2023
A timeline-based travel companion built to turn fragmented airport information into confident decision-making for anxious travelers.
TL;DR: The Numbers
Setting the Stage
It wasn't missing features.
It was missing a guide.
Problem
Air travel is weird. You book a ticket weeks in advance, then on travel day, you're suddenly supposed to know:
Which gate (announced 90 min before boarding)
Which seat (if you didn't pre-select)
Which security line (international vs. domestic)
Which baggage belt (announced after landing)
Where the hell Terminal 2 actually is
Research Signals
What I did:
30 interviews (18 frequent flyers, 12 first-timers)
30 interviews (18 frequent flyers, 12 first-timers)
Support ticket analysis (top complaints)
App analytics review (navigation patterns, drop-off points)
What I learnt (Key Insights)
Users toggled between boarding pass, app notifications, airport screens, and staff. No single source of truth.
High cognitive load.
Right after booking (Will I know which gate?)
1 hour before boarding (Am I cutting it too close?)
At arrival (Where's my bag?)
They perceived Adani One as "just for booking", didn't trust it for real-time wayfinding during travel.
Users couldn't process fragmented information while walking, managing bags, and straining to hear announcements.
Users didn't want feature menus. They wanted contextual guidance: Here's where you are. Here's what happens next.
Cab and lounge offers shown at booking were forgotten by travel day. Revenue opportunity wasted due to poor timing.
What the data showed
Before the feature existed, we tested the baseline experience:
80%
of users checked 3+ sources (app, email, boarding pass) to verify gate information
58%
successfully found flight details on first attempt without external help
85%
expressed desire for a single timeline view instead of scattered sections
67%
reported confusion about when information would become available
The Contraints
Users Operating in Chaos
3–5 second attention windows while moving through terminals. Environmental noise. Unreliable connectivity.
Real-Time Data Isn't Really Real-Time
Gate announcements have 15–30 sec API delay. Can't show live data immediately without frustrating users with loading states.
Cross-Sell Revenue Targets vs. User Trust
PM wanted cab booking prominent for revenue. Early testing showed this kills trust and reduces conversion, yet we include it without pushing.
Solution
I stopped thinking about this as "information architecture" and started thinking about it as behavioral choreography.
What wasn’t working
Journey lacked a strong sense of time
No clear prioritisation of information
Scrolling felt long and unstructured
Context shifts weren’t reflected in the UI
What I got right (and chose to retain)
Journey-first thinking
Actionable cards over dense text
Contextual service discovery
Promotions feel assistive, not intrusive
Based on learnings from the initial iterations, we restructured the experience around a clear temporal timeline that mirrors how users mentally experience travel.
What changed?
Clear progression through time
Better access to info when needed
Priority is driven by context, not layout
Scroll now has rhythm and landmarks
Impact
Initial testing with real field staff showed a clear shift:
of Dropped Time to find the right gate
Dropped Anxiety Scores
Success Rate in adoption of this early stage idea
Reflection
Anxiety isn't a user feeling to acknowledge, it's a constraint to design around.
What worked in calm testing broke under stress. Progressive disclosure wasn't about hiding features; it was about respecting attention when it matters most.
And sometimes the best way to help users is to show them less, not more.
FAQ