Ux2012 air travel_quiet_revolution_massive

welcome aboardair travel, a quiet revolution

Friday, 31 August 12

the truthair travel


for most of us when travelling outside the premium classes...

the truth• traveling for 7 - 20 hours in a metal box

air travel



the truth• traveling for 7 - 20 hours in a metal box• 9KM above the ground

air travel



the truth• traveling for 7 - 20 hours in a metal box• 9KM above the ground• strapped to a seat “narrower than the average derriere”

air travel



the truth• traveling for 7 - 20 hours in a metal box• 9KM above the ground• strapped to a seat “narrower than the average derriere”• next to someone you don’t know

air travel



the truth• traveling for 7 - 20 hours in a metal box• 9KM above the ground• strapped to a seat “narrower than the average derriere”• next to someone you don’t know• being told when to eat and sleep

air travel




• having to queue for the toilet

air travel




• having to queue for the toilet• is uncomfortable

air travel



designing the in-flight experience

in the air

is a critical component of service design


a well-designed service

peopleenvironmenttechnologyjourney phaseclass

adapts to


from the negatives of finding ourselves in set of stressful circumstances for a long period.


is a positive distraction


benefits airlines from an operational perspective.



your crew

Alex WilliamsHead of Experience Massive Sydney @WilliamsAlexC


a quick look back

the first commercial flight was in

1914 1 pilot1 passenger


Who paid the equivalent of $5000 for the privilige.

a quick look back

the first in-flight movie was played in 1925 on a

30 minute flight



note the comfy wicker chairs

60 years later in 1985 not that much has changed


i still don’t have an entertainment choiceother than to listen to radioor to create a more personalised personal experience based on bringing my own media onboard in the form of books, magazines, newspapers.there’s also possibility of striking up a conversation, which comes with it’s own risks.

the first tailored experiences

1988 the first seat-back tvsbroadcast 2.5cm LCD 1990’s the first seat-back audio video on-demand systems


1988 the first seat-back tvs supported broadcast 2.5cm LCDwhich supported channel surfing

over time

30 minutes

1 screen

no choice

disconnection

20 hours

multi-screen

paradox of choice

continuous connection


the only thing we seem to have less of


the wicker chair looks pretty good right now.

alcohol


and of course alcohol has always been along for the ride as a pacifier.cultural differences permitting.

passenger mindset

Passenger needs vary based a combination of journey length, class and experience mindset


our job is to enable distraction and foster positive emotionsfeel in controlfeel recognised and understoodfeel connected


before you can pass the time by watching a movie marathon, or learning enough German to get yourself into trouble you need to feel:in control, we need to make you comfortable enough to explore the system you need to feel recognised and understoodand we need to help you feel connected.


peopleenvironmenttechnologyjourney phaseclass

adapts to


today in our short talk we’re concentrating on the challenge presented by environment and technology and the learnings we’ve gained over years of wrestling with complexity.

in an unfamiliar environment

feeling in control


A380case study

Qantas IFE


we’re going to briefly cover a program we were involved in for Qantas which involved designing the in-flight entertainment system for the flagship Airbus A380.

feeling in control

achieving simplicity

creating meaningful models which don’t rely on prior experiences


our challenge was to achieve a simple elegant expression of the brand onboard.

and to establish a meaningful model which would be easy to learn, and which didn’t necessarily rely on previous experiences.

feeling in control

it’s 2005 designing for touch is an immature area of practice


touch screens are familiar to people mainly as kiosks:relatively static screen by screen experiences which fail to engage emotionally.the hardware is revolutionary in the sky but undercooked under the hood.

gestural input was emergent but unfamiliar.

the iPhone was 2-3 years away

our model needed to be gesture ready to future proof the systems

feeling in control

a multi-input system

which can also be remote controlled


and we’re also dealing with a multi-input system. the touch screen can be remote controlled.

and importantly, the remote controlled experience is critical in the premium classes in which the touch screen can’t always be reached.

