01 · Compare like with like
Keep baggage, flexibility, seats and meals in consistent positions so the traveller can see which differences matter.
Entry 01 · HDFC SmartBuy · Flight Booking · Web & Mobile
Redesigning Flight Redemption to Improve Conversion and Retention
HDFC SmartBuy is a rewards portal for booking travel using credit card points. Flight booking had high drop-offs due to poor clarity, weak comparisons, and fragmented post-booking updates.
HDFC SmartBuyFlight Booking — Dom & IntlUX AuditUI DesignFixes + Features + Comms
↑34%
Flight Bookings
↓41%
Support Tickets
3.2×
Price-Calendar Conversion
Leadership brief
Make the trade-offs of a fare easier to judge.
- My remit
- Head of Design at Reward360, leading the design direction for the HDFC SmartBuy flight experience.
- Working partners
- Product, Engineering, QA and Analytics across web and mobile.
- Leadership contribution
- Use an end-to-end audit to connect pricing, fare comparison, policy clarity and booking communication in one design agenda.
A flight option is more than a price. Travellers also need to compare baggage, flexibility, partner differences and the consequences of cancellation. The problem frame therefore extends from selection to the communication after booking.
Decision in practice · Product experience
From the problem to the screen.
02 · Explain the additional spend
Delta pricing makes the upgrade cost explicit. A recommendation needs a visible benefit, not just a more prominent purchase button.
03 · Preserve consequential detail
Reduce visual density without hiding cancellation conditions or baggage limits. Those details can change which fare is right for the traveller.
Strategic decisions & trade-offs
What the direction needed to balance.
01Frame confidence across the journey
Audit selection, policy interpretation and post-booking communication together. Completing a payment does not end the customer’s need for clarity.
02Standardise comparison, retain differences
Use a consistent comparison structure without flattening the meaningful differences between fare families and partners.
03Guide without obscuring cost
Give price and benefit differences clear hierarchy. Recommendations and urgency should help customers evaluate the choice, not substitute for understanding it.
01 — Overview
A rewards portal losing travellers at the moment of booking.
When I took ownership of the flight experience, I began with a comprehensive audit rather than a redesign. I audited the end-to-end flow, identified key UX issues, and proposed UI/UX improvements to simplify decisions, improve booking clarity, and increase conversion and retention.
02 — My Design Approach
How I think, design, and deliver.
A repeatable framework for moving from ambiguous problems to outcomes that work for users and the business.
01
Understand
Research user needs and validate assumptions before a single pixel is placed. User research · Jobs-to-be-done · Assumption mapping.
02
Align
Connect user value with business goals and measurable outcomes. OKR mapping · Success metrics · Stakeholder framing.
03
Structure
Systems thinking to build scalable, coherent experiences. Design systems · IA & flows · Component thinking.
04
Simplify
Transform complexity into intuitive, accessible solutions. Cognitive load · Accessibility · Progressive disclosure.
05
Collaborate
Partner with product, engineering and stakeholders to drive impact. Cross-functional · Design critique · Handoff & specs.
03 — UX Audit & Key Findings
What users struggle with.
The flight search and fare selection experience had high visual density and limited scannability — increasing cognitive load and slowing decision-making. The audit combined journey mapping, UI/UX gap analysis, competitor analysis and real-time data deep dives across the full flight flow.
01
Pricing confusion
Multiple price points per flight created confusion and reduced trust.
02
Weak visual hierarchy
Weak visual hierarchy made it hard to compare options quickly.
03
High cognitive load
High information density increased cognitive load during scanning.
04
Unclear fare differentiation
The fare selection modal lacked clear differentiation between options.
05
Poor content prioritization
OTA listings competed equally with flight information.
06
Fragmented conversion flow
CTAs were fragmented, reducing conversion focus.
07
Convoluted booking journey
Extra steps and redundant screens slowed booking and increased drop-off.
08
Inconsistent communication
Users received inconsistent emails with missing booking information.
09
Poor microcopy
Developer jargon made buttons and errors unclear — “Error 502” offered no actionable guidance.
04 — Design Solution
Revamping pricing and the selection flow.
I led the design direction for revamping the pricing and selection flow — introducing clearer differentiation and a structured comparison model to improve engagement and conversion efficiency.
