newdesign yearbook 2018 105

YEARBOOK 2018

104 yearbook 2018 newdesign

newdesign

www.tangerine.net

As customer experience becomes an increasing focus for businesses, at tangerine

the talk among the designers is, how do we innovate in this arena? How do we create seamless passenger journeys and memorable brand experiences? And how could design raise the quality of the customer experience, as opposed to just meeting people’s expectations?

In transportation, with the current focus on electric power, autonomously assisted drones and self-driving vehicles, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture for the future of mobility and what this will hold for your average passenger.

The key challenges for all travellers in the future will be increasing urbanisation and an ageing population, all of which will put new strains on

existing infrastructure and transportation. By 2050 a staggering 75 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities and 30 per cent of the population in developed countries will be over 60 years old.

For society, there is an increasing social imperative to encourage people to use public transit. It is cleaner, more economical and often faster, and as there is increasing pressure on the resources in our world, there will be more passengers using public transport, not fewer.

As designers, we are constantly thinking about how to address some of these challenges. Central to this is using a designer’s insight to identify what people’s needs will be, anticipating the potential pain points of passengers, and creating design concepts that will help clients in the rail, aviation,

infrastructure and the automotive industries to use this intelligence. Our aim is to create truly seamless passenger experiences that will enrich all our lives.

Digitalisation is bringing new entrants and disruption into traditionally narrow and specialist sectors such as transportation. A plethora of new apps and online services are bringing more choice to the customer, which is helping people to tailor their journeys. However, the clever bit will be when someone creates a platform that helps to plug the current gaps in people’s experience of travelling between different modes of transportation, by utilising shared services to create a single unified end-to-end passenger experience. For instance, your phone could help

you to know whether you have time to grab a coffee before your plane departs, by coordinating the predicted length of queue at the café with how long it’ll take you to get to the gate in time for your flight departure.

Our vision continues in rail, with smart stations and train carriages that minimise dwell times and improve passenger flow throughout the station. Digital surfaces in the station and on

the exterior and interior of trains could provide real-time information to help passengers orientate themselves, quickly identify unoccupied seats and personalise content such as grab-and-go retail offers.

Using technology in this way, the carriage, platform and seating could be reconfigured to better utilise space during peak times to ease overcrowding, and help to shift passenger expectations on-board a train. The utilisation of telescopic doors that control access on and off a train through double platforms would allow passengers to alight and disembark from the train at opposite sides simultaneously. In this way, passenger flow could be altered to reduce dwell times on the platform during busy periods. Modular seating that can adapt according to the time of day could also increase capacity during peak times if passengers are encouraged to stand on short routes.

Good customer experiences can help companies to remain competitive and create

brands with a gravitational pull for the consumer. For instance, Spanish energy company Cepsa’s new flagship service station creates a recognisable brand experience with a distinctive beacon-like canopy that draws motorists from the highway, and away from their competitors. The memorable forecourt experience gives people a reason to fall in love with the brand, creating a strong emotional connection that builds recognition and loyalty, driving sales and repeat business.

“An important point to remember is that it costs just as much money to design a bad experience as it does to design a good one,” says tangerine chief creative officer, Matt Round. “Ultimately, if you get it right for customers, you will get it right for business.”

Put people at the heart of design to create exceptional brand experiences

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