Outcome
ForeFlight Social — Enabling Connection Among Pilots
What it is
A companion mobile app connected to pilots' existing ForeFlight accounts. For general aviation pilots who use ForeFlight and lack institutional support structures. Not a social media platform — a structured knowledge-sharing and community tool built for aviation's specific trust and safety requirements. Designed for use before and after flights, never during them.
Prototype
Representative Flow
A pilot uses ForeFlight Social to find and ask a question on local airport knowledge before a flight.
Open App
ForeFlight Social
Map Tab
Tap Destination
Airport
Additional Info
Browse Local Tips
Send DM
Ask a follow
up question
Fly
Go to the airport with local knowledge
Information Architecture
With our final design solution — ForeFlight Social, a companion. app — decided, we created an information architecture to define the overall structure of our product.
Open App
Maps
Search
DMs
Saved Items
Airport Icon
Forums
(Home Page)
Search
Member
Member Profile
Return to
ForeFlight
Channels
Chat
User Profile
ForeFlight
logo
Profile
Friends Profile
Friends Icon
Airport
Info
Followers
/Friends
Edit Profile
Settings
Security &
Permissions
Notifications
Core Features
Verified pilot profiles
Linked to ForeFlight accounts. Displays certificates, ratings, hours, and aircraft types. Verification pathway for credentials.
All 9 interviews raised credibility unprompted.
Interest-based communities
Organized by aircraft type aerobatics, and more. Upvoting, reporting, and moderation for content quality.
Usability testing: niche beats general forums.
Friends & discovery
Searchable pilot directories within communities. Optional location sharing showing where friends are flying.
Usability testing: discovery critically underdeveloped
Direct messaging
1:1 and group messaging. Mute, pin, and block controls.
All concept testing participants preferred DMs
Airport knowledge map
Peer-contributed notes on any local knowledge for that airport/area.
80.8% of pilots share local knowledge with peers.
Key Decisions
Separate companion app vs. embedded features
Both concept testing participants explicitly requested separation. Sharma et al. (2011) warn that social features in professional tools reduce adoption when perceived as misaligned with the system's purpose.
Trust infrastructure as a first-class feature
All 9 interview participants raised credibility unprompted. Both concept testing participants would not engage without verification. Aviation's safety culture sets a higher bar than most social platforms.
Interest-based communities over general forums
Usability testing revealed broad forums created noise pilots were unwilling to filter. Kim et al. (2025) show optional, interest-based organization enables belonging without social pressure.
Adopt ForeFlight's visual language throughout
Both usability participants cited visual consistency as the reason the prototype felt immediately intuitive — outweighing any benefit from a distinct social aesthetic.
© ForeFlight Social