The term “dynamic layout” relates to an approach used by online retailers to dynamically influence the structure of the user interface (UI) – such as the screen or screen components. Changes to the UI are based on real-time attributes including the user’s profile, shopping cart and other contextual information.
The position, layout, structure and default behaviour of any screen component can be managed through business rules or dynamically through real-time data-driven processes such as machine learning. Permission-based access to traveller data can further enhance the experience for customers and improve the commercial benefits for retailers.
Airlines which embrace dynamic layout are well positioned to satisfy many of the industry’s current needs – delivering on the promise of personalisation; differentiate through merchandising and retailing; increase conversion rates and secure more repeat bookings.
Dynamic layout in practice
Dynamic layout is about deciding if a component should appear for a certain user. Where it should appear on the page and within the booking flow. And how it should appear.
Desktop and mobile web pages, as well as apps, are made up of images, fonts, colours and text. Some elements will be defined according to brand guidelines while others are dynamic and can be changed based on rules. Or even algorithms.
The simplest use of a dynamic layout tool is to offer different UI components to different customer segments. Especially when those components contain product offers. A business traveller is offered lounge access; couples travelling at the weekend are offered in-flight champagne; a family is offered early boarding.
Component placement on the page
Business travellers, couples, families or any identified segment have different demands and are in the market for a different experience.
Airlines using dynamic layout have the option of changing the position of specific components on a page. They can personalise what a traveller sees by prioritising components according to real-time attributes or previous interactions. 50% of airline executives interviewed for an Amadeus report expect customised offers to increase passenger revenue by 15% or more.
Example of layout variants for ‘Business Traveller’ & ‘Family’
Component placement in the booking experience
Dynamic layout can also automate where a component appears during the booking experience. Insurance, for example, is a high-margin product and can be prioritised for certain customer segments by placing it further up the list of extras, or even on a different screen during the booking flow. Placing insurance on the payments page might get more attention and convert better because the user’s mindset may have shifted from ‘building their trip’ to ‘securing their trip’.
In the live environment, an airline can change where components are placed on the page. Or even where they are presented in the booking flow. Airlines can analyse the results to see if there are any material differences in conversion, up-sell and overall booking revenue.
Default component state and actual layout
Another consideration for airlines using dynamic layout is how to present a component to a certain user (e.g. Collapsed Vs Expanded). The idea is that the component’s actual layout or state changes to better match that user’s real-time attributes so as to increase conversion.
So, for example, it may make sense to automatically expand the payment option component to a payment option that the user has a high propensity to select. Or any product to which the airline would like to draw the user’s attention.
Device optimised layout
Today’s travellers are multi-channel and multi-device. Responsive design helps retailers ensure that screens and components can scale up or down to make best use of the available real estate.
Taking it a step further, adaptive design delivers truly unique experiences that are tailored for each device. Dynamic layout underpins an adaptive design implementation.
Merchandising on mobile is different from merchandising on desktop. A dynamic layout tool can automate how and when different components appear throughout the shop, search and buy process based on real-time data. Each component on a screen needs to be optimised so that the entire screen is optimised.
Industry adoption – an example from Skyscanner
Skyscanner shared an example of how it was able to improve the customer experience on its app by testing different dynamic layouts for its results page. Specifically, it looked at what was presented when a user searched for flights between a city pair with many options. Rather than list all the responses, ranked by price or departure time, it grouped them by airline, letting passengers see which airlines operated the route and changing the passenger mindset from price to convenience.
It tested the new layout in certain markets, saw its customer rating leap from 2.3 to 4.7 and rolled it out for searches where the volume of choice justified this new layout.
Challenges for airlines
Dynamic layout introduces such a wide range of possibilities but implementing them with existing technologies is not trivial. It, therefore, requires investment and prioritisation.
Airlines get stuck trying to decide what layout alternatives to experiment with, mainly because they don’t have good technologies to allow them to deploy, test and optimise many alternatives in a cost-efficient manner. This is particularly true when trying to define persona-based rules to drive the layout changes. This happens as it’s often very difficult to forecast if a given persona rule will result in real results.
One fundamental problem is access to data held within systems that may be controlled by other vendors. Open source and APIs are starting to become more common, but there are still many walled gardens within enterprise technology.
This imbalance is often compounded by airlines not having the internal expertise to manage dynamic layout initiatives. Outsourcing management and responsibility to an existing vendor can result in solidifying the status quo rather than welcome a new paradigm.
Takeaway
Personalisation, retailing and merchandising are established concepts in the wider e-commerce world and the airline industry is starting to take note. For some forward-thinking carriers, these ideas are becoming the basis of a successful distribution strategy.
