Connecting Flights
End-to-end design of a major product expansion on a platform serving millions of sessions monthly.
Role :
Product designer
Year :
2026
Client :
Volotea
Project Duration :
6 months
Context and Problem
Volotea is a European low-cost airline with millions of booking sessions every month. For years, its product was built around a simple promise: direct flights. Every part of the user experience reflected that, and it was a core part of the company’s identity. That changed when Volotea decided to partner with other airlines to offer connecting flights.
The problem? The existing product architecture wasn’t built for connecting journeys.
Understanding the Complexity
At first, the task felt impossible to tackle in the time we had. To cut through the complexity, I mapped every touchpoint across the journey — from search and booking to check-in and the flight itself — to understand exactly where changes were needed.This became the foundation for defining a minimum scope for the first release, turning an overwhelming problem into an achievable one.
Building Trust Around Connecting Flights
With the scope defined, the next question was: what actually needs to happen at each of these touchpoints? Connecting flights naturally raise more anxiety than direct ones — more steps, more things that could go wrong, less sense of control. To understand exactly where that anxiety comes from, I walked through the user journey step by step and documented the doubts passengers were likely to have along the way.
DESIGNING THE SOLUTION
With the key doubts identified, I focused on one core principle: consistently surfacing connection-related information at every key decision point in the journey — not as a one-time disclosure, but throughout the entire experience.
Each touchpoint was redesigned to directly address one or more of these concerns — from the moment a user searches for a flight, to the moment they complete their booking.
Search
Before committing to full production, I tested the prototype with 5 users — enough to surface the most critical friction points early, without slowing down the timeline.
The tests revealed a few key moments where users hesitated or got confused — mostly around understanding connection times and what would happen to their baggage. These insights directly shaped the next round of refinements.
REFINING THE DESIGN
Usability testing surfaced specific moments of confusion. For example, one tester noticed the connection tag while searching for a flight, but had no idea where the connection would take place or how much time they’d have to make it. Based on findings like this, we added clearer, more detailed information about each connection.
Final solution
The project shipped in two months. Every touchpoint — from search to payment — was redesigned and published across Volotea’s platforms.
From One Partnership to a Growing Product
The connecting-flight experience launched successfully across Volotea's platforms, opening the door to new routes and passenger segments. What started as a collaboration with a single partner has since grown into a much broader product.Volotea now works with three additional airline partners, expanding the number of connecting itineraries available to customers. The product has also evolved to support more itinerary combinations, turning what began as one new capability into a core part of Volotea's offering.
What didn’t go well — and what I learned
One thing I'd approach differently: the initial designs and copy were built around our first partner, not a framework that could scale to future ones. Timelines were tight, and we didn't yet know whether the partnership model would grow — so the priority was shipping an MVP fast. Connecting flights turned out to be a success, but as we onboarded more airline partners, some elements proved too specific. We ended up going back to make the design and copy more generic and reusable across partners. The lesson: even under tight timelines, it pays to design for scalability from day one.
More Projects
Connecting Flights
End-to-end design of a major product expansion on a platform serving millions of sessions monthly.
Role :
Product designer
Year :
2026
Client :
Volotea
Project Duration :
6 months
Context and Problem
Volotea is a European low-cost airline with millions of booking sessions every month. For years, its product was built around a simple promise: direct flights. Every part of the user experience reflected that, and it was a core part of the company’s identity. That changed when Volotea decided to partner with other airlines to offer connecting flights.
The problem? The existing product architecture wasn’t built for connecting journeys.
Understanding the Complexity
At first, the task felt impossible to tackle in the time we had. To cut through the complexity, I mapped every touchpoint across the journey — from search and booking to check-in and the flight itself — to understand exactly where changes were needed.This became the foundation for defining a minimum scope for the first release, turning an overwhelming problem into an achievable one.
Building Trust Around Connecting Flights
With the scope defined, the next question was: what actually needs to happen at each of these touchpoints? Connecting flights naturally raise more anxiety than direct ones — more steps, more things that could go wrong, less sense of control. To understand exactly where that anxiety comes from, I walked through the user journey step by step and documented the doubts passengers were likely to have along the way.
DESIGNING THE SOLUTION
With the key doubts identified, I focused on one core principle: consistently surfacing connection-related information at every key decision point in the journey — not as a one-time disclosure, but throughout the entire experience.
Each touchpoint was redesigned to directly address one or more of these concerns — from the moment a user searches for a flight, to the moment they complete their booking.
