AI Driven Travel Assistant for Smarter Flight Booking
01 Brief
In the wake of GenAI breakthroughs, Alaska Airlines sought to explore an AI-driven solution to help people plan and book travel in smarter, more novel ways. As the Monstarlab team, our goal was to rethink the booking process and explore a product concept: How might we leverage AI to help people smartly plan their travels?
YEAR
2024
ROLE
UX Designer
SKILLS
Research
User Flows
User Testing
Prototyping
A glimpse from the Alaska AI concept design, where users can view key actions and conversations
02 The Problem
In today’s fast-paced world, travelers often struggle with booking complexities, losing time navigating sources and managing schedules.
As the business faced low engagement, they sought an AI-driven solution to help young and mid-life professionals plan and book travel effortlessly to save time and reduce stress.
03 The Process
After getting to know what users value, I led a workshop with our cross-disciplinary team, to ideate on solutions, and evaluate feasibility.
We aligned on designing a "Travel Companion" concept integrated within the mobile app, while leveraging the Google Ecosystem for features like Calendar integration.
04 The Design Phase
USER STORIES & SKETCHING
We focused on several user stories, one of them involved helping users book smartly through a Google Calendar integration. I created user flows to anticipate potential user challenges.
Sketches explored how users would interact with the AI within the existing app interface.
KEY DESIGN DECISIONS
I conducted several layout tests, one of which showed that users preferred interacting with AI assistance alongside traditional booking controls.
Users also preferred interacting with AI in a familiar card format.
Users also preferred interacting with AI in a familiar card format.
HOW TO DESIGN AI RESPONSIBLY?
I read Google's People + AI Guidebook to ensure we followed responsible AI design practices.
Key takeaways included setting clear expectations for AI capabilities to the user and designing feedback mechanisms.
05 Solution
After iterations, I prototyped a design based on one key user story. Follow our persona David’s journey!
Based in Miami, David needs to book a flight for his upcoming meeting in New York.
He wants to quickly schedule flights that optimize both work and family commitments.
Book with AI
David logs into Alaska App and discovers the AI Booking feature. Tapping on it, a drawer pops out and highlights key benefits before use.
A Responsible UI
The chat includes guiding prompts while reminding David that the results are experimental. Intrigued, David taps his prompt.
Connect to Calendar
As the conversation progresses, Alaska AI prompts David to connect his calendar to schedule a flight that aligns with his availability to save him time.
Share a Feedback
When David links his calendar and taps "like," the AI prompts him to provide feedback on the response. This is a key practice in responsible AI to allow David to share his experience,
Ease of Scheduling
The AI helps David efficiently plan his flights around his meetings, saves him the hassle of checking availability manually.
Smart Flight Suggestion
AI suggests flights that fit perfectly into his schedule. David makes quick decisions without conflicting with his duties.