Dynamic layout is the critical layer between the creation of the personalised offer and the conversion of the offer. By changing the layout of a page and the content shown, based on real-time interactions, travellers feel that the brand is engaging with them and have a higher propensity to convert.
For dynamic layout to truly succeed, data from internal and external systems needs to be accessible. Once all the connections are in place, airlines can start to test and learn. The improvement in conversion rates will follow.
The average airline web portals is not broken. It loads, it sells tickets. It technically does what it's supposed to do.
And yet, the experience feels tiring.
You notice it when you try to do something simple. Change a seat. Find your gate. Understand what happens if a flight is delayed. Suddenly you are scanning long pages, decoding airline terminology, clicking back and forth just to stay oriented.
The problem is not with the features, It is effort effort required in getting from A to B.
Airline portals still expect travellers to think like systems. To understand menus, categories, fare families, ancillaries, rules. But travellers arrive with something much simpler. Intent.
They want to get something done and get on with their journey.
This article posits that airline web portals should stop behaving like navigation systems and start acting as intent-aware decision environments. When UX is designed to reduce effort, adapt to context, and quietly support travellers at each stage of the journey, portals become calmer to use, easier to trust, and far more effective for airlines.
The basics still matter more than airlines think
Before talking about AI or personalisation, it is worth being honest about the fundamentals.
You can see that accessibility standards aren’t yet being applied and portals aren’t optimised for mobile, which results in performance drops. Navigation feels heavier than it needs to be. Search often works, but only if you already know what to ask and how the airline expects you to ask it.
These are not exciting topics, but they shape everything that comes after. If a portal is slow, confusing, or inaccessible, no amount of intelligence layered on top will fix the experience.
At Branchspace, we see this repeatedly. Airlines want to move faster, personalise more, experiment. But the UX foundation is not always ready to support that ambition.
Where portals lose traveller trust
The biggest UX issues are rarely dramatic, they are subtle and cumulative:
- A vague error message that offers no next step
- A long paragraph that hides the one thing the traveller needs to know
- Three different words for the same concept depending on where you are in the journey
- A mobile page that technically works but feels endless
In isolation these are small instances, but they compound to create friction for a user. And friction erodes confidence.
Travellers begin to hesitate, scan more carefully, and spend extra effort just trying to stay oriented. They stop trusting that the portal will help them when things go wrong. Good UX goes beyond delight, it is about reassurance.
Decision-making is the real job of UX
Every airline portal is a decision-making environment:
- Choose a flight
- Choose a fare
- Choose a seat
- Decide whether to rebook or wait
The role of UX is not to present all options equally. It is to reduce the mental work required to choose well.
That is where simple principles matter more than flashy ideas: clear visual hierarchy, familiar patterns, plain language, and progressive disclosure.
When these are done properly, travellers stop analysing the interface and start moving confidently through it.
This is also where intent-led thinking becomes powerful. When portals are designed around tasks rather than pages, complexity begins to fall away naturally.
What changes when you design for intent
When you stop designing for navigation and start designing for intent, the portal behaves differently:
- Shift the focus to intent and the portal begins to respond in new ways
- Search leads the experience rather than sitting in the background
- Logged-in travellers with an upcoming trip see what they can do next, instead of being asked to explore
This is the direction we have been taking with platforms like Triplake by allowing the portal to respond to context, trip stage, loyalty status and behaviour.
Where AI actually helps and where it should stay quiet
AI has a role in airline UX, but it works best when it stays in the background rather than taking centre stage. The strongest AI-driven experiences are often the ones you barely notice, because the interface feels simpler and the path forward feels clearer.
That might mean routing a traveller straight to the right outcome based on a natural language query, or surfacing the most relevant rebooking option when a disruption occurs. In other moments, it is about removing repetition altogether, using known preferences to spare travellers from making the same choices again and again.
At its best, AI offers clarity, supports decisions without trying to make them on the traveller’s behalf. People still want to feel in control of their journey, they just do not want to work so hard to get there.
The portal is becoming a living interface
The most interesting shift we are seeing has very little to do with technology and everything to do with behaviour. Airline portals are gradually moving away from being static websites and towards adaptive interfaces that respond to where a traveller is in their journey.
Before the trip, the portal helps you prepare. On the day of travel, it shifts into a supportive role, surfacing the information that matters most in the moment. Afterwards, it follows up, closing the loop rather than simply ending the experience.
Making this work demands modular design systems, flexible platforms, and teams that think beyond individual pages and flows. It is not an easy change, but it is both achievable and increasingly necessary.