Expected Impact
Faster flight comparison and selection, reduced decision fatigue, improved trust through pricing transparency, and a simplified CTA flow built for high-frequency travel shoppers.
Landing Page
The old landing page diluted booking focus across multiple sections — a dense layout with weak emphasis on premium value and rewards, and low CTA visibility. The new page opens with the booking flow, stronger premium brand positioning, and rewards highlighted for motivation.
Booking-first focus
Multiple competing sections replaced with a clear, single-purpose flight-booking flow.
Rewards as motivation
Reward points and savings surfaced prominently — 5X points and trip savings lead the page.
CTA visibility
A cleaner layout and an improved call-to-action lift booking intent from the first screen.
Partner & Fare Selection
The old results were a linear list — flight details repeated unnecessarily, weak differentiation between partners and pricing, and CTAs without urgency. The redesign introduces a structured comparison that improves decision speed.
Structured comparison
Clear separation of partners and pricing options, so fares can be scanned and compared at speed.
Best value surfaced
Best-value fares are highlighted for faster selection and a shorter path to a confident choice.
Key info first
Flight time, stops and price carry clear visual weight — surfaced for quick scanning.
Fare Family Selection
Dense fare cards made value differences between fare families unclear, with limited emphasis on benefits versus price trade-offs. The new structured cards create a clear benefit hierarchy that supports informed decisions.
Benefit hierarchy
Baggage, flexibility, seats and meals laid out consistently across every fare family.
Value contrast
Better contrast highlights value differentiation — what each step up actually buys.
Guided upgrades
Delta pricing (“+₹615 for Flexi”) and a recommended badge guide the upgrade decision.
Cancellation & Date Change
The old policy table was dense and policy-focused — users manually interpreted penalties with no urgency or guidance on the best action. The redesign is customer-focused and action-oriented.
Cancel now & save
Savings opportunities highlighted so the best action to take is obvious at a glance.
Visual timelines
Penalty stages plotted against deadlines improve fee transparency.
Deadline urgency
Deadline-based penalty messaging creates urgency and stronger decision-making.
Outcomes & learning
What the results establish.
The work reports a 34% increase in flight bookings and a 41% reduction in support tickets. The 3.2× calendar figure compares users who engaged with the calendar with those who did not; it is an association, not an experiment showing the calendar caused the uplift.
The leadership lesson is to set a quality bar across the complete decision: selection, commitment and what happens when plans change.
05 — Impact
Reported outcomes following the redesign.
The results below cover the redesigned funnel. They describe changes observed alongside the work; they do not establish that any single interface change caused an outcome.
Pricing Clarity · Conversion
Visual Hierarchy · Efficiency
Cognitive Load · Engagement
↑34%
Increase in flight bookings following the redesign; pricing clarity was one focus of the work
↓28%
Reported reduction in time taken to select a fare
↑19%
Reported lift in engagement across the redesigned funnel
Conversion Optimisation · Trust
Smarter Discovery · Conversion
Fare Redesign · Revenue
↓41%
Reported reduction in support-ticket volume across the booking experience
3.2×
Price-calendar engagement — users who used the calendar converted at 3.2× the rate of those who didn’t
↑12%
Reported increase in fare-upgrade attach rate following the redesign
Reported outcomes across the redesigned HDFC SmartBuy booking funnel on web & mobile. The calendar comparison is an observed association between user groups, not evidence that the calendar alone caused higher conversion.
06 — Reflections
What I learned.
Quick fixes compound
Individually, rewriting an error message or removing one redundant screen feels small. But across a journey that millions of users traverse, these micro-improvements compound into measurable conversion lifts and significant support-ticket reductions.
The invisible layer matters most
Email communication was completely absent for critical booking events. Users were anxious not because the product was broken, but because it was silent. Building the communication layer was technically unglamorous — but it had an outsized impact on user trust.
Designing across bank brands requires shared systems
HDFC and ICICI have different brand guidelines, but users expect the same quality of experience. The template system had to be flexible enough for brand compliance while rigid enough to ensure no critical information was ever missing.
New features land better after trust is established
Fare Families — a brand-new concept for these portals — was received well partly because we’d already fixed the baseline friction. Users were more open to exploring a new feature when the rest of the journey finally felt reliable.