1. Define the problem
2. Research
3. Brainstorm
4. Develop
5. Feedback
6. Evaluation
Design a Delta Airline Ticket that follows the subsequent scenarios.
Pat D. Foley is an avid world traveler who flies first-class and sometimes second-class. Pat is a retired Bank CEO, approximately 45 years old, single with no interests other than travel and photography. Pat also uses Delta Airlines 90% of the time. Pat’s concern with the current ticket design is the information is hard to read when rushing to different boarding gates in various airports. Pat needs a ticket that is easy to follow and is used throughout the world. Every airport has English speaking personal and the ticket needs to be English written. Pat is in good health, however, needs glasses for distance reading.
Delta Airlines (DA) wants to improve their current ticket/boarding pass design for both print and electronic applications. DA has been receiving complaints about ticket usability and sales have dropped .05% in 2019. DA wants a design that is usable and cost-efficient to make onsite with the ticket agent, boarding coordinators, a ticket that can be printed at home or used electronically on a mobile device for scanning at the terminal. DA currently uses a black and white electrostatic printing system similar to those used by retail businesses for receipts. The ticket is printed on semi-heavy card stock and the system understands PDFs and JPGs files only. The ticket blanks have rounded corners so it doesn’t cause handling issues (paper cuts) at the counter. The ticket must be designed for onsite use and downloaded at home in the same size as the printed ticket.
The current airline ticket is utilitarian in style with a consistent scale. The only emphasis on the current ticket is the seat and zone number. User research shows the key parts of the ticket include the gate ticket, flight number, and destination. The research influenced design decisions to give a hierarchy of scale to these elements. A persona sheet was created using the passenger scenario, in order to understand the needs of the user and allow the design to be based on these needs.
The initial sketches incorporate the users’ wants and needs of emphasis on gate ticket, flight number, and destination through a hierarchy of scale to show importance. The sketches use different sizes of the physical ticket to find the best balance between information and the ability to fit in the users’ hands. Shape, size, and space are experimented with in the sketches to figure out the best configuration for the user. Icons and symbols are used to allow the user to easily locate key elements for their flight. The Delta logo was used as a design element in some sketches to reinforce the branding.
When transforming the sketches into digital versions the symbols from one sketch were merged with the Delta element concepts which reinforce the branding and act as an arrow symbol, symbolizing their travels and arriving at their destination. Delta Skymiles program is incorporated into the design using a diamond icon in red to notify the ticket agent the user is a member of the loyalty program and the benefits that accompany the program. The Delta color branding uses coated Pantone Matching System colors 194, a bluish red, 654, a blue, and Red 032, an orange-red. The blue Pantone 654 was screened, allowing for cost-effectiveness by using three-spot colors. The colors can be converted easily to CMYK, allowing the user to print their ticket themselves. Two digital versions were created one with a white background and screened blue Delta arrow and one with screened blue Delta background and white Delta arrow.
After presenting the two digital versions in a design review, feedback was given to increase the sizing of the headings for the gate, seat, flight. departure, and seat for better readability for users. It was also suggested to increase the size of the Delta logo on the main part of the ticket, making it as large as the barcode. A self-critique determined to use the ticket with the white background for cost-efficiency and offered better contrast with the typography.
The final design incorporates the feedback and self-critique received on the digital versions. The final Delta ticket design allows the user to easily locate the information they need to make their flight, by incorporating a hierarchy of scale system and icons. By making the design with the users’ needs in mind, it produces a better user experience for that user and helps a company retain that users’ business for future services. The design also is cost-efficient for the Delta, saving them ink by using a three-spot process that incorporates the colors already used in their logo and creates consistency throughout their branding.