Search
Before committing to full production, I tested the prototype with 5 users — enough to surface the most critical friction points early, without slowing down the timeline.
The tests revealed a few key moments where users hesitated or got confused — mostly around understanding connection times and what would happen to their baggage. These insights directly shaped the next round of refinements.
REFINING THE DESIGN
Usability testing surfaced specific moments of confusion. For example, one tester noticed the connection tag while searching for a flight, but had no idea where the connection would take place or how much time they’d have to make it. Based on findings like this, we added clearer, more detailed information about each connection.
Final solution
The project shipped in two months. Every touchpoint — from search to payment — was redesigned and published across Volotea’s platforms.
From One Partnership to a Growing Product
The connecting-flight experience launched successfully across Volotea's platforms, opening the door to new routes and passenger segments. What started as a collaboration with a single partner has since grown into a much broader product.Volotea now works with three additional airline partners, expanding the number of connecting itineraries available to customers. The product has also evolved to support more itinerary combinations, turning what began as one new capability into a core part of Volotea's offering.
What didn’t go well — and what I learned
One thing I'd approach differently: the initial designs and copy were built around our first partner, not a framework that could scale to future ones. Timelines were tight, and we didn't yet know whether the partnership model would grow — so the priority was shipping an MVP fast. Connecting flights turned out to be a success, but as we onboarded more airline partners, some elements proved too specific. We ended up going back to make the design and copy more generic and reusable across partners. The lesson: even under tight timelines, it pays to design for scalability from day one.
More Projects
Connecting Flights
End-to-end design of a major product expansion on a platform serving millions of sessions monthly.
Role :
Product designer
Year :
2026
Client :
Volotea
Project Duration :
6 months
Context and Problem
Volotea is a European low-cost airline with millions of booking sessions every month. For years, its product was built around a simple promise: direct flights. Every part of the user experience reflected that, and it was a core part of the company’s identity. That changed when Volotea decided to partner with other airlines to offer connecting flights.
The problem? The existing product architecture wasn’t built for connecting journeys.
Understanding the Complexity
At first, the task felt impossible to tackle in the time we had. To cut through the complexity, I mapped every touchpoint across the journey — from search and booking to check-in and the flight itself — to understand exactly where changes were needed.This became the foundation for defining a minimum scope for the first release, turning an overwhelming problem into an achievable one.
Building Trust Around Connecting Flights
With the scope defined, the next question was: what actually needs to happen at each of these touchpoints? Connecting flights naturally raise more anxiety than direct ones — more steps, more things that could go wrong, less sense of control. To understand exactly where that anxiety comes from, I walked through the user journey step by step and documented the doubts passengers were likely to have along the way.
DESIGNING THE SOLUTION
With the key doubts identified, I focused on one core principle: consistently surfacing connection-related information at every key decision point in the journey — not as a one-time disclosure, but throughout the entire experience.
Each touchpoint was redesigned to directly address one or more of these concerns — from the moment a user searches for a flight, to the moment they complete their booking.
Search
Before committing to full production, I tested the prototype with 5 users — enough to surface the most critical friction points early, without slowing down the timeline.
The tests revealed a few key moments where users hesitated or got confused — mostly around understanding connection times and what would happen to their baggage. These insights directly shaped the next round of refinements.
REFINING THE DESIGN
Usability testing surfaced specific moments of confusion. For example, one tester noticed the connection tag while searching for a flight, but had no idea where the connection would take place or how much time they’d have to make it. Based on findings like this, we added clearer, more detailed information about each connection.
Final solution
The project shipped in two months. Every touchpoint — from search to payment — was redesigned and published across Volotea’s platforms.
From One Partnership to a Growing Product
The connecting-flight experience launched successfully across Volotea's platforms, opening the door to new routes and passenger segments. What started as a collaboration with a single partner has since grown into a much broader product.Volotea now works with three additional airline partners, expanding the number of connecting itineraries available to customers. The product has also evolved to support more itinerary combinations, turning what began as one new capability into a core part of Volotea's offering.
What didn’t go well — and what I learned
One thing I'd approach differently: the initial designs and copy were built around our first partner, not a framework that could scale to future ones. Timelines were tight, and we didn't yet know whether the partnership model would grow — so the priority was shipping an MVP fast. Connecting flights turned out to be a success, but as we onboarded more airline partners, some elements proved too specific. We ended up going back to make the design and copy more generic and reusable across partners. The lesson: even under tight timelines, it pays to design for scalability from day one.