Seat Selection

The Virgin Australia app's seat selection process was previously one of the app's oldest sections. This posed two issues. Firstly, the seat map icons and colours did not match the booking flow's recently-updated seat map. Secondly, the new 'Priority' seat type could not be displayed due to an old API.

With the opportunity to update the whole flow, testing was undertaken to understand how best to build the selection process for both single and multi-flight trips, how to hand off for paid seating, and how to integrate a seat legend.

The selection, navigation, and legend all sit within a sheet component. Placing all these elements at the bottom of the screen allows for one-handed use and keeps the whole surface of the page dedicated to the seat map.

The legend keeps general seat type information viewable by default, helping to guide users who may not be familiar with the new colour mapping. When a user scrolls the page, the legend minimises to show more of the seat map. Users can tap or swipe on the legend to reveal an expanded view with more information.

Considered interactions ensure an effortless selection process for multi-passenger groups. After a user selects a seat, the next passenger is automatically selected, and the list of passengers scrolls to place them into view.

The seat tile design mirrors the web experience, ensuring consistency throughout the user journey.

This new design was A/B tested against the previous seat map, revealing a $1.8 million EBIT increase, driven by a 45% increase in overall seat selection and a 50% increase in premium seat purchases.