Guest App

Selling more, in the air

To win consumer sales in the air, we solved a complex in-flight use case to deliver an app passengers are excited to use — think Ubereats but in the cabin.

The result: we boosted conversion and increased revenue on our test flights.

+60%

Increase in # of sales

+12 % pts

Conversion rate

ROLE

Senior Product Designer

TIMELINE

Aug 2023 - Feb 2025

TOOLS

Figma

PLATFORM

iOS 13+

ORGANIZATION

Guestlogix

Problem

Leaving revenue on the table

<5%

Conversion rate

Most orders in the global airline food market are paid through a physical point-of-sales (POS) system: flagging down a flight attendant, and paid by inserting/tapping a credit card — an outdated experience, and inconvenient, since sales can only happen during a small in-flight sales window.

With our partner airlines, only 5% of passengers made purchases using this traditional POS approach.

We connected the dots: inconvenience, combined with a small sales window, resulted in lost revenue.

Opportunity

What if you could order conveniently, anytime?

The result could be happy passengers, a service differentiator, and a massive revenue opportunity for airlines.

Our product vision: expand this small purchase window to the entire passenger journey with a convenient order-to-your-seat app.

Strategy

Designing for the connected traveller: someone comfortable with technology and is motivated to use it to enhance their journey.

Clarity is key

Cut through the information overload of travelling with straightforward communication.

Convenience is king

At its core, this is a tool to get a snack or drink, ASAP. Reduce friction, optimize the checkout, and get out of the user's way.

Consider every context

Timing, location, geography, etc. For example, business class and economy passengers have different needs. Address those and win conversions.

Activate all of the journey

Find opportunities to reach the user throughout their travel (think notifications, discounts, upselling, combos, etc.)

Process

Working Together, Rapidly

Strong design+engineering partnership

With a core team of myself, 2 senior developers, 2 product owners, and an intermediate designer, we conducted daily standups, high-level strategic discussions, real-time workshopping, and troubleshooting sessions, both remotely and in-person.

This core team executed testing for both simulated and in situ environments, and real passenger flights with our airline partners.

Real-time communication and collaborative problem solving was key to this project's success.

Rapid iteration

Designing an app for a complex connectivity environment (airports and aircraft cabins) and uncommon technology (offline-capable) required plenty of experimentation.

From the beginning, we set a rapid pace: experiment, build, test, learn, repeat.

Each step of the way, we asked questions to determine which problems we could ignore or overcome with clever engineering; limitations — re-scoping and discussing with leadership if needed; and unforeseen opportunities which could drive additional business outcomes.

Timeline

Data-informed research and development

Early stage

Making assumptions

Exploring moonshots

Eliminating poor ideas

Building a first prototype

I designed the full checkout flow, then user tested it
Engineering coded a prototype to test mesh network range, achieving good results. Tested on a flight.
Observed meal service and interviewed flight attendants onboard flights.
Engineering built a prototype app to test communications over LAN. Tested this on trains, cafes, offices, and in the air, and it was technically viable and integrated into the UX.
I advocated for the team to explore using app clips on iOS which would allow the app to be used without installation — an improvement in UX and conversion. Ultimately abandoned because app clips can't use local communications.

Middle stage

Validating assumptions

Refining strong solutions

Notifications implemented and user tested
Optimizing UX for basic functionality
Tested guest app on a series of flights
Gathering connectivity and conversion metrics
Building and testing a functional app with rough edges
Ran a mock aircraft meal service simulation in an office to determine meal service efficiency gains

Late stage

Extensive testing with real world conditions

Getting airline buy-in and feedback

Bug fixes

Stress testing with many devices and orders
Optimizing UX for conversion
4 Test flights in March 2025, 4 more in April 2025
Pushing for and designing additional features like online payment and tipping

Outcome

A familiar convenience, now in the air

Browse, add to cart, checkout — just like any delivery app. Then sit back and relax while your food or drink to be fulfilled, right to your seat.

Outcome

Seamless connectivity

With unreliable connectivity on board the aircraft, I worked closely with engineering to design a connectivity protocol and UX that seamlessly switches between peer-to-peer mesh networking, LAN, and online.

We user tested 3 iterations of connection flows, balancing protocol priorities, necessary user permissions, and user experience, ultimately arriving on a design that was as unobtrusive as possible.

Over 4 test flights, the guest app connected without issue, with guest app orders equaling or exceeding the number of traditional POS orders.

Features

Additional features

Along the way, we identified even more ways to enhance user experience and boost business outcomes.

Low Friction Payment

With online payment options, passengers can now skip the entire physical payment process — making transactions smoother and easier.

Tipping

Not just an untapped revenue generator, but an incentive for flight attendants to promote the guest app — a positive feedback loop.

Order Receipts

Uncertainty down, confidence up.

Results

Across ten test flights with the airline, we validated the effectiveness of the guest app.

The guest app drives sales and satisfaction

+60%

Increase in # of sales

+12 % pts

Conversion rate

Across the board, we drove sales metrics up. On a typical flight, our partner airline sold an average of 25 items. With the guest app on 4 test flights, we saw an average of 40 items sold, a 60% increase.

It's like Uber Eats in the air. If I'd known about it earlier, I wouldn't have bought food in the airport.

PASSENGER

Pre-ordering is a hit

Increasing the length of a short sales window (only taking orders when in flight) to a longer one that includes pre-departure at the gate increased the number of sales by 142%.

On top of convenience, pre-ordering allows users to gain certainty, especially in a time of uncertainty like flying. And anecdotally, users seemed to enjoy spending their idle pre-departure time browsing and ordering from the in-flight menu.

I like being able to pick what I want to eat here [on the Guest App]. I don't feel so rushed.

PASSENGER

Guest App ordering is very cool, and it's better because passengers miss the cart all the time.

ISABELLA, FLIGHT ATTENDANT

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