Reroute Ready
Sponsored by Southwest Airlines

7 minute read

7 minute read

Duration

10 Weeks

Skills

User Experience Design
Interaction Design
Prototyping

Collaborators

Hao Wang
Ramya Ramaswamy
Lauren Harrington

We partnered with Southwest Airlines to explore how future travel in 2027 could feel less stressful and more self-directed. The focus was to reduce friction on travel days and the amount of tasks for customer service agents by 2027 while keeping Southwest’s hospitality at the center.

99

Tasks

2025

50

Tasks

2027

Reroute Ready
Sponsored by Southwest Airlines

7 minute read

Reroute Ready Southwest Airlines

7 minute read

Duration

10 Weeks

Skills

User Experience
Interaction Design
Prototyping

Collaborators

Hao Wang
Ramya Ramaswamy
Lauren Harrington

We partnered with Southwest Airlines to explore how future travel in 2027 could feel less stressful and more self-directed. The focus was to reduce friction on travel days while keeping Southwest’s hospitality at the center.

Duration

10 Weeks

Skills

User Experience Design
Interaction Design
Prototyping

Collaborators

Hao Wang
Ramya Ramaswamy
Lauren Harrington

We partnered with Southwest Airlines to explore how future travel in 2027 could feel less stressful and more self-directed. The focus was to reduce friction on travel days while keeping Southwest’s hospitality at the center.

99

Tasks

2025

50

Tasks

2027

Travel planning is quite the hassle.

Travel planning is quite the hassle.

Travel planning is quite the hassle.

As a mother of three, Michelle begins preparing months ahead of time.

As a mother of three, Michelle begins preparing months ahead of time.

Feature title.

Feature description.

Feature title.

Feature description.

Uncertainty leads to frustration.

Uncertainty leads to frustration.

At the gate, Michelle learned her flight was canceled. Unsure what to do, she joined the crowd heading to a customer service agent.

Waiting creates worry.

Waiting creates worry.

When my flight was canceled, I felt stuck and out of control. The long lines for accommodations only made me more anxious, I just wanted clear guidance.

THE CHALLENGE

Increase customer autonomy and employee efficiency in gate areas during canceled and delayed flights.

Increase customer autonomy and employee efficiency in gate areas during canceled and delayed flights.

THE HIGH-LEVEL GOALS THAT DEFINED OUR DESIGN

  1. Connect People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, low-cost air travel

  2. Preserve Southwest’s award-winning hospitality

The Solution

Resolving delays and cancellations with Reroute Ready

Resolving delays and cancellations with Reroute Ready

Resolving delays and cancellations with Reroute Ready

Resolving delays and cancellations with Reroute Ready

A mobile feature that guides passengers through airports with step-by-step navigation and provides instant hotel and meal vouchers during cancellations—eliminating wait times, confusion, and stress.

Accommodations

Accommodations

Accommodations

Accommodations

Reroute Ready recognizes that cancellations disrupt passengers’ plans and add unnecessary stress. The app makes it simple for travelers to access hotel and meal vouchers instantly, helping them take control and move forward with confidence.

Reroute Ready eases the stress of cancellations by giving travelers instant access to hotel and meal vouchers, helping them move forward with confidence.

Airport Amenities

Airport Amenities

Airport Amenities

Airport Amenities

From family lounges to restaurants and play areas, this feature highlights what’s nearby and helps travelers find exactly what they need during delays.

Transportation Guide

Transportation Guide

Transportation Guide

Helps passengers find pickup points with clear walking directions and provides live details on shuttles, rideshares, and transfers.

Guides passengers to pickup points with walking directions and live shuttle, rideshare, and transfer details.

Reimbursement

Reimbursement

Reimbursement

Reimbursement

Reroute Ready pre-fills the information Michelle has already provided when she booked her flight. Now, she can fill out the accommodation form faster than ever and select preferences that meet her family’s needs.

Reroute Ready auto-fills Michelle’s booking info, letting her quickly complete forms and choose accommodations for her family’s needs.

Bridging the gap between disruption and resolution
Bridging the gap between disruption and resolution

When plans break down, Reroute Ready steps in to restore confidence and keeps Michelles journey moving.

