UX Research Case Study · Eurowings Digital × Lufthansa Innovation Hub
Fear of flying doesn't wait for a usability session.So we tracked it for 14 real days.
A longitudinal diary study on CabinBlu, a flight-anxiety app — following 12 anxious flyers from booking to boarding to see whether the app actually meets fear where it lives.
✦ Departures — Why This Study, In Five Numbers ✦
01 · Context
A calm app is only as good as its fit into a frightened person's real week.
CabinBlu offers meditations, education and a personalized flight plan. But content quality alone doesn't guarantee impact — timing, emotional relevance and fit into real travel moments do. We didn't know if CabinBlu changed how fear actually felt over time, or just sat unused beside a fear running on its own schedule.
Participant quotes are drawn from sessions conducted under signed NDAs. Names are replaced with study codes (P1‑1, P2‑3…) and details generalized to protect confidentiality.
02 · Flight Plan
Five questions we filed before takeoff.
How does anxiety evolve, Day 0 → Day 14?
Linear, spiking, or does it ever actually go down?
What content lands, and when?
Which formats and topics help, and at which moments?
What drives — or kills — engagement?
How people actually use the app beyond the first open.
Does it support key moments?
Booking, packing, check-in, day-of — present, or absent?
What's still unmet?
What friction remains even for people actively trying?
04 · In-Flight Findings
Eight things the roadmap didn't know yet.
Tap a card to open it. Spanning how anxiety works, what people expect from the app, and where the experience falls short.
Most participants already know flying is statistically safe — that was never the issue. The issue is losing control of the situation, and that feeling grows the closer the flight gets. Avoidance and control-seeking coexist in the same person; information calms some and overwhelms others.
“I always trust the pilot, but I don't know what's going on inside their heads.”
— P2-4
Coping today is a grab-bag: distraction, alcohol, sedatives, rationalisation, breathing tricks, or just not thinking about it. None of it is structured, and there's no learning effect flight to flight — exactly the gap CabinBlu is positioned to fill, if it goes beyond distraction.
The clean, minimal design and blue palette were read as calming, and navigation felt intuitive. But several participants called it pleasant rather than memorable — a nice app, not yet a trusted companion.
The core idea — prepare, learn, manage anxiety — resonates immediately. What's missing is tailoring: people can't tell what to do next, or how the app is adapting to what they just told it about themselves.
“I'd say it's just clear what you have to do and what you can do.”
— P2-4, after a week of use
Real preference for audio-led exercises during anxious moments — but confusion about what separates an "exercise" from an "audio," why content is locked, and whether Explore should be read or listened to.
“I expect it to be more focused on flying itself, not only on anxiety.”
— P2-4
Adding a flight and getting a tailored plan felt motivating — structure and confrontation instead of avoidance. But time-entry confused people, and it's unclear what they get back after entering details.
Anxious users actively interrogate credibility: is this built by psychologists? Backed by data, or by "anxiety gurus"? A disclaimer that it isn't medical advice helps — but isn't enough alone.
“If it's backed by the data and not by … gurus … that should do the trick.”
— P1-3
Structured, gradual exposure was genuinely appreciated, but some content felt childish (the hug feature), and some headlines triggered rather than reassured. Imagery only depicted white travellers — a real inclusivity gap for a global airline product.
“It feels not very inclusive.”
— P2-3, on the app's imagery
05 · Flight Recorder
Anxiety doesn't fall in a straight line.
The riskiest moment isn't Day 0 — three distinct trajectories emerged, and the most common one dips early, then climbs right as the flight stops being abstract.
05 · Anxiety Over Time
Anxiety doesn't fall in a straight line — and the riskiest moment isn't Day 0.
Across the 14-day diaries, three distinct trajectories emerged. The most common pattern: anxiety eases early — novelty and initial engagement help — then climbs back up in the final days, right as the flight stops being abstract. That late window is exactly where the app currently offers the least.
Illustrative trend shapes derived directly from diary entries and closing interviews — directional patterns, not exact anxiety scores. Across most participants: a slight dip from Day 0 → Day 6, driven by initial engagement and novelty, followed by a renewed rise from Day 6 → Day 14 as the flight stops being hypothetical.
