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Reward flights design sprint
In a condensed 4-day sprint due to time constraints, our goal was to optimise the Avios redemption journey for British Airways Executive Club members. We focused on enhancing the process of redeeming Avios for reward flights and cabin upgrades, aiming to make it as seamless and user-friendly as possible.
Sprint members
1x Design Lead (me)
2 x Product Managers
1 x User Researcher
2 x Engineering Managers
1 x Loyalty Program Manager
1 x Data Analyst
1 x SEO Manager
1 x Customer Support Agent
Why a design sprint?
A four-day design sprint takes us from uncertainty to confident, informed decisions. By bringing different perspectives together, exploring ideas and testing with customers, we quickly uncover valuable insights and understand what’s worth pursuing next – without committing to months of development.
Day 1 – Challenges and solutions
Together, as Design, Product, Analytics, Optimisation, Contact Centre, Loyalty and Technical Leads unpacked the biggest challenges. Through collaborative exercises, we shared perspectives, explored solutions and aligned on a clear sprint question and long-term goal.
Day 2 – Sketches and storyboarding
We turned our ideas into sketches and used anonymous dot voting to identify the strongest concepts. I helped translate these into wireframes, defining key scenarios and refining the details. I also created polished paper prototypes covering different user journeys, ready to inform the high-fidelity prototype and customer testing.
Me hoping no-one judges my wireframes
Day 3 – Prototyping
Ahead of reconvening, I developed the high-fidelity designs in Figma, refining the UI and building an interactive prototype. While I focused on the design, the wider sprint team helped stress-test scenarios, develop copy and gather assets. In parallel, Research created a test script aligned with the prototype, ready for customer testing.
Me in focus mode, getting the prototype to perfection
Day 4 – User testing and next steps
We brought six Executive Club members into the office for individual testing sessions. While Research moderated, the wider sprint team observed remotely, capturing behaviours, actions and feedback. Afterwards, I helped bring the findings together, clustering our notes into themes to identify key insights and shape the next steps.
Listening to people telling me how to fix the design
Evolving the design
Following user testing, I translated the key insights into design iterations, refining the concept around the most important user needs and areas of opportunity.
Comparing cabins
User feedback highlighted a gap in how people explored availability across cabins. Previously, users could only search one cabin at a time. I addressed this by introducing cabin tabs, making it quicker and easier to switch between options and compare availability.
Avios range filter
Users also wanted more control over how they spent their Avios, particularly when exploring destinations within a set points budget. I addressed this by introducing an Avios range slider, allowing users to filter destinations based on their available points and better plan future trips.
Next steps
The sprint gave senior stakeholders the confidence to invest in the concept, leading to a dedicated team being formed to rebuild the Rewards Flight Experience. I continued to support the team in a consultancy capacity, helping shape the direction as they took ownership of the next phase.
Reflection
This sprint was a real learning curve, working with so many different people, perspectives and areas of expertise. My role was to bring those perspectives together, guide the process and turn a lot of thinking into something tangible.
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A big part of my contribution was connecting design, technical constraints and domain knowledge to create a prototype that was realistic enough to generate meaningful insights.
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My biggest takeaway was the importance of creating shared direction. I learned to take a more active role in guiding conversations, challenging ideas and helping the team make decisions. Not by having all the answers, but by giving everyone the confidence and clarity to move forward together.