Year
2024
Client
Delta Air Lines
PROJECT TYPE
ENHANCEMENT
Delta was changing how Sky Club access worked and the existing tracker did not sufficiently represent the change.
Sky Club visits were being limited, with unlimited access now tied to Amex Reserve card spend thresholds. The existing tracker only reflected a simple visit count. It had no way to represent spend progress, the relationship between visits and spend, or the different states a member could be in — from just getting started to earning unlimited access. And because this was a live program change, the redesign needed to launch quickly.
I designed a scalable component as a system of states to represent the new changes and use cases.
The redesign accounted for the different situations a member could actually be in. We also designed for the practical edge cases — multiple eligible cards on one account, and error states.
We were designing for two audiences with two different stakes.
For Users:
Make it clear how many Sky Club visits a member has used, how much they've spent toward unlimited access, and what happens next — without confusing language or hidden math.
For Delta:
Launch a compliant, on-brand representation of the new visit-limit and spend-based access model quickly enough to match the program change going live.
I owned design and strategy for this project from early concepts through launch, partnering closely with UXR, the Amex team, and content design.
I moved the tracker beyond a simple visit counter to a full system of member states, working directly with Amex's brand team through multiple rounds of feedback to fit their card art, chip, and color constraints without losing clarity. Delta's GM of Loyalty, a PM, engineering, and a content designer aligned on the design, content, and business logic ahead of launch.
This redesign took several rounds of feedback and iteration and we landed on treating Amex's brand constraints as a design input, not an obstacle.
The final direction reserves full emphasis for genuine unlock moments, with quieter treatment for standard in-progress states, so the moments worth celebrating actually stand out.
Amex's guidelines on card art, the card chip, and widget color set real limits. We treated those limits as the frame to design within, not obstacles to work around.
This work meant designing inside limits we didn't set — a brand partner's guidelines and a launch date driven by the program change itself, not by design readiness. Here's where those limits shaped the final direction.
We pulled back emphasis on standard, in-progress states so that genuine milestones — like unlocking unlimited access — still stood out. Amex's brand guidelines fixed the card art, chip, and color, so getting a layout that satisfied both their requirements and Delta's need for clarity took several rounds of back-and-forth. And because this represented a live program change rather than an optional feature, it had to launch on Delta's timeline without the runway to formally user test it first.
The redesign turned a confusing program change into something members could easily understand at a glance.
What I Shipped:
A redesigned tracker showing visit progress and Amex spend together, replacing a simple visit count that no longer matched how access worked.
A full system of member states, from in-progress to unlimited access to membership, and more.
Support for multiple eligible cards, and error states.
A tooltip layer that keeps the main card simple.
A design approved within Amex's brand constraints, shipped in time for the program change going live.
