A case study on Southwest' online booking experience
Premise
Increase business conversion (sales) of casual travelers by providing better booking and check-in experiences
Goal: A booking/check-in console that accounts for indecision
Challenges
Lack of data caching when switching between flight, hotel, car, vacation tabs
Overwhelming amount of icons and links
No clear separation between "booking" and "check in/modify reservation" activities
Challenge #1 - No Data Cache
When attempting a booking, switching the type (for example from flight to vacation), entered information such as date/location are lost.

Additionally, switching between the booking tabs (flight/hotel/etc.) triggers different entry field layouts. The user is forced to re-enter data but is also disoriented by the new location of the fields.
Solution
I kept the entry field layouts consistent and the entered info cached between tabs for a seamless experience. When users are switching between different types of booking, they are not being punished for the indecision.

Challenge #2 - Too Much Decor, Not Enough Context
Sporadic use of icons is an effective way to direct attention to certain areas but the original booking simply has too many icons and too much going on.

Solution
For better accessibility, I replaced the shadow borders with a light gray box to create better contrast between the box and the background of the container

In addition to helper text in the entry fields, I added auto suggestions upon typing to give further guidance.

Challenge #3 - No Clear Difference Between Booking and Checking
At this point, the user either has already booked with Southwest or is only interested in checking a flight status so having the additional car/vacation booking here is irrelevant.
Solution
I combined Check In and Modify since both actions required the same fields of information. This layout allows for the decision to check in or modify be made after the information has been entered.

