AirPlan

Project Overview

AirPlan turns flight time into discovery time.

This tablet app transforms the traditional, passive media of the in-flight magazine into a way for airline guests to interact with and explore their destination before they arrive. Users set their destination by scanning their boarding pass and enter a few details about where they are staying. Users then select what kind of information they would like to see, and AirPlan displays an interactive map full of activity recommendations from local residents. Users of AirPlan can feel assured knowing that all recommendations come from trusted local guides and represent the true flavour of their destination. Guests can save their map for use after departure by scanning a code or sending an email.

AirPlan gives you control over your in-flight experience and lets you start exploring your destination as soon as the first seatbelt sign comes on.

Problem Definition

Discovering the Problem

This project started as an Adobe Creative Jam contest brief. The problem was broadly defined in the brief as a problem concerning the transformation of media; modernizing the in-flight magazine to serve a more meaningful role in the airline traveler’s journey. My design partner and I thought we should bring some more focus to the problem definition to structure our design. We wanted to connect the problem to a theme, something we felt our users might be missing with the current in-flight magazine solution.

Research

User Research

We did some basic user research in the form of a 10 question survey to discover the kinds of information travellers value the most. I analyzed the results and discovered that:

• Tips provided by locals were highly valued
• Most travellers do quite a bit of research before they depart
• Those who participated in one-on-one interviews all mentioned that they craved information that would make them feel more like a local when travelling
• Most subjects stated a preference for information from locals or fellow travellers over heavily curated tourism board info

Design

Customer Journey Mapping

After I had analyzed our user research, my design partner and I created a customer journey map to help us better understand what a user of AirPlan would experience and to identify potential pain points, as well as opportunities for innovation.

UX Theme

After we completed our customer journey map, I discovered our UX theme: The Journey of Discovery. Our users will be interacting with AirPlan as they fly, with the excitement and anticipation of discovering a new place brewing inside them. We therefore needed to make our design simple, familiar, and exportable to ensure the maximum benefit for our users.

Lo-Fi Prototype & Design Work

From our UX theme and customer journey map I created several lo-fi wireframe sketches and began work on a possible logo design for our app.

Project Results

Final Prototype

Our final prototype takes the user from the unique and sleek onboarding process of scanning their boarding pass to exploring the city of Montréal before arriving. This prototype showcases how users can quickly and easy find top recommendations for their stay from trusted local guides. Users are also able to export their favourite spots so they can review and enjoy their discoveries on the ground.

Our final prototype UI was designed by Hersey Meng, my design partner. The interaction design and animation was done by me.

What’s Next?

While we didn’t win the competition, I continue to work on AirPlan. The rapid design experience was amazing, and I am excited by what we created. Potential next steps include:

• Adding a trip planning function
• Building out the prototype further
• Developing a functional requirements document