IndiGo ground staff manage boarding for hundreds of flights every day — under time pressure, in noisy environments, with no margin for error. I designed the internal operations tool that moved this process from paper to mobile, giving staff real-time control of every flight they handle.
RoleLead Product DesignerEnd-to-end — research to handoff
PlatformMobile App · Internal tool
UsersGround staff · Gate agentsExpert users in high-pressure environments
What it replacedPaper-based processesManual radio & form workflows
OutcomeFaster boarding · Fewer errors ✓
01 · Context
A tool for the most demanding users IndiGo has
Ground staff at IndiGo operate in some of the most demanding conditions of any user I've designed for — time-critical, high-noise, physically demanding airport environments where a wrong tap can hold up 150 passengers and delay a departure.
The existing process relied on paper checklists, radio communication, and manual coordination between gate agents and supervisors. There was no single view of which staff were assigned to which flight, no real-time boarding counts, and no digital record of decisions made at the gate.
0
Digital tools at the gate
Staff relied entirely on paper, radio, and verbal coordination before this tool.
∞
Flights managed daily
Hundreds of flights per day across IndiGo's network — every one needing accurate boarding management.
0
Margin for error
A boarding error delays a flight. A delayed flight cascades across the entire network.
02 · Discovery
Designing for users who can't afford to think about the UI
I conducted field observation sessions at IndiGo gates — watching how staff actually worked, not how they said they worked. The gap between the two was significant. Staff were managing multiple flights simultaneously, switching contexts constantly, often in direct sun or low-light jetbridge environments.
The research revealed that the biggest risk wasn't usability in the traditional sense — it was error prevention. An accidental tap on "Close Boarding" with passengers still on the jetbridge was a serious operational incident. The design had to make wrong actions hard and right actions obvious.
“
I'm managing three flights at once. I need to see what I need in one glance — I can't be reading.
IndiGo gate agent · Field observation interview
Design constraints · What made this unlike any consumer UX project
These four constraints shaped every single design decision — from tap target sizes to confirmation dialog colors to information density
03 · Problem definition
The real problem was trust and control
Ground staff didn't just need a faster tool. They needed a tool they could trust completely under pressure — one that told them exactly what was happening, made the next action obvious, and made mistakes nearly impossible.
How might we
How might we give IndiGo ground staff a mobile tool that gives them instant clarity on every flight they own — with actions so fast and error-proof that they can manage boarding confidently in the most demanding airport conditions?
04 · Key design decisions
Five decisions that made it work
01
My Flights dashboard — one view to own the day
The homepage shows every flight a staff member is assigned to in chronological order, with live/late status badges and a single tap to enter any flight. The design principle: a staff member should be able to assess their full day in under 5 seconds without scrolling.
Confirmation dialogs for every irreversible action
Accept Flight, Unassign, Transfer, Start Boarding, Close Boarding — every action with operational consequences requires a NO/YES confirmation. This wasn't just a safety measure: it was a deliberate UX decision to slow down critical moments just enough to prevent accidental taps without adding friction to routine actions.
Transfers are operationally sensitive — they reassign responsibility for a flight between staff members. I used amber/yellow for transfer confirmation dialogs specifically, distinct from the standard blue confirmation pattern. Amber signals caution without suggesting danger — "pay attention to this one."
Color semanticsAmber = cautionVisual hierarchy
04
Real-time boarding stats at the top of every screen
The flight detail screen shows boarded count, pending count, and total passengers at the top at all times — always visible, always current. During boarding, a staff member can glance at the screen from across the jetbridge and immediately know the state of the flight. No tapping, no scrolling.
Real-time countsPersistent stat barGlanceable
05
Re-open Boarding — designing the recovery path
Sometimes boarding needs to be reopened after it's been closed — a late passenger, a gate change, a crew decision. I designed a clear Re-open Boarding flow so staff had a safe, named action for this edge case rather than being stuck or having to call a supervisor. Designing the exception path was as important as designing the happy path.
Edge case designRecovery pathStaff autonomy
05 · Final design
The shipped tool
The following screens show the key flows of the Ground Staff Operations Tool. Staff names and flight data are fictional — the layout, interaction patterns, color system, and boarding flows faithfully represent the shipped design.
Final design · Ground Staff Operations Tool · Mobile app · Fictional reference data
The tool replaced a paper-based process that had been in place for years. The shift to digital gave supervisors real-time visibility for the first time, and staff reported significantly faster boarding management.
0→1
First digital boarding management tool for IndiGo ground staff
↓
Reduced boarding errors through confirmation dialog pattern
🔒
Every irreversible action protected by explicit confirmation
“
Finally I can see all my flights in one place. I used to rely on a printed sheet — this is so much faster.
IndiGo ground staff · Post-launch feedback
07 · Reflection
What I learned designing for expert users
This project fundamentally changed how I think about UX. Consumer design optimises for learnability. Expert user design optimises for speed and trust. The rules are different — and getting them mixed up produces the wrong tool for both audiences.
👁
Field observation beats interviews for operational tools
What staff said they did and what they actually did were very different. Watching them at the gate for two hours taught me more than a dozen interviews would have.
⚠
Error prevention is a design feature, not a safety net
I used to think confirmation dialogs were a fallback. On this project I realised they're a primary design decision — one that required the same thought as any visual or interaction choice.
🌞
Information density is appropriate for experts
Consumer UX instincts push toward simplification. Expert users need density — they need everything visible at a glance, not hidden behind progressive disclosure.
🔄
Always design the exception path
The Re-open Boarding flow was an edge case that would have been easy to ignore. Designing it properly gave staff autonomy to handle real situations without escalating to a supervisor.