Southwest Airlines Project
Making a Pet Reservation with an airline into a conversation.
During my ‘Foundations of UX Writing’ at the University of Washington, I focused on improving an experience close to my heart: traveling and pets. Having recently relocated across the country with my cat, I saw firsthand how stressful navigating a pet reservation is. I couldn’t help but think, this experience could be easier and better for both the user and the organization.
Challenge: Traveling with a pet is risky for the pet and the airline. Airlines have faced damaging scandals when pet flight situations go wrong. Their system of transporting pets requires users to call customer service for information and booking, then customers finalize the pet fare on the day of travel at the airport before their flight.
Solution: Create a way for users to access information about pet travel online and make a Pet Reservation in the app. No phone calls, no lines, and no airport ticket counters before the flight.
WHAT I DID
Content strategyWeb and mobile UI copywritingInformation architectureUX design wireframesVoice analysisUser ResearchTOOLS
Figma
The Work.
INITIAL RESEARCH
Before diving into this project, I wanted to gather information about pets and travel to confirm that this project would have a meaningful impact on Southwest and be helpful for users. I found that not only do more Americans own pets, but they are looking to travel with them as well.
Key Data
-According to the 2021-2022 AAPA survey, 7 out of 10 U.S. households have a pet. This means that 90.5 million American homes have furry friends.
-78% of these pet owners travel with their pets each year.
-Over 4 million pets and live animals are transported by air annually.
-The pet industry reached $147 billion in sales in 2023.
-Over 90% of travelers will do their research online, and 82% will end up making their booking online as well.
Understanding the market
According to the data, people with pets are here to stay. With millions looking to travel, and 82% booking online, airlines would be wise to accommodate users by creating an online Pet Reservation option.
caption: photo of cat looking out of an airplane window.
STAKEHOLDERS / PAIN POINTS
I spoke with travelers, flight attendants, and customer service representatives, and paid special attention while traveling, to better understand making a Pet Reservation. Those conversations and experiences led me to a few conclusions:
Information is buried in help articles
Booking a plane ticket through the Southwest app involves numerous steps, and how to locate additional information isn’t always clear and takes users out of the app.
Outdated walls of text
The help articles and additional information pages confront users with a wall of text that’s hard to read and lacks purposeful, concise words to help users meet their goals.
Phone calls aren’t always convenient or accessible
Asking users to call customer support and navigate an automatic operating system could alienate call-weary users, expend their time, and drive up costs for the organization.
Building trust in the user journey
Users looking to secure a pet reservation are left with only a verbal confirmation that their reservation was successful. Reassuring the user with tangible evidence of their reservation builds trust and peace of mind on overwhelming travel days.
USER JOURNEY
I identified a persona type, based on research, and from that persona, I built a user journey to understand and identify pain points in the experience. Faced with the breadth of a user’s journey in booking air travel, my content strategy was zeroing in on the Pet Reservation portion.
The image above is a visual representation of the steps a perspective user, Betsy, takes while navigating a Pet Reservation with Southwest.
The image above represents the user journey from Betsy’s screen as she navigates within the Southwest app to make a Pet Reservation. The pink dots highlight where Betsy clicks through each step.
The “Building a Story Brand” Image was a tool I used to break down the narrative of Betsy’s journey and helped me gain a bigger picture of the stakes the user faced. Imaging what a successful or failure would be for her, helped me find greater empathy for Betsy.
CONVERSATION AS DESIGN
My next step was to identify how making a Pet Reservation could be a conversation between the user and Southwest Airlines. As a part of my research, I called customer service representatives and recorded our conversations. I then created a visual representation of those conversations using characters to convey the experience.
in the image above, a customer speaks with a customer service representative about making a pet reservation.
BRAND VOICE
After recording and gathering research on conversations, I focused on brand voice. Understanding voice as a powerful component of brand and identity, I knew this would be an important step in connecting with users. Since I didn’t have access to Southwest’s style guide, I decided to compose my own by studying their voice and using it as a reference to make my work fit their standards.
The image above is an example of how I highlighted words and phrases I saw in the Southwest App to build a voice chart.
The Voice Chart
The voice chart above outlines the words and tones Identified in the Southwest App and provides a framework for the style of the conversation that Southwest has with their customers.
The Result.
Using what I learned throughout the design process, I put together my finds on user journey, conversation as design, and voice to create a Pet Reservation widget. I imagine this flow could be on the Southwest app for users looking to make a Pet Reservation online. It’s interactive and uses the elements of the conversation users would have with a customer service representative over the phone. My widget includes a checkout option so users can complete the transaction and not have to wait until the ticketing counter on the day of travel. It also gives users a confirmation number to build trust and solidify that their goal was met.
The above image features wireframes for the Pet Reservation widget on a Southwest app.
Before
After
Conclusion
Thank you for following my journey in making a Pet Reservation. I acknowledge that the experience I created is a happy one, in which the user has a pet that will fit underneath their seat and everything works out perfectly. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?
Future work on this project includes working through unhappy states, error states, and continuing to test this product by getting it in front of users for feedback.