Alaska Airlines
Alaska's World
Alaska’s World was supposed to be the one-stop hub for employees to access HR tools, operations updates, training, and company news. Instead, it sat mostly unused. I was brought in as Lead UX Researcher to figure out why and what needed to change.
December 2021 — 2 Months
CLIENT
Alaska Airlines
Role
Lead UX Researcher
DELIVERABLES
UX Research
Executive Presentation
Content Audit & Analysis
CLIENT
WanderEase
Role
WanderEase
Service
WanderEase
Business Problem
Business Problem
The platform suffered from broken search, outdated content, and poor navigation. But the deeper issue was communication overload, employees were drowning in emails, meetings, and competing channels. They'd lost trust in the intranet and simply stopped using it.
The Solution
The Solution
I presented my findings to the C‑suite with a single slide: fix the foundations first. Define what the intranet is for, clean up content, and restore trust before adding anything new
Research Strategy
Research Strategy
I systematically reviewed employee feedback spanning Alaska's operational divisions—surfacing themes of distrust, frustration, and overload that mirrored the technical problems we discovered.
Survey Response
• Stations - Ground staff managing gates, ticketing, baggage, and boarding.
• Guest CARE – Customer service reps handling inquiries, complaints, and post-travel issues.
• Flight Operations – Pilots and those supporting flight scheduling and safety procedures.
• Inflight – Flight attendants and cabin crew responsible for onboard safety and service.
• ITS (Information & Technology Services) – Internal tech teams supporting systems and troubleshooting.
• M&E (Maintenance & Engineering) – Teams inspecting, repairing, and maintaining aircraft.
• NOC/SOC (Network/Security Operations Center) – Teams monitoring operations and coordinating responses in real time.
• Back Office – HR, finance, and other corporate support teams.
Most feedback came from Stations and Inflight—the people closest to day-to-day operations. That meant our recommendations had to prioritize speed, clarity, and accessibility on the front lines.
Survey Response
• Stations - Ground staff managing gates, ticketing, baggage, and boarding.
• Guest CARE – Customer service reps handling inquiries, complaints, and post-travel issues.
• Flight Operations – Pilots and those supporting flight scheduling and safety procedures.
• Inflight – Flight attendants and cabin crew responsible for onboard safety and service.
• ITS (Information & Technology Services) – Internal tech teams supporting systems and troubleshooting.
• M&E (Maintenance & Engineering) – Teams inspecting, repairing, and maintaining aircraft.
• NOC/SOC (Network/Security Operations Center) – Teams monitoring operations and coordinating responses in real time.
• Back Office – HR, finance, and other corporate support teams.
Most feedback came from Stations and Inflight—the people closest to day-to-day operations. That meant our recommendations had to prioritize speed, clarity, and accessibility on the front lines.
Devices They Use
This highlighted a major usability concern: the intranet wasn’t optimized for mobile.
Employees were often on the move—boarding flights, scanning baggage, assisting guests—yet the mobile experience felt like an afterthought. If the platform was going to support real-time tasks, it needed to perform just as well in someone’s hand as it did at their desk.
Pain Points
Pain Points
While the research uncovered a range of issues, a few problems stood out across every division. These pain points weren’t just technical—they directly impacted trust, efficiency, and day-to-day usability.
Search Didn't Work
Employees relied on search to cut through the noise—but it often returned broken links, irrelevant results, or outdated content. Instead of helping, it added to their frustration.
Employees Tuned Out
Between constant emails, texts, and meetings, employees had reached information saturation. The intranet became another source of noise rather than a trusted resource, leading to widespread abandonment.
Design Process
Design Process
My approach centered on understanding failure from multiple angles. Rather than addressing symptoms, I needed to uncover why a platform designed for Alaska's workforce had lost employee trust and what it would take to rebuild it.
01
Content Audit
I catalogued thousands of intranet pages, identifying broken links, outdated policies, and resources that no longer served employee needs. The audit revealed systemic content management issues that went beyond surface-level maintenance problems.
02
Affinity Map
Organizing survey responses into thematic clusters revealed the gap between what Alaska thought employees needed and what they actually used. The patterns showed trust had eroded not just with the platform, but with internal communication overall.
03
Content Analysis
Before I could make sense of Alaska's World, I needed to understand how employees actually experienced it.
