Etihad Airways
2026
Making a complex account feel simple
Restructuring Etihad’s account so every member, tier and feature has a clear place, across web, mobile web and app.
Overview
A personal hub for every Etihad Guest member
Etihad’s account is where members manage everything about their travel: upcoming trips, miles balance, tier status and benefits, and their personal details, from travel companions to passports and expiry dates.
I led the redesign end to end: from the kickoff workshop and information architecture, through design and user testing, to developer handoff. Phase 1 is now in development.
Tools: Figma · FigJam · Maze · Jira · Confluence
Problem
An account members had no reason to visit
The account felt impersonal, transactional and disconnected from the travel journey. Members checked their miles and left. The account showed a balance, not what it could get them.
Under 5%
of app and web traffic reached the account
It also couldn’t grow. New features, like travel companions, were squeezed into existing pages, with no clear home for anything.
How might we…
turn the account into a personal space that knows the traveller, and has room to grow?
Research
Understanding the gaps
Kickoff workshop & benchmarking
I ran a kickoff workshop with PMs, designers and developers. I opened by sharing benchmarking of direct and indirect competitors, from leading airlines to travel platforms like Booking.com and Expedia.
Most already treat the account as a personal hub that shows loyalty value. Ours was still a settings page. With that in mind, I asked the team: what matters most when members open their account, and what would make it feel personal?
“I’m a budget traveller. Show me what I can get with what I’ve earned.”
Haizam
Product Owner
Mapping the journey
I mapped the account across the whole trip to see where it helped travellers, and where it didn’t.
Ideation
Structure before screens
Designing for every member
Each card had to work whether a member had nothing yet, had full data, or was in a top tier. I worked through these cases with the product managers so the design worked for every member, not just the ideal one.
A structure built to grow
I built the information architecture over many sessions with the PMs, covering everything the account does today and the features planned next, so the structure could grow without breaking. I organised it around what travellers want to do, not how our systems are set up.
Designs
Before and after
Here are a few of the early designs. The full experience is in development, so I’m sharing a selection for confidentiality. I’m happy to talk through the rest.
Overview
Every area of the account appears as a card, with a hero that adapts to the member’s next trip.
Wallet
Miles, money and vouchers in one place, with ways to earn and spend upfront instead of below a transaction list.
More/ About
Everything personal in one place, with profile completion and a passport-expiry alert to help members stay ready to travel.
Three rounds of testing
I ran three rounds of testing with members.
A separate “Next trip” tab came in as a business requirement, so we tested it before building it.
When asked to add baggage to a trip departing the next day, 21 out of 21 had to search for it.
Lessons
What this project taught me
Phase 1 is in development, and it’s still teaching us. Here’s what I’d take into any project:
Bring the team in early. Involving PMs and developers from the kickoff workshop surfaced use cases I would have missed, and showed me how they saw the problem.
Test requirements, not just designs. Testing the “Next trip” tab before building it turned a stakeholder debate into a clear decision.
Reuse before you create. Using existing design system components wherever possible kept the experience consistent and made development faster.
Accessibility from the start. Designing to WCAG AA from day one is easier than fixing it later.
Next steps
Phase 1 launches next. We’ll track how members use each card, compare it with our testing results, and use what we learn to shape the next phases: more help around trips, and a more personal experience.
