The challenge

• Meta wanted to allow users to watch media and play games on the go, and it became clear that there was no clear path for getting a traveler connected to airline Wi-Fi at 35,000 feet inside a spatial interface they'd never seen before.

• Getting connected to Wi-Fi on planes is already a notoriously fiddly experience, even on a phone. The stakes were also higher than a typical onboarding: legal sign-off was required, the airline's captive portal had to be accounted for, and users who failed to connect simply couldn't access the experience at all.

What I did

• I designed and wrote the end-to-end onboarding content for Travel Mode's Wi-Fi connection flow — the copy, instruction sequencing, and in-context education that guided passengers from start to finish. Working closely with the legal and UX research teams, I ensured every step was accurate, appropriately hedged, and genuinely useful rather than just technically compliant.

• The goal was speed and confidence. I wrote toward that: short, imperative steps, proactive handling of the captive portal moment that had tripped up early testers, and a warm handoff to recommended apps and media once the connection was established.

• I also collaborated on the language and labeling for the app and content curation experience that followed, ensuring users were led naturally toward a curated library rather than left to figure out what to do with the headset on their own.

The result

• Travel Mode launched with Lufthansa on select Airbus A350-900 routes in summer 2024 — the first time any airline had offered commercial in-flight VR headsets at scale. Nearly 4,000 travelers experienced the service in its first year, with feedback described as overwhelmingly positive by Lufthansa. The program won the 2025 APEX Award for Best Inflight Entertainment, and Meta is now actively expanding the model to additional airlines and transit modes.

Press

Meta Blog / In-Flight Entertainment: Introducing Travel Mode for Meta Quest

Meta Blog / Soaring to New Heights: Lufthansa's In-Flight MR Experience

Upload VR / Quest 3 On Lufthansa Wins Best Inflight Entertainment Award