Alaska Airlines had already gathered comprehensive feedback through a Qualtrics survey, but the raw data was untouched and overwhelming—full of insights waiting to be extracted.
03
Content Analysis
Before I could make sense of Alaska's World, I needed to understand how employees actually experienced it.
Alaska Airlines had already gathered comprehensive feedback through a Qualtrics survey, but the raw data was untouched and overwhelming—full of insights waiting to be extracted.
The Outcome
The Outcome
This project reinforced what good research does best: bring clarity. By making the invisible visible, I helped Alaska shift from reactive fixes to long-term strategy—grounded in what their employees actually needed.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska's World
Alaska’s World was supposed to be the one-stop hub for employees to access HR tools, operations updates, training, and company news. Instead, it sat mostly unused. I was brought in as Lead UX Researcher to figure out why and what needed to change.
December 2021 — 2 Months
CLIENT
Alaska Airlines
Role
Lead UX Researcher
DELIVERABLES
UX Research
Executive Presentation
Content Audit & Analysis
CLIENT
WanderEase
Role
WanderEase
Service
WanderEase
Business Problem
The platform suffered from broken search, outdated content, and poor navigation. But the deeper issue was communication overload, employees were drowning in emails, meetings, and competing channels. They'd lost trust in the intranet and simply stopped using it.
The Solution
I presented my findings to the C‑suite with a single slide: fix the foundations first. Define what the intranet is for, clean up content, and restore trust before adding anything new
Research Strategy
I systematically reviewed employee feedback spanning Alaska's operational divisions—surfacing themes of distrust, frustration, and overload that mirrored the technical problems we discovered.
Survey Response
• Stations - Ground staff managing gates, ticketing, baggage, and boarding.
• Guest CARE – Customer service reps handling inquiries, complaints, and post-travel issues.
• Flight Operations – Pilots and those supporting flight scheduling and safety procedures.
• Inflight – Flight attendants and cabin crew responsible for onboard safety and service.
• ITS (Information & Technology Services) – Internal tech teams supporting systems and troubleshooting.
• M&E (Maintenance & Engineering) – Teams inspecting, repairing, and maintaining aircraft.
• NOC/SOC (Network/Security Operations Center) – Teams monitoring operations and coordinating responses in real time.
• Back Office – HR, finance, and other corporate support teams.
Most feedback came from Stations and Inflight—the people closest to day-to-day operations. That meant our recommendations had to prioritize speed, clarity, and accessibility on the front lines.
Devices They Use
This highlighted a major usability concern: the intranet wasn’t optimized for mobile.
Employees were often on the move—boarding flights, scanning baggage, assisting guests—yet the mobile experience felt like an afterthought. If the platform was going to support real-time tasks, it needed to perform just as well in someone’s hand as it did at their desk.
Pain Points
While the research uncovered a range of issues, a few problems stood out across every division. These pain points weren’t just technical—they directly impacted trust, efficiency, and day-to-day usability.
Search Didn't Work
Employees relied on search to cut through the noise—but it often returned broken links, irrelevant results, or outdated content. Instead of helping, it added to their frustration.
Employees Tuned Out
Between constant emails, texts, and meetings, employees had reached information saturation. The intranet became another source of noise rather than a trusted resource, leading to widespread abandonment.
Design Process
My approach centered on understanding failure from multiple angles. Rather than addressing symptoms, I needed to uncover why a platform designed for Alaska's workforce had lost employee trust and what it would take to rebuild it.
01
Content Audit
I catalogued thousands of intranet pages, identifying broken links, outdated policies, and resources that no longer served employee needs. The audit revealed systemic content management issues that went beyond surface-level maintenance problems.
02
Affinity Map
Organizing survey responses into thematic clusters revealed the gap between what Alaska thought employees needed and what they actually used. The patterns showed trust had eroded not just with the platform, but with internal communication overall.
03
Content Analysis
Before I could make sense of Alaska's World, I needed to understand how employees actually experienced it.
Alaska Airlines had already gathered comprehensive feedback through a Qualtrics survey, but the raw data was untouched and overwhelming—full of insights waiting to be extracted.
The Outcome
This project reinforced what good research does best: bring clarity. By making the invisible visible, I helped Alaska shift from reactive fixes to long-term strategy—grounded in what their employees actually needed.