running an A/B experiment.

Workflow 02 · Cancel Trip

Making refund information easier to understand

The original cancellation experience devoted significant space to itinerary information while refund details competed for attention.

Research indicated that travelers placed greater importance on understanding their refund than reviewing information they already knew.

I reorganized the page hierarchy to prioritize the refund breakdown and reduce unnecessary repetition, making the financial consequences easier to understand before confirmation.

Workflow 03 · Change Flight

Reducing complexity and clarifying commitment

Research identified cognitive load and uncertainty about when a flight change would become final.

I simplified the information hierarchy and added reassurance that the customer's existing reservation would remain unchanged until they reviewed and confirmed a new flight.

This made exploring alternative flights easier to understand and clarified the point of commitment.

One design system across three platforms.

The three workflows continued to depend on separate technical platforms. Working with engineering and the design system team, I standardized interface components and interaction patterns without requiring backend consolidation.

Accessibility was evaluated early with internal specialists and an external vendor, helping identify unsuitable concepts before detailed visual design.