Minh's UX Project - Southwest Airlines’ Daily Abandon Browse Email Enhancement

Southwest Airlines’ Daily Abandon Browse Email Enhancement

Redesigned Southwest Airlines’ Daily Abandon Browse (DAB) email to increase urgency, personalization, and brand voice.

ROLE

Digital Product Intern

TIMELINE

May 2024 - Aug 2024

MY LANE

User flows, message architecture, UI states, experiment design.

CONTEXT

DAB is the browse-abandon email. At open, it personalizes with route + fare (when data resolves). If data’s missing, it falls back to a generic hero.

OPPORTUNITIES

DAB is one of Southwest’s highest‑revenue CRM emails. Although it’s just ~3% of GTM send volume, it drives 15% of GTM air sales. YTD 2024, DAB generated $55MM—so small lifts matter!

RESEARCH

To evaluate how abandonment emails perform in travel, I benchmarked Southwest’s DAB against competitors, including LNER (rail) and Virgin Atlantic:

What stood out:

Competitors use personalization and urgency more aggressively

Multi-touch cadences are common in travel but absent in Southwest’s DAB

CTAs are more specific and contextual, leading directly to booking

PROBLEMS

No visible, trustworthy sense of urgency

One message for all intents

Lacks imagery element

Fallback feels generic; momentum drops

OBJECTIVES

Tuning four variables known to move CTR and intent:

Make urgency real, ethical

Personalize the message, not just the hero

Use imagery as information

Turn failure states into insight + value

CHALLENGES

Real-world constraints that defined the scope of improvement:

Data availability at open (personalization can fail)

Brand voice guardrails (clear, friendly, non-pushy)

Prior test: destination photos under-performed

ROLE

Digital Product Intern

TIMELINE

May 2024 - Aug 2024

MY LANE

User flows, message architecture, UI states, experiment design.

CONTEXT

DAB is the browse-abandon email. At open, it personalizes with route + fare (when data resolves). If data’s missing, it falls back to a generic hero.

OPPORTUNITIES

DAB is one of Southwest’s highest‑revenue CRM emails. Although it’s just ~3% of GTM send volume, it drives 15% of GTM air sales. YTD 2024, DAB generated $55MM—so small lifts matter!

RESEARCH

To evaluate how abandonment emails perform in travel, I benchmarked Southwest’s DAB against competitors, including LNER (rail) and Virgin Atlantic:

What stood out:

Competitors use personalization and urgency more aggressively

Multi-touch cadences are common in travel but absent in Southwest’s DAB

CTAs are more specific and contextual, leading directly to booking

PROBLEMS

No visible, trustworthy sense of urgency

One message for all intents

Lacks imagery element

Fallback feels generic; momentum drops

OBJECTIVES

Tuning four variables known to move CTR and intent:

Make urgency real, ethical

Personalize the message, not just the hero

Use imagery as information

Turn failure states into insight + value

CHALLENGES

Real-world constraints that defined the scope of improvement:

Data availability at open (personalization can fail)

Brand voice guardrails (clear, friendly, non-pushy)

Prior test: destination photos under-performed

Patching Things Up

Increase Urgency

I designed a seat-count capsule to make urgency visible only when it was real. If inventory dropped to nine or fewer seats, the email surfaced the exact number; when higher, the badge displayed a fallback message "Limited seats left". This gave customers factual signals, avoided false pressure, and encouraged faster decisions.

Personalized Messages

I personalized subject lines and body copy with the recipient’s name and route details, supported by Persado for tone variation. This made the email less generic, aligned with the Fun-LUVing brand voice, and increased relevance at first glance.

Personalized Images

I added a secondary content block that pulled in destination-specific images and copy tied to the user’s search. This reinforced relevance, highlighted Southwest’s benefits, and re-engaged customers beyond the hero fare.

Enhanced Fallback

When personalization failed, I designed a fallback flow that asked users why they didn’t book. Using Movable Ink Live Polling, the email collected quick feedback (price, timing, process, etc.) and then re-engaged them with tailored content. This turned a weak state into both insight and value.

Results

I targeted a +0.5% responder lift in the next test window, which translates to over $3.6M in additional revenue for Q1–Q2 sends. Because DAB is a high-value trigger, even small gains deliver meaningful impact.

Looking Back

"Looking back, my internship at Southwest was more than just design work—I got to explore new cities, meet incredible teammates, and see firsthand how my ideas could impact millions of travelers. It was a summer of learning, growth, and plenty of flying."