PROJECT OVERVIEW
PROJECT OVERVIEW

GreenVoyager: Tackling the environmental impact of air travel by empowering passengers with
eco-conscious flight options and accessible carbon offset solutions

GreenVoyager is a studio project I completed in the summer of 2024. Working under the guidance of two professors and a UX motion designer, I designed a digital service aimed at promoting sustainable air travel through eco-conscious flight options and carbon offsetting. My focus was to create a familiar yet innovative flight booking experience that encouraged users to travel more sustainably.

MY ROLE

UX Designer

TIME FRAME

6 weeks

TOOLS

Figma

Miro

PROBLEM

Users lack easily accessible, user-friendly options for incorporating sustainability and carbon offsetting into air travel.

SOLUTION

A seamless, user-friendly flight booking platform that integrates carbon offsetting and sustainability insights to promote eco-conscious travel decisions.

DISCOVERY

A look into the current flight booking journey and its users

A look into the current flight booking journey and its users

Conducting a "how might we" ideation session

I was able to come up with 4 specific statements that guided my overarching work. This helped me gauge the current relationship users have with the flight booking process as well as look into the future for how the flight booking process could be changed to add sustainable initiatives

01

Integrate sustainability initiatives seamlessly into the flight booking process to encourage eco-conscious decisions.

02

Simplify the presentation of carbon offsetting options to make them more accessible and understandable for users.

03

Enhance user awareness of their environmental impact through transparent and engaging information during booking.

04

Create opportunities for users to explore and compare flights based on both cost and sustainability metrics.

Getting to know air travelers

I interviewed a total of 8 different participants who booked their trips primarily online and flew anywhere from 1-3 times a year to over 10 times a year. These interviews were conducted both remote and in person.

Expected Outcomes

  • Understand users' habits when researching and booking flights, including the factors that influence their choices (e.g., cost, convenience, or environmental impact).

  • Identify the level of awareness and interest users have in traveling sustainably.

  • Determine the pain points users experience in the current flight booking process, particularly regarding sustainable travel options.

  • Identify features or design elements that could motivate users to choose eco-conscious flight options.

Affinity Map

Affinity Map of the user interview notes

Key Insights

  • Travelers prioritize cost and affordability over additional features like sustainability.

  • Travelers are motivated by tangible rewards and incentives such as discounts or benefits for choosing sustainable options.

  • Travelers prefer accessible and trustworthy information about sustainability practices, costs, and their impact.

Performing a competitive audit

To better understand the current landscape of travel booking platforms, I conducted a competitive analysis to evaluate existing solutions and identify opportunities for innovation. This analysis allowed me to explore the features, strengths, and limitations of established platforms, particularly in how they integrate sustainability into their booking processes.

Journey Map

DEVELOP

Early Ideation

What is carbon offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is the practice of compensating for carbon dioxide emissions by funding initiatives that reduce or remove greenhouse gases, such as reforestation, renewable energy projects, or carbon capture technologies. It helps travelers mitigate the environmental impact of their flights.

Why add carbon offsetting to air travel?

Air travel significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating climate change. Adding carbon offsetting is a great way to provide travelers with a way to mitigate/offset their environmental impact by supporting initiatives like reforestation or renewable energy.

Starting the ideation process

I began by creating wireframe explorations as to how I could add carbon offsetting features to be seamlessly integrated into an intuitive and cohesive flight booking experience.

Developing different mid-fidelity flows for user testing

Following my ideation phase, I created two distinct flows that implemented the purchasing of carbon offsets in different ways within the flight booking process. The goal of this test was to determine which flow was more intuitive and easier for users to understand and navigate.

Results from user testing

After conducting the user testing with a participant group, results showed that the second flow was more intuitive and easier for users to understand. Participants mentioned that they enjoyed the ability to see the transparency of the cost of the green fee but wished there was a breakdown of the entire purchase (NOT DONE)

2nd Iterations

After conducting the user testing with a participant group, results showed that the second flow was more intuitive and easier for users to understand. Participants mentioned that they enjoyed the ability to see the transparency of the cost of the green fee but wished there was a breakdown of the entire purchase (NOT DONE)
DELIVER

Final Designs

Final Designs based off the results from the user testing

Taking in the feedback from the user testing, I redesigned the screens to include a more cohesive breakdown of the overall extra fees for the carbon offsetting. (NOT DONE)

Sustainably book flights in a more eco-conscious way with ease

Not only can users now book flights intuitively on the platform, it is designed to seamlessly include the addition of carbon offsetting to ensure that users can fly without worrying about their carbon footprint.

Transparency and awareness for users to see

Information about the carbon offsetting conducted with user's purchases is easily accessible and transparent to the user through a credible source.

Incentives and benefits for traveling sustainably

Now users can earn rewards points to give them future discounts and upgrades as an incentive to book and travel sustainably while also reducing their carbon footprint.
REFLECT

A reflection from this project

A special thank you to my mentors Steve, Chris, and Abhishek for mentoring me throughout this project!

Sustainability has always been one of my passions and it was so exciting to bring it into the world of UI/UX design and to combine it for one of my other passions which is air travel.
I am so glad to have completed this project and am grateful to have had the opportunity to work and learn from my mentors and to have tackled an important real world issue.