March – May 2025
Reported directly to an Alaska Airlines UXR liaison; conducted user research; defined the digital “premium” travel experience for Gen-Z and Millennial travelers.
Background
About Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines operations are mainly concentrated on the West Coast. Their recent merger with Hawaiian Airlines at the time of the study, in September 2024, further strengthened their network in the West Coast and Hawaii.
Our team conducts research on a new, emerging consumer group, Gen-Z and young millennials. We are defining their consumer needs and values to shape strategies that elevate their experiences. Our team of six researchers reported directly to a Alaska Airlines User Researcher, synthesizing our research in a stakeholder presentation with user personas as our final deliverables.
My role: participant recruitment, conducting qualitative research, synthesizing data.
Research Objectives
AA was looking to elevate their branding towards Gen-Z and young Millennial consumers, also known as “Next-Gen”, with their new services. As a research team we:
- Defined what the premium travel experience looked like for Next Gen consumers digitally.
- Determined what mobile features and services factored into premium travel perceptions.
- Created data-driven personas that capture the needs, behaviors, and motivations of Next-Gen consumers.
Methodology
Our team recruited and interviewed a total of 40 participants who:
- Identified as Gen-Z & Younger Millennials, ages 18-30
- Booked flights online in the past year
- Has upgraded or purchased additional services (preferred)
| Group 1: In-depth Interviews (IDIs) | Group 2: Competitive Analysis (Mobile App) |
|---|---|
| Procedure: | |
| Each researcher conducted 5 IDIs, totaling 25 participants. | |
| IDIs lasted 45 minutes. |
Interview guide was developed with questions focused on:
- Understanding participants’ travel habits
- Utilization of airline apps for travel
- Defining a premium travel experience | Procedure:
Each researcher conducted 3 competitive analyses, totaling 15 participants. Competitive analyses lasted 30 minutes.
Participants were tasked with booking a flight on an airline mobile app, stopping at check out for:
- Alaska Airlines
- Randomly assigned an Alaska competitor (Delta, Hawaiian, or Southwest Airlines)
The order of each app was randomly selected. |
Key Findings
1. Premium at the surface is luxury, but at its core, it’s emotional relief
- Services that eliminated friction had high perceived value
- “As someone who’s anxious and stressed about missing things and being late…my experience would be more premium if there is no congestion or no bottleneck.” -Mina, frequent Alaska flyer
- Impact: Users displayed interest in paying for flexibility and guaranteed certainty, prioritizing psychological relief of reclaimed control over material perks.
- Transparent and proactive information from airlines had a positive impact towards their airlines’ brand perception
- “{The one thing I really like about Korean Air… are the [app notifications] with details or updates on every single process…They actually take care of their customers.” -Stella, non-Alaska flyer
- Impact: Closing information gaps alleviated anxiety and strengthened brand trust, feeling like active care. Alaska Airlines should
2. Premium digital experience was defined by a efficiency
- Balancing minimalism and information
- “Southwest’s color looks feels cheap…This [departure time filter] is nice. These are the things I would care about when I’m looking for a flight.” – Faith, non-Alaska flyer
- Impact: A cluttered interface is synonymous with a low-cost, high-friction experience. To meet users’ needs of a streamlined experience, providing filters to help users make the best informed decision on what flight to book while maintaining a minimal interface, progressive disclosure is key.
Challenges
Connecting the digital and physical experiences created an narrative friction from what users were showing and telling. Users’ memories of physical travel were loud and emotional, vividly remembering delayed flights or damaged checked luggages. But when it came to digital design, their feedback was much quieter, both in the IDIs and competitive analyses.
There was an emotional gap. Users have settled for digital products to be “functional” rather than an experience they could actually enjoy. Some users even shared they delete their apps after their trip is over, only using it for flight updates, accessing the boarding pass, and viewing entertainment. Our challenge was proving that while an app cannot fix a mechanical delay, it can regulate a user’s internal state.
Reflection
As a researcher, I had to look past the surface-level feedback. It would have been easy to conclude that the design didn’t matter much to them, but reading between the lines allowed me to understand the underlying issue. I realized that in a chaotic physical environment, the digital experience must act as the emotional anchor. By prioritizing a minimalist, high-efficiency UI, we move the app from a forgettable utility to a premium companion. Next-Gen looks for reclaimed control to ease their never-ending anxiety, something I understand being part of this user group.