In early 2018, Pilot Company partnered with Publicis Sapient to significantly enhance the way guests interact with its travel centers – before, during and after their visit–through a transformed digital customer experience.

At the core of this transformation was a full engagement strategy, redesign and re-platforming of the company’s mobile experience. Since launching the Pilot Flying J app in April 2019, it has outperformed on every level, allowing Pilot Company to continue to ‘earn the turn’ from drivers.

The Imperative for Change

Pilot Company came to us with a clear ask: fundamentally enhance the one-to-one relationships with guests in every experience and interaction. Focusing on customer-centricity, we worked with Pilot Company to completely revamp their digital customer experience to offer advanced capabilities that anticipate guests needs and improve utility and value throughout their journey.

Coming together with Pilot Company team members as One Team – a tightly integrated group of business strategists, designers and technologists – we looked to drive both guest value and incremental sales for the business in the long term, while also keeping an eye on the experience and technical requirements for an initial release. We achieved this through a combination of primary and secondary research (including interviews with professional drivers), value proposition creation and a series of ‘micro-journeys’ focused on the moments that matter to drivers, as well as where the mobile experience would play the most meaningful role.

A multi-phase product roadmap focusing on strategic pillars was created, alongside a new digital brand expression that was tested with professional drivers in multiple iterations. With these components in place, the team was ready to execute.

The Transformative Solution

Over the course of 10 three-week agile sprints, the team delivered a new and redesigned experience, introducing key features such as enhanced onboarding, a fully revamped loyalty system and a message inbox enabling the company to send direct communications via the app on subjects such as important alerts, offers and rewards.

A dynamic dashboard adapts to the needs of drivers in and outside the travel center geofence. The app uses predictive analysis to help drivers make parking decisions based on available spots along their route and to help save drivers time by directing them to the fastest fueling lane.

An updated profile paradigm allows users to switch driver ‘modes’ (Pro, RV and Auto), offering an experience that adapts to the unique needs of those segments. For example, when searching for locations, quick filters for pro drivers will offer services and amenities quite different from those for RVers.

Throughout the design phase, the UX team conducted on-site usability testing with professional drivers at Pilot Flying J travel centers.

Back-end technology created by the team in the development phase provides real-time predictive information about driver traffic and purchasing choices. It offers rich business analytics that transforms the core business and makes data easily accessible to decision-makers. The technology stack also lays the foundation for further personalization and the addition of industry-leading features, such as conversational UI and gamification.

Ultimately, the new ecosystem allows Pilot Company to continue innovating, elevating the customer experience and driving value and sales.