06 · Pre-Flight Journey
The app shows up reliably in one place — and that's not where fear is highest.
Mapping diary entries onto the real pre-flight journey surfaced a clear pattern: anxiety hotspots and app presence don't line up. Scroll through the five stops below.
Booking
Avoidance & control-seeking
Delayed or avoided bookings, and a strong need for control over airline, aircraft type and direct routes — while CabinBlu has nothing to say yet.
“I browse for days… part of it is avoiding the commitment.”
— PARTICIPANT, BASELINE
Packing
Coping through control
Packing becomes a control-restoration ritual — medication, headphones, snacks, overpacking "just in case." A natural, low-intensity moment for the app to meet people.
“I pack everything I might need… just in case.”
— PARTICIPANT, D3 DIARY
Check-in
The reality checkpoint
Anxiety rises because the flight becomes unavoidable. Seat selection turns emotionally loaded — an ideal decision moment for targeted, in-context support.
“This is when it becomes real.”
— PARTICIPANT, D6 DIARY
“I want an aisle seat so I can get up if needed.”
— PARTICIPANT, D6 DIARY
Airport & gate
The most emotionally rich phase
Leaving home → journey stress → security → gate → boarding: anxiety climbs step by step and peaks at the gate. Low-effort, passive audio wins here.
“Boarding is the moment it becomes real. There's no way back.”
— PARTICIPANT, D10 DIARY
In the air
Peak anxiety, lowest tolerance for effort
Users need immediate, passive calm — not a training plan. Content here must ask almost nothing of the user, and be safe to repeat.
“I just want to get on the plane at that point.”
— PARTICIPANT, CLOSING INTERVIEW
07 · Baggage Claim
Turning eight insights into eight concrete bets.
Framed as prioritized opportunities for product, content and design to weigh against effort and roadmap capacity — not a redesign mandate.
TAG №01 · INSIGHT 01
Anxiety peaks pre-flight, not Day 0
Re-weight content toward the final days — motivation early, acute coping tools timed to flight proximity
TAG №02 · INSIGHT 02
App absent during booking & packing
Light-touch nudges at booking confirmation + a packing checklist as low-effort entry points
TAG №03 · INSIGHT 03
Users question credibility
Surface sourcing & credentials directly in-product, beyond a one-line disclaimer
TAG №04 · INSIGHT 04
Onboarding feels generic
Branch onboarding by primary driver — control, catastrophic thinking, physical symptoms
TAG №05 · INSIGHT 05
Audio vs. text confusion
Offer a format toggle or parallel transcript instead of locking content to one mode
TAG №06 · INSIGHT 06
Imagery represents one type of traveller
Diversify the visual language so more real users see themselves in it
TAG №07 · INSIGHT 07
Day-of-flight needs near-zero effort
A one-tap "in the air now" mode — audio-led, minimal interaction, safe to repeat
TAG №08 · INSIGHT 08
Flight Plan time-entry confuses people
Simplify flight-detail entry, make the payoff explicit after providing it
08 · Arrivals
From transcripts to a prioritized roadmap conversation.
Reframed where the roadmap should focus
Booking-and-packing gaps and the late-stage spike became concrete arguments for re-sequencing content, not just polishing the existing flow.
Informed the Eurowings integration conversation
Participants reacted directly to CabinBlu living inside the main Eurowings app rather than as a separate download.
Built reusable research infrastructure
Tagging structures, survey templates and a highlight-reel workflow were carried into other airline-journey research.
Future scope
Validate the three trajectories at scale, prototype booking/packing nudges, and explore a try-then-pay content model.
09 · Postcards From the Field
What this project changed about how I research.
Researching fear takes a different kind of moderation.
Several participants described panic attacks, sedatives, even an ER visit, within minutes of meeting me. Running sessions in whichever language felt safest, and slowing down before asking "why," mattered as much as the question list.
Don't flatten a messy curve into a tidy story.
It would've been easy to report "anxiety decreases with use." The honest finding — three trajectories, riskiest moment late, not early — was less clean, and far more actionable for the roadmap.
Final call for boarding ✈️
Full transcripts, the Condens report, and the workshop deck are available on request.
