General 3 — Becca Finn

Redesigning Delta’s Route Map into a more user-friendly, explorative tool that houses all the info travelers are looking for to help them decide where to go for their next adventure.

Role | Senior Art Director
Agency | AKQA
Client / Delta Air Lines
When | 2023-2024 (now in development)

Delta’s Route Map is a tool that enables users to explore all of the possible routes & destinations that Delta and their partners can take them. The map also conveys the breadth of the Delta network, lending an impressive look at their worldwide reach.
Any Delta traveler who wishes to travel but isn’t quite sure where they want to go yet.
There are currently two distinct maps on Delta.com – the Travel Requirements map and Delta’s Route Map. The user experience is not consistent between the two and both are in need of a major overhaul. We were tasked with redesigning both maps into a singular powerhouse Route Map that addresses all current pain points and adds new functionality, with a special focus on enhancing usability on mobile.

The current state of the Route Map falls short of customer expectations and is not user-friendly.

The Route Map does not allow for open-ended searching
No ability to see all destinations Delta and their partners serve from an origin
No option to search routes without a firm date
Hard to discern Delta vs. partner-operated routes
World map lacks of detail and doesn’t feel very explorative or inspirational
Route lines too heavily stroked
Not enough filters and those that are there are hidden, being missed by customers

For Customers

Help them discover potential destinations through Delta and its partners – even before they know the specifics of their upcoming trips.
Make it mobile-friendly and fun to use.
By seeing all information relevant to the routes they explore, they will feel more confident when booking a flight.

For Business

Increase direct sales revenue by engaging customers early in the planning phase and funneling them into the shopping flow.
Differentiate and elevate brand perception – by providing a customer-centered experience.

The Result

We created a user-centered discovery tool that leans into the explorative nature of traveling, allowing users to easily discover destinations with as little or as much detail as they desire.

Quick Filters

By introducing a diverse range of “quick filters” at the top, users can narrow down destinations based on their preferences. These customer-centric filters are ever present and provide an easy way for users to discover exactly what they want in their next trip. A custom set of icons were created specifically for the new route map.

More Filters & Search

Users can also filter with more utilitarian options via the filter button, which expands a drawer with to include preferences for “operated by”, “number of stops”, and “travel duration”.
If users happen to have a general idea of where they are interested in going, they can set their origin and destination at the top left to show more pinpointed map results.

List View

For users who simply aren’t visually oriented and prefer a list view approach, it can be accessed by clicking on the button on the lower left side of the screen. To still convey the breadth of Delta’s vast network, we show a total of how many cities are available from your origin. Users can tab across to different countries/continents and view available cities in the list.

Selecting a Destination

Once a user finds a destination they are interested in, they see a range of information: all routes available (Delta routes as well as partner-operated routes), specific travel requirements, nearby airports, flight information such as number of stops - which the user can filter down as well as a CTA to Find a Flight.

The nonstop Delta route is shown as the primary route, with a bolded line connecting the origin and destination.

Selecting a Route

After looking through all the routes available to get to their destination of interest, the user can select a specific route either on the map or in the details panel to see more information. The user can then easily select the CTA to Find a Flight.