Flight Scheduling App

Creating a modern solution for scheduling flights and personnel

Due to the confidential nature of the original application for TSA, I altered workflows and information wherever necessary on Adobe XD.

Role: UX designer
Duration: May 2023 - June 2025

The opportunity

As the TSA's first cloud-based application, this project was a huge effort that sought to combine key functionalities from several disconnected apps into one modern solution. The TSA's current system can take several hours to complete a single flight schedule, requiring users to switch between multiple apps and rely on the availability of team members for phone calls and emails. I worked with two other designers and one researcher on this goal:

How might I streamline flight scheduling for users by incorporating multiple workflows into one application?

The process

Over two years, I worked with a cross-functional team of UX specialists and developers, using an agile framework to ensure that user needs were continuously prioritized through iterative research, testing, and refinement.

Research & Discovery

At the beginning of the project, we created a design system with custom components that complied with section 508 requirements. We continued to think about accessibility throughout the length of the project, making multiple changes to our system's color palette and text styles.

Our program manager and scrum masters also put together a one-pager that summarized customer expectations and requirements for the entire project.

We continuously worked toward three key requirements:

1. Users wanted to automate tasks that were being completed manually wherever possible

2. Stakeholders wanted user access to different areas of the application to be restricted by role and need to know (different app view for different roles)

3. Stakeholders wanted a comprehensive log of actions taken throughout the system for quality control

Ideation & Design

Three workflows and sections were created to complete the flight scheduling process within the application: staffing, booking, and records (titles have been changed to protect SSI). Access to each section was determined by user role, with admins being able to view all sections.

We established an agile UX process that aimed to involve the entire team and our users:

Our scrum master first gathered requirements from stakeholders for a new feature or workflow.
Our user researcher then met with users to identify specific needs and frustrations.
The design team took these requirements and research findings to create the first iteration of mockups.
The design team reviewed the mockups with developers to discuss technical feasibility and lift. Edits would be made as necessary.
The design team presented the mockups to stakeholders to ensure that all requirements were met and development was approved.

Testing & Refinement

The design team often aided our user researcher with usability testing, A/B testing, and focus group sessions. Sometimes, in agile practice, we would go back to the drawing board with mockup and development edits if user needs shifted.

We discovered valuable insights during user testing:

1. Users preferred a condensed, horizontal alignment of information, minimizing white space wherever possible (i.e., we changed the alignment of information in expanded rows from vertical stacks to horizontal)

2. Users wanted flexible filtering (i.e., we changed fixed drop downs into combo boxes that users could also type into and receive elastic results in the drop down)

3. A/B testing uncovered user preferences for how important data in a table or a graphic is visually highlighted (i.e., they wanted both outlines and shaded backgrounds for highlighted areas)

Staffing

The first step of the flight scheduling process is to staff personnel onto flights. The system was designed to analyze all flight calendars from the airline and all available personnel in the backend before automatically creating flight options with recommended personnel for the staffing specialists to choose from.

This drastically cut down time and manual labor in the staffing process because staffing agents currently need to cross analyze spreadsheets and calendars in two different applications to come up flight options, which can take hours.

Booking

After staffing agents submit a flight option, the option is automatically sent over to the booking section of the app. This was also an improvement from their current process, as they are required to manually email the option over and call to ensure reception.

Booking agents must review all flight and personnel details in the option before submitting the booking with the airline. This will make the flight active within the system and across all personnel calendars.

Records

Stakeholders wanted the system to track all changes made to flights or personnel, which was a new feature that they did not have in their current workflow. They also wanted a way to export reports and flag something for further review. The goal was to ensure schedule accuracy, quality control, and good practice among all users.

The Results

This project was a huge step forward for the TSA. We took a complicated, time-consuming scheduling process that relied on spreadsheets, phone calls, and disconnected tools—and turned it into one streamlined, cloud-based app.

Here’s what really made a difference:

Scheduling time dropped by more than half. What used to take hours could now be done in minutes, thanks to automation that suggested flight and staffing options up front.
Hand-offs between teams became seamless. Instead of sending emails and making calls to pass along information, everything flowed through the app automatically.
The interface became much easier to use. Through regular user testing, we made smart tweaks—like condensing layouts, improving filtering, and making important data stand out more clearly.
Access and tracking were built in. We added role-based access and a detailed activity log to meet stakeholder needs for security and accountability.
Accessibility was a priority. We designed everything with Section 508 in mind and made improvements to color, contrast, and text throughout the process.
Stakeholders started seeing the value of UX. At first, there was hesitation about us talking to users directly. By the end, they were pushing to make sure we had time for usability testing before any launches.

My Reflection

I really enjoyed working on this project because of the significant impact it had on national safety. Our users were amazing to work with, and they often talked about how excited they were to fully integrate the new app into their workdays. This project also gave me the opportunity to work within a large cross-functional team and develop essential skills in communication and leadership. Like any project, we tackled constraints together:

Constraint 1: Changing User Needs

The booking section of the app went through many changes, even after initial development. The end users of that section had changing needs that evolved with internal changes within the government. Working with them was a great learning experience that relied on the agile mentality.

Constraint 2: Pixel Perfection

While we had a dedicated quality assurance tester that focused on the technical functionality and bugs, we encountered inconsistencies with the user interface and mockups after development. The UX team began doing "desk checks," which were quick reviews after a workflow or feature was developed to ensure that all elements were accurate to the mockups.