The rise of user experience at airports Pt.1 ✈️
Going to an airport can be stressful and tiring, even if you travel for pleasure to a place you’ve always wanted, some airports don't give you the best experience and the best attention they should. I think of airports as a big ecosystem that has a series of services, touchpoints, artifacts, and actors involved. That's why I got impressed by the few touchpoints the DFW airport has, which I truly believe impact directly on the experience the traveler is living at the moment.
A lot of attention to detail has to be given to developing an experience as people find their way around the terminals and found information at the right moment.
“Experiences are multidimensional.” — Ben Kraal
Dallas airport is huge! So I think it's important to recognize the cleanliness of the place, every corner was impeccable. The signage throughout the airport was clear and precise. In addition to these two important aspects, I would like to see in detail other important touchpoints:
1. Entrance (arriving at the airport)
🧳 Repacking station:
This station for me was mindblowing. Upon entering the airport there was this repacking station space with the purpose of weighing your bag and validating if you were at the correct weight depending on your airline.
I thought it was very useful and smart, that in the same station there was a screen with a looping video that showed you what you could and could not carry in your suitcase; and right there you could open the suitcase and adjust your items with the necessary comfort.
I’ve never seen anything like this in any other airport, normally you only see a weight hidden in the corner, or you see a lot of people seated on the floor repacking their suitcases. So this is a clear example of getting to know the necessities and desires of your users and doing something about it! 👏🏼
2. During (waiting for the flight):
🚾 Restrooms:
When I saw this, I totally appreciated the detail! It showed how many spaces were available in case you were in a hurry you could look for another restroom and it shared with you how far away another restroom was located. If you are in a hurry, every second counts in a high-intensity situation.
I think it’s really interesting the technology used for details like this, it’s another great example of wanting to make the users feel good by providing information in real-time, with the clear intention of offering and enabling information to the user that is understandable and available without restriction.
ℹ️ Information module:
In every corner you saw an information module to see what restaurants were nearby, stores, restrooms, and even, and most interestingly, information about your flight by scanning the ticket. I found it a very intuitive and effective way to offer the traveler user peace of mind about their stay at the airport and about their flight.
Again we are seeing an example of a technology applied to serve the users and giving clear and transparent information.
I think a lot of airports around the world have their very own design and experience, I really wish that one day I could see them all! But for now, I think this is a great example of the importance of knowing your users, the activities they realize, their wishes, desires, thoughts; so that this really becomes the input for the design process. We have seen and experienced a lot of bad services and bad experiences that we think they forget about the customers who actually need to go through the experience, in this case, to board a plane.
“Good design is design that changes behavior for the better. I think it needs to take into account the context of the environment, of the human condition, the culture, and then attempt to make the things you do — make us do them better, make us do better things. It encourages us to change the way that we live.” (Jon Kolko)
This shows how the changing business environment is turning airports into more human-friendly places and increasing more awareness about the user and their real necessities.
I hope at least, in Mexico we can start to look at this as an inspiration and start to redesign all the user experience journeys at the airport that are currently with so much opportunity to improve. So much room for input that can improve its existing ecosystem.
“Spend a lot of time talking to customers face-to-face. You’d be amazed how many companies don’t listen to their customers.” — Ross Perot
PD: I also found a PDF about the “Standard signage” Dallas Airport used, its interesting, take a look!: https://assets.ctfassets.net/m2p70vmwc019/29Vt38kQ3sKOo7ccxcSvmy/6e4f576eb684419dafb07fd535278c67/DFW_Standards_Digital-Signage__2021-02-05_.pdf
👏️Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, ideas or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact me!
Email: info.priscilaluna@gmail.com
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