THE CHALLENGES
I joined the Emirates app team after the application was released to the public and people were already experiencing the app in their mobile devices. During my time working with emirates team, I led the team through 3 great challenges: (1) create a new loyalty section, (2) allow users to access on-board entertainment content; and (3) uplift outdated sections of the app.
CHALLENGE 1: NEW LOYALTY SECTION.
The problem: The app was not informing people about the Emirates loyalty program. To solve this problem, the business owners had already decided to make a separate companion loyalty app to inform Skywards members about their status and benefits.
The approach: I started by understanding if there was a real need to create a companion app instead of integrating the new content in the current app; therefore, I realised an extensive competitor & user research and a very detailed content audit.
Through our research I gathered 2 main insights: (1) users wanted to experience skywards loyalty content, and (2) there was no need to deliver this content through a separate companion app, the content needed to be available in the existing app.
The outcome: A new section within the app called Skywards. Through this section, people now are able to:
1. Quickly access their current Miles balance.
2. Quickly check their current loyalty status and benefits.
3. Understand how to achieve the next level within the Skywards program and which new benefits they will have.
4. Learn about different ways to earn and spend their Skywards Miles.
5. Access their Miles statement.
CHALLENGE 2: ON-BOARD ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT.
The problem: ice (the Emirates on-board entertainment system), is an award winning services, and the only way people could access this content before their flights was through the Emirates website, an experience that made the content hard to find and hard to browse.
The approach: I started by doing research on existing media platforms to understand how they delivered content to their users. I then studied the on-board technology to identified any challenges that we might face when creating the experience, and finally I performed user research to understand the key tasks and features that needed to be reflected throughout the experience.
The outcome: by introducing the ice experience to the app, people are now able to:
1. Browse through the on-board entertainment available in their flight.
2. Select content and create playlists.
3. Pair their devices with the on-board entertainment system and control their previously created playlists.
CHALLENGE 3: UPLIFT OF OUTDATED SECTIONS.
The problem: The app had recently experienced an uplift, and there were sections of the app that had not been updated and still reflected the former UX and UI. Furthermore, there were also new features that needed to be added to the experience.
The approach: I started by aligning with the business owners, to prioritise the sections/features that needed to be addressed first. Once I had a clear roadmap, I performed data analysis and user research to identify existing pain points and areas of enhancement.
The outcome: Introducing several new features to the existing app, through which users are now able to:
1. View the in-flight dining menu and add any dietary requirements .
2. Check their baggage allowance for their upcoming trips.
STRIVING FOR MORE
The Emirates app has been on-going work by different people for now several years. I realised when facing these challenges that there was no central library of elements that we can reference to ensure our work will be aligned with the rest of the app.
Therefore I decided to lead the app design team into creating universal guidelines for the Emirates mobile app. Through this guidelines, everyone (designers, developers, business owners) can have access to:
1. Navigation structure.
2. Behaviour principles.
3. Communication principles
4. UI principles and best practices.