Alaska Airlines Android App

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Project Description

The Android App redesign was relatively similar to the iOS redesign. Some of our basic questions were already answered by the customer research done with iPhone app work. However, we felt we needed to make the Android app feel distinctly “Android”, and at the same time feel connected to an overall design language for the rest of our mobile and digital experiences.

Project Details

Client Alaska Airlines
Date February 2015
Skills Mobile design, branding, user experience, user interface design

The mobile team ground rules:

  • Customer first, always
  • Keep things super simple
  • Look for ways to delight and inspire

No traveller should ever be stranded with an app that sucks.

Together, not the same.

We studied the application of Material design, and the controls that users were comfortable with that were different from iPhone users. We had to test the use of overflow menus, cards, the menu drawer.

We produced a series of tests, using both online tools and live customer interviews at the airport, to discover what needed to be unique and what could stay similar to our recently completed iOS app redesign.

Test and iterate.

  • Research Material Design docs and other favorite Android apps
  • We wireframed two prototypes to complete a check-in process
  • Partnered with product management to review concepts and manage development
  • Talked to customers at the airport to try updated tests on live devices
  • Developed reports for the Product teams to discuss test outcomes

View an early working prototype here.

Time for UI design.

  • Google’s Material Design gave us a great platform to start from
  • The iOS app update provided design cues
  • We kept the color palette simple for the possibility of a brand update
  • We tested updated designs to make sure Android users understood what we were doing.
  • Partnered closely with the agile development team to make sure we could optimize the use of Android interactions for a truly Material experience
Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.


SJobs

Steve Jobs

Entrepreneur

Alaska Airlines Android App Awards and Mentions

  • Google Play Store: Rated 4.7 stars more
  • Web Marketing Award 2015: Best Airline Mobile App, Best Travel Mobile App more
  • AndroidCentral more
  • Top8: #7 of 8 Android flight apps more
  • Fortune.com: Don’t Travel Anywhere Without These 10 Apps (Android #1) more
  • EyeForTravel Mobile Innovation in Travel Finalist: Best Mobile Travel App, Best Mobile User Experience more