United airlines onboard services

Context :

United Airlines aimed to enhance the in-flight digital experience by integrating Wi-Fi connectivity, shopping, entertainment, and services into a single ecosystem. The goal was to create a seamless journey for passengers while unlocking new ancillary revenue opportunities for the airline.

Business Goal :

Design a mobile experience that allows passengers to:

• Connect easily to on-board Wi-Fi
• Access multiple services in one place (shopping, entertainment, travel tips)
• Enjoy a smooth and accessible flow from sign-up to checkout
• Provide United Airlines with a scalable design system for future features

Research & Insights :

Methods: I conducted qualitative interviews with frequent business travelers to understand their in-flight habits, frustrations, and expectations. From these conversations, I extracted recurring themes and patterns that informed the design direction. To make the findings actionable, I created a representative persona (“Robert”) and mapped the end-to-end journey, highlighting emotions, needs, and friction points.

Pain points identified:

• Frustration with unstable Wi-Fi connections
• Limited and repetitive entertainment options
• Difficulty organizing or preparing post-flight activities during travel
• Fragmented experience across services (shopping, media, in-flight)

Opportunities for improvement:

• Integrate shopping, content, and services into a single interface
• Simplify the Wi-Fi connection and onboarding flow
• Provide multiple payment options for global travelers

Deliverables: a detailed persona and a complete journey map visualizing pain points, emotions, and opportunities across the passenger experience.

UX Flow & Wireframes

I designed the main flows:

• Wi-Fi sign-up and onboarding
• Browsing and selecting services
• Shopping experience → product pages → cart → checkout
• Payment and delivery options (on-board or home delivery)

Low-fidelity wireframes were iterated with stakeholders and validated with user feedback.

UI Design

The visual language reflects United Airlines’ brand identity while improving clarity and accessibility.

• Onboarding with illustrated storytelling
• Services dashboard with modular cards (shopping, media, travel highlights)
• Shopping flow with product details, cart, and multi-step checkout
• Checkout optimization: multiple global payment methods (Apple Pay, PayPal, Alipay, credit cards)

Design System :

To ensure consistency and scalability, I built a mobile design system starting from United Airlines’ existing design framework. The goal was to evolve it into a more refined and premium visual direction, aligned with the elevated in-flight experience.

The system included:

• Color palette (primary, secondary, grayscale, supporting), reinterpreted to enhance contrast and sophistication
• Typography (Open Sans for readability), structured with clearer hierarchy and spacing
• Iconography, extended and refined for mobile and web consistency
• UI components (buttons, cards, tabs, alerts, forms, flight blocks), redesigned to feel more polished and cohesive

By building on the existing foundation rather than starting from scratch, I ensured brand alignment while introducing a more premium and modern aesthetic. This approach enabled faster prototyping, stronger cross-team alignment, and a scalable visual language for future digital touchpoints.

My IMPACT :

• Delivered a unified in-flight digital interface, integrating connectivity, shopping, and services into one cohesive ecosystem
• Simplified the overall passenger journey, reducing friction and creating a more intuitive and enjoyable experience
• Enabled greater ancillary revenue opportunities through a structured and seamless onboard shopping flow
• Defined a clear visual language and scalable design foundation to support United’s future digital services