it was really important that we moved away from the typical point-to-point dvd menu style matrix navigation which was familiar at the time. but to what?

feeling in control

how do you design for disruptive environments


where few paradigms exist.

feeling in control

we designed from the hardware out


although we didn’t have a label for it then, our only way into the problem was to bodystorm the experience.

so we mocked up a remote control out of foam core, got ourselves some touch screens and created monitor surrounds trying to replicate the cabin environment.

hardware leadtimes are one of our greatest challenges. the hardware has been developed outside a user centred design process.

it was a simplified of tv remote control with legacy features such as channel up/down buttons and a large channel number - redundant for avod, playback and menu button.

feeling in control

creating a simple, meaningful dimensional modeltying structural navigationto the vertical axis

local navigation to the horizontal axis

SELECT


we built rapid prototypes and practised using the handset untilwe isolated the most natural movements which could be performed on an RCU without looking down. that centred on up/down vs left/right movements.

we created a simple, meaningful dimensional modelvery familiar now thanks to the XBOX 360 and PS3 cross media bars which post date this system by 2 and 3 years respectively.

validation that the approach set us on the right path.



play moviemeaningful transitions which provide feedback on my previous actions, or point the way forward

feeling in control

evolved progressively


we developed this very simple model and built on it progressively throughout the UI, inspiring confidence that i what i learnt in my last interaction i could apply in the next.

though most of the system is built on this model, levels are subtly different in visual design which supports orientation and helps alleviates boredom.

learnings


leverage native affordances - you need pick up the hardware and play with. Feel what comes naturally and where tactile feedback avoids the need to look down.

learnings

• leverage native affordances



learnings


• interactions should be coherent, and build progressively



learnings


• interactions should be coherent, and build progressively• develop meaningful transitions



learnings





learnings





learnings





learnings





learnings





learnings





learnings





Emirates & Virgin Atlantic


more recently we’ve created the in-flight entertainment systems forEmirates and Virgin Atlantic and newer projects for a couple of airlines we can’t yet divulge.Which is the challenge of working on programs which have very long leadtimes.

managing complexityfeeling in control



IFE has evolved from the in air picture theatre in 1925 to host a plethora of services.

challenge

Hardware - 3 devices

IPSC Seat Monitor TouchscreenHandset


not designed from a user centered perspectivebut from an industry perspective locked in an escalating feature war

devices are not always designed as a complementary suite

multi-screen environments

Virgin

watch video personal/privatesocial/sms/email

Seat Monitor TouchscreenHandset


seat back touch screenhandset (or remote control)

multi-screen environments

Emirates

suite controls

IPSC

watch video personal/privatesocial/sms/email

Seat Monitor TouchscreenHandset


Integrated Passenger System Control to premium classes

current touchscreen handset


when we first saw this device we knew it was going to be trouble.Shane mentioned proximity as a way of providing affordance yesterday.This device looks like a hand-held console such as a PSP.Normally you’d expect the hard buttons to control this screen.Wrong. In this instance the hard buttons control the screen on the seatback. And the touchscreen in the centre is a separate UI which duplicates, some but not all seatback functionality. Sometimes affecting the main screen, sometimes running locally.Signposting these break points becomes critical.


learnings

functional parity isn’t always positive

clarity of purpose

play to the strengths of each device


establish clarity of purposecommunicating the role of each device in the experience is critical

functional parity isn’t positive - we don’t need to replicate all services on all devices. For example tweeting using my handset which is a more discrete device is comfortable. Writing a work email on the seatback screen feels less appropriate.

airlines who spend an enormous amount on hardware want to squeeze the most out of it and of course the suppliers push for every feature to be used.

but when the experience is disjointed, because devices aren’t equally capable, or able to hand over to each other effectively, the best strategy is to start leaving things out.



one of the most familiar in-air brands is ICE which uses colour coding to support orientation within the system





designed to complement the interior design and ambient lighting.



multi-device environments

handset modes

synced companioncontrol complementary


In more recent programs we design handset modes which help reduce confusion.In synced modeUsers navigate the seatback screen using simple gestures on the handset.

