Turn Tool
Designing dashboards to monitor airplane arrivals and departures.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Timeline
5 months
Platforms
Web application
Areas
Background
Every day, thousands of planes take off and land, connecting people and places worldwide. Behind these operations are manage complex schedules and logistics to ensure the smooth running of the airport. Despite their efforts, juggling multiple tools and scattered information sources creates significant challenges, often leading to inefficiencies and delays. I designed the dashboard experience for the Turn Tool - Multi Flight View.
The challenge
Our primary objective was to develop a single, comprehensive dashboard that operational staff could rely on when flights were at risk of delays. The current workflow consisted of a basement room where staff would yell across the room to communicate needs.
The Discovery
Gaining Workflow Insights
To build an efficient product, we began by conducting in-depth interviews with Zone Managers and Operations Control Center Coordinators. Our goal was to gain a deep understanding of their pain points and daily challenges, ensuring that Turn Tool would address their real needs and streamline their workflows.
First iteration variations of dashboards showing multiple flights
The Journey
Showing the right information at the right time
The current Turn Tool only allowed for one flight to be viewed at a time. To view multiple flights, staff would have multiple tabs open and try to navigate through all of them. The new design would need to compile information together at a high level but allow for further digging to investigate the problem.
User testing and realignment
We tested the design with over 50 operational staff through a semi guided prototype. Users like the ability to personalize the views as well as the status indicators which provided quick insights into key milestones. However, there was concern that it was too many clicks to get to certain details.
Prototype testing Turn Tool
New data
Through the testing, we also learned of more data points that staff wanted to include to improve their decision making. It turned out to be a lot more information so I ran a workshop with Product Owners and Operational staff to figure out a hierarchy.
Prototype testing Turn Tool
The Product
Enhancing Decision-Making Speed
In the next design iteration, we placed greater emphasis on intuitive navigation, automation, and content hierarchy to further streamline the user experience.
Design Decision
Simplified Navigation
On the flight overview page, we removed unnecessary navigation elements and enhanced the list and tile views to provide a more comprehensive snapshot of the airport's operational status.This included the estimated arrival and departure time, which milestone the flight was on, and a progress bar for milestone completion.
Tiles and lists view provides a snapshot of flights
Design Decision
Focused Task Management
In the detailed flight view, we introduced a dropdown for navigating between critical flights, allowing staff to maintain focus on their current task while staying alert to new developments through notifications.
Navigate between the five flights at risk of delays
Feature
Integrated Communication
Comments were linked directly to milestones, reducing the need for disruptive calls to Gate Agents to figure out why a flight was delayed. The delay reasons would also be more accurate as the automated system made commenting more intuitive and mandatory.
Prototype testing Turn Tool
Feature
Multi-flight communication
Zone managers typically copy and paste their introductions to each flight they’re managing. Now, they can add a comment from the overview page and comment on multiple flights at once.
Adding comments to multiple flights
Feature
Automated Delay Management
A new column was added for automatic delay code recommendations, minimizing manual input and potential errors, and allowing staff to respond more quickly to issues.
Impact
Turn Tool is more than just a software, it's a strategic tool that addresses the core problems of airport operations. We created a design that not only simplifies complex workflows but also empowers airport staff to deliver a better passenger experience. As Turn Tool rolls out, we anticipate significant improvements in operational efficiency, reduced delays, and a more harmonious working environment for all staff members involved.
Streamlined workflows empowers operational staff to make decisions quickly and reduces delays at the airport.
Takeaways
The right people
While we had some idea of what staff would need to make decisions, the user testing broadened our audience and gave us a lot of insight into unique scenarios which would require more data. Working directly with a Operations Manager allowed for further insight into their daily tasks and how to really support them.
User testing with new technology
For the user test, I tried out Figma variables for the first time. It would be my first time building a dynamic prototype of this scale but I was up for the challenge. While the prototype worked successfully, albeit after a ton of trial and error, it was slow and clunky. It was great for showing developers what I was thinking for the interactions but I would not use it for user testing where it’s already an unfamiliar environment for the testers.
Experimenting with Figma variables for dynamic prototypes
Gina Hsu 2025