Case File 02
ForeFlight Dispatch
Jeppesen · ForeFlight · Flight Dispatch · Product UX/UI · Mapping
I worked across ForeFlight Dispatch, from everyday flight-monitoring views to map-based flight-planning tools: redesigning the Grid and List views, and helping dispatchers understand route, terrain and escape-route information across map and profile views.
Company
Jeppesen · ForeFlight
Role
UX Specialist
Users
Airline dispatchers
Product
ForeFlight Dispatch
Focus
Grid + List Views, operational workflows, Escape Routes, mapping and profile experiences
List
Grid
All
Plan
File
Release
Out
Off
On
In
Flight
Route
Off
On
Phase
Conditions
XX 101
AAA · BBB
06:10
08:40
Out
XX 214
CCC · DDD
06:40
09:15
Release
2
XX 077
EEE · FFF
07:05
10:20
File
XX 402
GGG · HHH
07:30
11:05
Plan
1
XX 118
III · JJJ
06:00
08:10
On
XX 356
KKK · LLL
08:15
12:30
Release
XX 590
MMM · NNN
08:40
11:45
File
XX 631
OOO · PPP
09:00
13:10
Plan
XX 745
QQQ · RRR
09:25
12:05
Plan
9 flights
List
Grid
All
Plan
File
Release
Out
Off
On
In
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
XX 101
XX 214
XX 077
XX 402
XX 118
XX 356
XX 590
XX 631
XX 745
Now
Planned
Released
Airborne
Needs attention
4
Production interfaces are confidential. Every screen in this case study is a reconstructed example using fictional data and a deliberately different UI.
The problem
Dispatchers needed to monitor multiple flights while moving between different ways of understanding operational information.
Structured flight details and time-based relationships don’t need the same interface. That left room to support different ways of understanding one operation.
Same flights. Different questions.
List View
What do I need to know about this flight?
Scan detailed flight information in a structured, data-dense format.
Grid View
How do these flights line up?
See flights across time and recognize operational relationships that are harder to see in a traditional table.
These weren’t two cosmetic treatments of the same screen. They supported different ways of understanding the same operational system.
Same flight selected in both views
Shared stage filters and List / Grid toggle
Attention markers carry across
Escape Routes
When tables aren’t enough
Some decisions can’t be made from a table or a timeline alone. Route, waypoint, terrain and alternate-airport information had to be seen on a map and in a profile view.
In detail
List View
Over time
Grid View
On a map
Map + Profile
Why this matters
During certain in-flight emergencies, such as depressurization, an aircraft may need to descend and divert while accounting for terrain, aircraft capability and available airports. Escape-route information helps crews and dispatchers understand those options along the planned route.
Understanding the route from two perspectives
Map view shows where the route exists geographically. Profile view shows the same route against altitude and terrain. Together they describe one route.
1
2
3
4
5
CCC
DDD
Active route
Escape route
Alternate airport
Map view
Terrain
Flight setup
XX 214
Active route
Set
Waypoints
5
Escape route
Prepared
2
3
1
2
3
4
5
CCC
DDD
Profile view
Terrain under the active route, with each escape route dropping to an alternate.
2
I researched how comparable products showed routes and map information, and worked with the mapping team on how an escape route should sit alongside the flight route, waypoints, alternate airports and terrain.
The system
Escape Routes wasn’t one screen
Decisions and configuration upstream affected the information available later, during flight planning and route evaluation.
1
Fleet settings
2
Configuration
3
Flight setup
4
Active route
5
Waypoints
6
Terrain
7
Escape-route information
8
Alternate airports
9
Map + Profile
Fleets
Fleet A
Fleet B
Fleet C
Escape route settings
Fleet level
Configuration level
Feeds flight setup
1
Flight setup
XX 214 · AAA · BBB
Waypoint
Terrain
Escape route
1
Waypoint 1
Prepared · CCC
2
Waypoint 2
Prepared · CCC
3
Waypoint 3
Prepared · DDD
4
Waypoint 4
Prepared · DDD
5
Waypoint 5
Prepared · DDD
The active route, waypoints and terrain help build the escape route information.
Design decisions
1
Carry fleet settings downstream
Fleet-level configuration feeds flight setup, so waypoints arrive with escape-route information already prepared.
2
One route, two perspectives
Map and profile share the same numbered waypoints and the same alternates, so a point on one view is easy to find on the other.
3
Terrain is part of the decision
Terrain sits under the route in the profile and behind it on the map, treated as part of the decision, not decoration.
4
Grid and List stay one system
Both views share the same flights, selection, filters and toggle, so switching keeps the same flight in view.
Where it landed
Where it landed.
Escape Routes was still being integrated into ForeFlight Dispatch when I left Jeppesen ForeFlight. The work had moved beyond concept exploration and was being built into the product, including fleet-level settings and waypoint-based route behavior.
Reflection
The challenge wasn’t designing a map. It was connecting configuration, route data, terrain and operational decisions so they stayed understandable across the whole workflow.
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