Overview:
The airport experience is currently far from perfect. People often see the airport experience as a necessity they must endure, not a part of the traveling process they look forward to experiencing. And there are plenty of reasons why someone could dread the airport, from long waits in lines to frustrating, convoluted systems that are subject to changing airline and governmental policies. By overcoming key pain points in the user journey from preparing for a trip to arriving at your destination, we can optimize a massive detriment in people’s lives.
The Inspiration for My Flight Planner:
After conducting user interviews regarding what travelers consider to be their airport experience, one of the biggest pain points seemed to be the amount of waiting that happens at TSA and for flights. Although, there isn't necessarily an easy fix to TSA's efficiency, I believe that bringing more awareness and setting different expectations on wait times would improve the airport experience for many people.
Preliminary User Research
From 3 user interviews regarding airport experience, I determined 10 key insights that I personally wanted to pursue (were a bit different than our group project key insights). These are some of the most relevant to this project.
1. People leave for the airport 2-3 hours before their flight is scheduled to leave
2. Travelers would plan to be waiting
3. TSA is the main “waste” of time in the airport
4. People try to find shortcuts to cut down on time in processes such as security, but not while sitting and waiting in gate
5. Main emotion felt while in airports is stress
6. Much of the time spent in airports for people is spent waiting
Lo-Fi Prototype | Sketching
The idea is that by having an app to update you on TSA wait times, it would help to plan how soon to get to the airport, without worrying about waiting for unnecessary amounts of time/plan schedule.
Feedback:
Only has one purpose / might not be useful enough
More features would help it be a more desirable product
Mid-Fi Prototype | Wireframing
Improved by including new features. Now there’s a portion for TSA security guidelines and more elements. I haven’t yet figured out how to include airplane safety, planning your trip, and promotions, but I think they’d be interesting aspects to incorporate. Additionally, a map of the airport would be cool and Gate announcements would be valuable additions to this prototype.
High-Fidelity | Implementation
