How a small pilot team transformed Southwest's online booking experience for over one billion annual visitors—generating millions in additional revenue through rapid experimentation.
Case study developed in partnership with Business Agility Institute
With massive web traffic driving sales, Southwest's focus had shifted to launching new features instead of optimizing the existing booking experience for their billion+ annual visitors.
Agile Velocity helped assemble and coach an 8-person pilot team using design sprints, Scrum, and Kanban to rapidly prototype and test booking flow improvements with real customers.
19 hypothesis-driven tests launched, 61% resulted in website changes, generating millions in additional annual revenue and inspiring Agile adoption across departments.
Southwest Airlines, founded in 1967, has grown over five decades to become the largest domestic airline in the U.S. with over 60,000 employees, 4,000+ daily departures at peak, and $20+ billion in annual revenue.
Their devotion to customer service has resulted in Southwest being ranked #1 among all US airlines for customer satisfaction—a title they've held for twenty-five of the past twenty-nine years.
Dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.
In late 2018, Southwest Airlines had an online booking system that was already considered the best digital experience among its competitors. However, success had created a new problem.
With massive volumes of web traffic driving sales, the focus had shifted to launching new products and features versus targeted, iterative usability optimization. Leadership wondered: was there an opportunity for a dedicated team to approach the booking flow with fresh eyes?
The mission was simple: to make the booking process better for Customers. Six Marketing Employees and two Technology Developers were assembled in January 2019 to form a twelve-month pilot Team that would use Business Agility methods to analyze and improve upon Southwest's online booking portals.
Agile Velocity proposed using Business Agility concepts and Agile practices focused on rapid iteration, customer collaboration, and data-driven solutions.
The team would examine a single page of the booking system and work to make it the best experience possible. All members invited to suggest, refine, and hypothesize.
The team aimed to complete their weekly prototype by Thursday. This rapid approach forced focus on the most important aspects.
With prototypes in place, the team brought in internal designers, marketing specialists, and both internal and external customers to test.
Lightning demos were a vital part of the process—designers collected data, materials, and potential solutions from other airlines and retailers, then came together as a group to examine how this information could solve their problems.
From initial team assembly through ongoing coaching, we partnered with Southwest throughout the entire 12-month pilot.
The design sense of a small Team was no match for the feedback of one billion annual site visits. Customers were the ultimate arbiters of what worked and what didn't.
The pilot team's hypothesis-driven approach delivered concrete, measurable results that proved the value of Agile methods in Marketing.
Original team members now assist transformation efforts across Southwest by training small, independent teams in Agile methods.
Technology, Communications, Advertising, and Sales teams requested similar pilot programs after seeing Marketing's results.
Team members developed cross-functional skills, with skillsets cross-pollinating throughout the trial as everyone learned to wear different hats.
Original team members fell in love with their new ways of working and expressed little interest in returning to previous structures.
Get the complete 13-page PDF with additional details on team formation, design sprint execution, and lessons learned.
Whether you're exploring Agile for the first time or looking to scale what's working, we can help you build a pilot program that delivers measurable results.
