Digital Baggage Design Sprint
Rethinking the Missing Bag Experience
Storyboarding the problematic user experience
Brief: A high-impact design sprint transformed BA’s behind-the-scenes baggage handling data into a transparent, user-friendly customer experience, reducing frustration and aligning with industry-leading standards.
Result: The business funded the roadmap, stood up a dedicated digital baggage team, and aligned operations to support proactive recovery and trust-building with travellers.
Team: Digital Product: Design (me), Strategy, Research, Tech; Airport Customer Experience: Arrivals & Ground; Baggage Management: Handling & Repatriation
Where's my bag?
Opportunity: Customer trust drops when baggage goes missing
Internal systems knew when a bag was delayed — but customers didn’t. We saw the gap: information wasn't reaching the people who needed it most.
Users told us:
“I had no idea what was happening — I just stood waiting at an empty carousel.”
Top Issues Identified:
No digital receipt or status updates post-check-in
Frustration at the carousel guessing game
Lack of proactive communication when the bags were delayed
Confusion about what to do next
Our cross-departmental collaborrative sprint board (Miro)
Research & Rapid Testing
Finding friction and fixes
We synthesised insights from:
4 moderated sessions (age 25–40) testing prototypes of timeline tracking and push notifications
Unmoderated test via UserZoom
Ethnographic research in terminals (e.g. customer queries at service desks)
Competitor benchmarking vs AA, Delta, Lufthansa
What I Delivered
Making the invisable visable
Pulling our findings together, I was able to create an enhanced user journey:
Digital bag receipt issued after check-in
Push alerts at key moments: baggage loading, arrival, and delivery
Proactive notification for delays, plus next steps
Operational alignment to let airport & cabin crew proactively support
Live check-in confirmation
Live notification updates
Live baggage tracking
Outcomes
A short sprint with big wins
Business case approved by CEO
Cost-saving roadmap funded
New Digital Baggage product team founded
Design-led culture shift across the business
This project not only addressed a key customer pain point but also demonstrated how cross-functional design thinking can unlock strategic value at scale, with collaboration fostering new connections across the business.