Usability project highlight: Boeing ForeFlight

Each winter, HCDE master’s and certificate students take a deep dive into usability testing and user-centered research in HCDE 517: Usability Studies. In this hands-on course, students work in small teams to design and conduct usability studies from start to finish—with real clients, real products, and real users.

Over the quarter, they define research goals, develop test protocols, recruit participants, run moderated sessions, analyze findings, and deliver actionable recommendations to their sponsors. 

One HCDE 517 team worked with clients at ForeFlight, a Boeing-owned flight planning app used by private, commercial, and military pilots. It’s often described as the “Google Maps for pilots,” offering tools for route planning, in-flight navigation, and air traffic coordination. While ForeFlight excels at single-leg routing, the team was asked to explore how pilots plan trips with one or more stops and how the experience could be improved.

The students conducted remote, moderated usability sessions with eight experienced pilots, ranging from private pilots to ATP-certified commercial pilots and even an EMS helicopter pilot. Using Zoom and screen sharing, participants walked through a flight planning scenario using the ForeFlight iPad app, allowing the students to observe their process, decision points, and any workarounds.

Despite the variation in pilot type and workflow, the team found common patterns around how pilots used the app and how they improvised strategies for managing multi-leg routes. Their findings pointed to opportunities for more streamlined workflows, improved interface clarity, and onboarding enhancements for newer users. The students presented their insights and recommendations in a final report and presentation to the ForeFlight team, offering data-driven ideas to help refine a highly trusted planning tool in the aviation industry.