A Product, Service & UX Designer.
Case Study #6
Transforming Data into Decisions for Saudia Airlines​
​
Saudia Airlines brought me in mid-project to reimagine underperforming Power BI dashboards for customer and operations teams.
Some sections of this portfolio have been intentionally blurred or modified to honor NDAs and protect sensitive client information. For a more detailed walkthrough, please feel free to get in touch.
The Challenge: Mid- Air Rescue
​
Saudia Airlines had already launched two internal dashboards, one for customer metrics (like no-shows, capacity, and onboarding) and one for operational insights (such as flight delays, crew readiness, and turnaround time). Built quickly in Power BI for cost and speed, the dashboards had hit serious turbulence.
Stakeholders weren’t happy with the visual clutter and usability. Power BI’s rigid layout and styling limitations were holding back UX innovation. User engagement was low, and decision-making was still slow. I was brought in mid-project with one request: "Do your UX magic and turn this around. Fast."
Strategy & Execution
I took full ownership of the UX strategy from deep-diving into the user landscape to re-architecting the dashboards and even learning Power BI hands-on to close the execution gap.
​
Turning Power BI Limitations into UX Wins
-
Led user research with 8+ roles (ramp agents, data leads, CX heads, airport ops)
-
Identified behavior patterns and redefined what “useful” data looked like
-
Rebuilt the entire UX architecture around clarity, confidence, and context
-
Collaborated with the data analytics team to bridge logic and layout
-
I quickly learned Power BI to bridge the gap between design and delivery. Despite its constraints, I implemented smart UX workarounds
-
Designed role-specific dashboards tailored to user goals and tech comfort levels
-
Added contextual filters for location (airports, routes) and time, creating a situational awareness layer
-
Hands-on approach helped transform a rigid tool into a seamless, user-friendly experience.
UX Innovation: Revenue Visibility Layer
​
During the redesign, I pitched a revenue impact layer, a visual showing how user actions (like reducing no-shows or improving ops turnaround) could directly correlate to cost savings or revenue gains.
The idea landed well.
This is brilliant. Now our teams can say, “look how much we’ve saved.”
Outcome & Impact
-
Management satisfaction: Frustration and confusion? Clear, intuitive dashboards
-
User adoption: Sporadic, limited? 3x increase in active users
-
Decision turnaround time: 30+ minutes? Under 5 minutes
-
Business insights visibility: Not visible? Revenue impact layer added
Leadership & Collaboration
-
Took ownership mid-project and led UX turnaround
-
Bridged data analytics, BI development, and operations teams
-
Led iterative user testing and championed usability
-
Mentored junior designers on enterprise dashboard UX best practices
