HIMANSHU RASAM
Product Manager
Air Travel:
Improving the User Experience
Projects : Collaborative
Role : User Research, User Experience, Interaction Design, Product Design
Summary
The goal for this project was to improve the user experience for passengers during air travel in context to the environments they come in contact with by reducing the cognitive burden and by personalizing their experiences. We laid out a research plan in 4 phases: Understand the environment, Understand the users, Frame the problems, Solve the Problems.
Design Research
The emerging technologies in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) looked promising from a technology standpoint. After brainstorming different pain points and stressful situations that effect everyday lives of many people, we did some affinity mapping and concept mapping with our ideas and began to categorize different features of the areas that we were discussing in an AEIOU (Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects, Users) style analysis.
We then worked on a research plan to effectively cover 11 interviews, 9 workshops, 7 diary studies and a broad survey with 106 participants.
Co-Design Sessions
The first exercise that we had our participants do was to draw out their own personal map of an airport journey experience. Next we had them label the different points of their journey with the emotions that they were feeling at those points from happy, sad, disgust, anger, fear, surprise, or any other that they felt they was important.
Diary Study
We designed our Diary Study (click to download) and sent it out to 8 different participants made up of experienced business travelers, student travelers, and people traveling for leisure. We asked questions about information, communication, navigation, and anticipation the travelers’ journey. We synthesized the information to better understand where we can further narrow our focus.
Personal Interviews
The participants walked us through what they were physically and emotionally feeling doing at different points in their typical airport experience on a basic airport floor plan layout. We also gathered information about what tasks they would like to do while waiting.
Prototyping and App Design
We designed the app flow for iOS using Adobe Illustrator. We planned out the entire app and used low fidelity renderings to iterate and improve the designs.
Low fidelity Designs.
High fidelity Designs.
Business Model and Story Boarding
We also laid out the business model of the service and integrated it with the airline experience. The application was a value addition to the service provided by the airline's currently existing Android/iOS app. We demonstrated the improved journey of the user and benefits of the service with the help of storyboards and a concept video.
Business Model Canvas
Storyboards
Concept Video