When plans break down, Reroute Ready steps in to restore confidence and keeps Michelles journey moving.

Peace of mind starts before arrival

Peace of mind starts before arrival

Peace of mind starts before arrival

Peace of mind starts before arrival

Real-time TSA updates help passengers avoid uncertainty, reduce stress, and arrive at their gate with confidence.

Instant rebooking

A canceled flight no longer means panic. With automatic rebooking and accommodations in-app, passengers feel cared for and back in control.

Immediate Support.

Passengers receive hotel, meal, and transportation vouchers within moments. No waiting, no uncertainty all directly from their mobile app.

Nearby amenities

During delays, passengers can instantly see restaurants, lounges, and family spaces near their gate, turning wait time into downtime.

The Research

Understanding The Problem

To understand the problem, we went straight to the source—the airport. Fortunately, and unfortunately, we witnessed flights being canceled in real time, which allowed us to jump in line and interview distressed and anxious flyers about their experiences.

The user research led us to create 3 different ideations…

… we decided to move forward by merging the second two concepts

Low Fidelity Prototypes

At our Midterm Presentation, we shared three concepts we developed from user research. Virtual Accommodation Hub, Flight Day Mode, and the LUV Assistant. With team deliberation and professor guidance, we combined the first two into our final concept: Reroute Ready.

The user research led us to create 3 different ideations…

… we decided to move forward by merging the second two concepts

Where Design and Learning Intersect

This project pushed me to think about the small choices that shape a user’s experience. Every iteration taught me something new about balancing clarity, empathy, and craft. Of the many directions explored, three stood out as especially meaningful to my growth as a designer…

This project pushed me to think about the small choices that shape a user’s experience. Every iteration taught me something new about balancing clarity, empathy, and craft.

This project taught me how small choices shape user experience. Each iteration revealed new lessons in balancing clarity, empathy, and craft.

Home Screen

Tested how users navigate flight cancellations, shifting them from waiting in customer service lines to independently accessing new flight details through the app.

Tested how users navigate cancellations, shifting them from customer service lines to independently finding new flight details in the app.

Tested how users navigate cancellations, shifting them from customer service lines to independently finding new flight details in the app.

"do I only get notified when I am in the app" "wording is confusing 'we owe you' and 'you may'"

"whats the difference between this and the pop-up above?"

"Both these buttons sound like they do the same thing"

Version 1

"Both these buttons sound like they do the same thing"

"whats the difference between this and the pop-up above?"

"do I only get notified when I am in the app" "wording is confusing 'we owe you' and 'you may'"

Final Version

Rather than displaying the canceled flight, we reduced steps by immediately showing users their new flight.

Rather than displaying the canceled flight, we reduced steps by immediately showing users their new flight.

Alerted users with multiple cues about flight cancellations or delays, providing clear updates on new flights.

Alerted users with multiple cues about flight cancellations or delays, providing clear updates on new flights.

Used user language in testing to name buttons and aligned labels with their expectations.

Used user language in testing to name buttons and aligned labels with their expectations.

Used user language in testing to name buttons and aligned labels with their expectations.

Alerted users with multiple cues about flight cancellations or delays, providing clear updates on new flights.

This Project Taught Me…

This experience showed me the importance of designing for both function and emotion

A Fresh Eye Mindset

Taking moments to evaluate the larger picture instead of only focusing on the nitty gritty details kept us from backtracking.

Design Systems

Applying a design system to our concept was a meticulous task, but it sharpened the fidelity of our prototype.

Spontaneous Interviews

Quick, impromptu conversations with users took us out of our comfort zones . This was the basis of our research, despite many of us never having done this before.

This Project Taught Me…

This experience showed me the importance of designing for both function and emotion

A Fresh Eye Mindset

Taking moments to evaluate the larger picture instead of only focusing on the nitty gritty details kept us from backtracking.

Design Systems

Applying a design system to our concept was a meticulous task, but it sharpened the fidelity of our prototype.

Spontaneous Interviews

Quick, impromptu conversations with users took us out of our comfort zones . This was the basis of our research, despite many of us never having done this before.

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

to start prototype

to restart

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

to navigate prototype

to start prototype

to restart

to restart