We can automatically switch to companion mode andProvide shortcuts to key information orcontrols to facilitate multitasking, withoutaffecting the main screen.


contextual hinting

support for rapid learning

idle-state animations


other things we do support learnability in mult-screen devices is to detect their first use and aid learning through contextual hinting.Similar to techniques used in game design.


coherent interactions for core journeys

brand experience


we make sure you select interaction patterns which can be adapted across devices especially for core journeys.

our aim is always to create a coherent brand experience that is a engaging interactive extension of the brand.

learnings


rigorous and consistent design system - it can definitely be subtle, but a customer must always be able to distinguish on a sub-conscious level interactions from information.Some of the difficulties Shane mentions in working with Metro.

• rigorous and consistent design system

learnings




• ‘just enough’ information scent

learnings





• simpler decisions and more steps win over complex interactions

learnings





• simpler decisions and more steps win over complex interactions

• meaningful transitions

learnings



feeling recognised and understood


is important to getting comfortable and feeling engaged.

feeling recognised and understood

if we can’t always achieve personalised we strive for tailored

is easier to achieve for premium and frequent flyers


is easier to achieve for premium and frequent flyers because we know more about you.

tailored

MY SERVICE EXPERIENCE Behavioral activityFlight & Class

Dynamic Filtering

Customised views

Social activityFacebook Likes Facebook shared content

;̀ WL�VM�ÅPNO[Destination

Stage of Flight

(Tailored)

4`�WYVÄSLWhat I’ve said I like/don’t like

What I’ve watchedWhat I’ve ratedWhat others have watched

My preferences

Traditional Content Groupings


when we know your seat no.your nameyour food prefswhat content you enjoywe can continually tailor the services offered to you.

and if we don’t know you we can offer suggestions based on what the on-board community is consuming or give you a simple tool to make your experience more: entertaining, newsy, etc. based on mood.

feeling connected


one of the biggest innovations in the industry at the moment is onboard connectivity.

feel connected

reconnect to my networks

or engage with temporary community


feel connected

I just tried the lovely French red wine in Business Class!

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Connected to the external world Connected to the onboard community


for many of us well-being can come from being able to resume my conversations with the offboard world.

or by engaging with the temporary community onboard. multiplayer games are gaining popularity, as well as local social, being sight-seeing and food tips from locals through a chat app or a twitter hashtag.

feeling understood and connectedbeyond onboard


we’re on the cusp of a more personal experience which joins up all flight phases thanks to mobile and the possibility of continuous connection.

beyond onboard

adaptive UIs, which adjust dynamically based on location and journey phase can help join up and personalise my experience


we’re on the cusp of a more personal experience which joins up all flight phases thanks to mobile.

beyond planning and booking, continuous connection and hyper local services thanks to near field communication tech in phones and readers can help join up and personalise my experience, based on journey phase.

after virtualised check-in applications can transform to support turn by turn wayfiding, or to offer me entertainment when I reach my gate.

all integrated with disruption management messaging e.g boarding’s delayed by 15 minutes to keep me feeling in control.

beyond IFE

personal carry on devices beg the question do we need on-board entertainment?


Personal carry on devices such as smart phones and tablets beg the question do we need on-board entertainment?

Airlines are already handing out or hiring tablets on medium haul flights.It will be a while before carry on devices are ubiquitous.The plethora of tablets means that managing your own device so that you don’t have to hold it continually is still a problem that needs solving, as is reliably connecting to onboard networks.

have we been effective?

lbs.


Virgin reported when the JAM system we designed with Airside started to fly.People were so engaged with the entertainment system that were nicer and crew spent less time reseating disruptive passengers.

And apparently there was a dramatic drop in the consumption of alcohol, which meant less weight and huge savings in fuel costs and operating costs which made them very happy.

thank you!


Travel

Ux2012 air travel_quiet_revolution_massive