Design Process

Discover

• User interviews

• Survey

• Usability Testing on DFW app

• Affinity Map

Define

• Personas

• Journey Maps

• Service Blueprint

• User/Task Flows

Design

• Style guide

• Stketches

• Wireframes (mid-fidelity)

• Maze prototype results

Deliver

• High-fidelity Prototype

User Interviews

Upon discovering the problems, Our team conducted 5 user interviews to understand the pain points of air travelers at the airport.

Without surprise, all users expressed concerns about current TSA security wait times and processes and wanted a more organized and streamlined experience. We also found that users relied heavily on multiple apps to get updates on their flight information, like flight delays and gate changes.

And our funniest key finding was that after passing the TSA security checkpoint, most users wandered around their terminal until they found something to eat or drink, rather than looking up places to eat using a directory.

Users Expressed

• “I want an app that combines all of my travel information in one place.”

• “I want the security process to be more streamlined and organized.”

• “I have to prepare more for covid restrictions and it’s another layer of emotional stress/ anxiety on top of everything else.

Survey

Objective:

To understand users’

• Travel habits

• Behaviors at the airport

• needs/goals at the airport

Total number of responses: 16 Users

Number of times people travel by air in a year:

Activities that users do after the security checkpoint

The platform that users like to use when getting information about live security wait times, Covid-19 safety guide, flight status, and amenities information:

Result:

• Most users usually dine and wait at the airport after going through security.

• 11/16 users look for food by walking around the terminal after going through security.

• 11/16 users preferred to get information about live security wait times, COVID-19 safety guide, flight status, and amenities information through an app.

25% equally

Website: 30%

App: 70%

Affinity Map

Our team used the insights from user interviews to create an affinity map, which revealed the key features that needed to be improved. These were Covid-19 restrictions, security wait times, and a personalization feature to consolidate travelers' travel information. While dining and shopping were important, they were prioritized lower compared to other features. Nonetheless, the team plans to enhance the mobile ordering feature to enhance the dining experience for travelers after security wait times.

Usability Test Result

We wanted to understand users’ behaviors!

After discovering that most users would prefer an app, we conducted 5 usability tests to understand how they would utilize the DFW app.

First, we asked users to look through the current app and provide us feedback on what they would like to know more about.

Their pain points are…

• 4/5 users clicked on the view security wait times

• 3/5 users commented saying they would prefer the security wait times button to be the first thing they see rather than being cut off the right edge of the home screen. 

• 4/5 users had a hard time understanding the security wait time page

• 5/5 users had different approaches to getting their flight information details.

Discover

Define

Persona

Based on the feedback from our user interviews, survey results, and usability tests, we were able to gather significant insights to help create our persona, problem statement, HMWs, service blueprint, and user flows.

I created the persona of Jane. Jane is an elementary school teacher who enjoys traveling often to visit her family and friends across America. Jane wants to get through DFW airport security faster, remain informed about Covid-19 health measures, and get up-to-date information on her flight information so she can catch her flight without worry. However, she finds it difficult to stay on top of her plans the day of the trip because she can’t gauge the unpredictable nature of the airport.

How we came up with our solutions?

Journey Map

This map encompasses Jane’s total experience from checking in online to sitting in her seat on the airplane.  

Service Blueprint

The team created a service blueprint of the DFW airport to understand its operations from a business perspective and identify areas for improvement to meet both the airport's and travelers' needs. The service blueprint helped to provide a comprehensive overview of the airport and its processes, allowing the team to make informed decisions on how to improve the traveler experience.

User Flow

We now felt confident in starting our design solutions. We brainstormed three user task flows to help alleviate Jane’s day of travel anxieties while also showcasing some of DFW airport’s amenities. 

• Starting with a splash screen featuring the airport's logo, followed by a home page with a larger flight info search bar.

• The home screen presents 3 main categories: live security wait times, prepay parking, and shop and dine options, designed to meet travelers' needs.

• The flight info page is simple and clean, with a "My flight info" tab for saving flight details for easy access.

• Security wait times can be viewed directly from the detailed flight info section, and a map shows wait times and locations, allowing travelers to choose the fastest checkpoint route.

• The app also includes a mobile ordering feature, allowing travelers to place food orders near their gate for convenient pickup.

These improvements aim to provide a more seamless, efficient, and enjoyable airport experience for travelers.

Style guide

Style guides play an important role in UI/UX projects because they visualize concepts and components that will be displayed on user screens. I was part of the team that created and directed TLT's design system and wireframes.

I selected Poppins as the typography for the DFW airport app because it is a popular san-serif font commonly used in UX/UI design and comes in nine weights with matching italics. I kept DFW's main color of orange, which represents energy, warmth, and happiness and reinforces the airport's brand identity of being customer-focused and caring.

Design

Sketches

After we finalized our style guide, we each came up with sketches of our user flow and highlighted solutions.

Initial Mid-fi wireframes + Usability Testing

We carried out a usability test with 4 users on our mid-fidelity wireframes, which were based on our sketches. 3 out of 4 users successfully completed the tasks we assigned, but one was unable to complete one of the tasks. From the test, we found that users desired an easier process for adding flight information to their itinerary, a clear indication of their location on the map, and a visual representation of a gate with accompanying security wait times and checkpoint information.

2nd Usability Testing-Maze

We iterated our screens based on the first usability testing we conducted, however, we wanted further testing to make our solutions easier to use.

Research Objective: 

• To test the first round of iterations on our user flow solutions.

User Task 1

Find San Francisco flight American Airlines AA3131 and add it to your itinerary.

• 8/30 gave up.

• 18/30 indirectly succeed.

• 4/30 directly succeed.

User Task 1 Iteration

• Larger buttons.

• Changed “Add” to “Save Flight”.

• Allowed expansion of flight info card before saved.

User Task 2

Find the security wait time for your flight's TSA security checkpoint.

• 7/20 gave up.

• 3/20 indirectly succeed.

• 10/20 directly succeed.

User Task 2 Iteration

• Changed dot colors.

• Clarified security wait times Legend.

• Applied the “Checkpoint” sign.

• Added route direction on the map.

• Simplified checkpoint info section.

High-fi all screens

I am showcasing our final product after spending weeks researching, preparing, and designing. Please Enjoy!

Deliver

THE END

To know more about my work or just to say Hi, email me at eunmily0922@gmail.com

Next Steps

• Build out Covid-19 restrictions.

• Adding signage that provides live updates on flight status, Covid-19 policies, and security wait times. 

• Providing more status updates using push notifications. 

• Test our high-fidelity and further iterate our solutions.