Airport Service Platform
Enhancing Queue Management Efficiency at Bangalore Intl Airport
My Role
Product Designer
Timeline
6 months
Team
Prachi Kadam
Mahek Shaikh ( Product Manager )
Antara Karthik ( Product Designer )
Jeune Joseph ( Information Tech VP)
About the Product
Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) in India introduced the BIAL App with the aim of elevating the overall customer experience for travelers. BIAL has leveraged the potential of digital dynamics to introduce a range of innovative features, making the airport experience smarter and more efficient. One noteworthy feature within the App is the "Time to gate" feature. This seemingly minor component carries significant implications for reducing the stress and frustration often associated with airport queues. It accomplishes this by providing passengers with real-time estimates of their anticipated wait times at security checkpoints from data collected over the preceding two hours, ensuring that travelers can better plan and navigate their airport journey with greater ease and peace of mind.
The Problem
The app's user interface failed to effectively communicate the core purpose of this feature to users, resulting in its underutilization and limited exploration. Hence a new approach to conveying the data became the goal.
Old design
The Solution
The solution prioritized the key user insight of "Don't make me think" by delivering precisely the information users desired to hear and be aware of, especially during the stressful moments of catching a flight on time.
New design
Interested in how I got there?
The following flow showcases the roadmap I followed to achieve the final outcome.
Define
Evaluate
Understand
Restructure
Deliver
The Objective
As a designer, the main objective was to help users avoid second-guesses on what time they would make it through to their final boarding gate. Hence, the " Time to gate" feature needed to be smart, simple, handy and efficient.
Make it Smart
imple
Usability Issues
#1: Discoverability
The entry point for the "time to gate" feature was poorly defined which significantly contributed to its low usage.
#2: Lack of Visual Hierarchy
From the testing sessions, it was clear that users were confused at multiple points to understand the product functionality. The main "time to gate" page lacked visual hierarchy, which made it difficult for users to navigate any further.
#3: Visibility of System Status
The main "time to gate" page appeared cluttered because it displayed elements that were not relevant to the user.
User Insights
Among the 15 interviews that we conducted, the main emotional sentiment we gathered from the users was their desire to avoid cognitive overload.
"Don't make me think"
Restructuring the Information Architecture
As we restructured the information architecture to simplify the user interface, we also contemplated ways to streamline the user journey using insights from our interviews. It was during this phase that we collaborated with the on-ground team at BIAL and collectively decided to introduce three new features that aimed at making the journey simpler, faster, and more accessible.
#New features
Crafting the User Experience
Old design
Pain Point # 1
Pain Point # 1
Pain Point # 1
Here, this sticky bar on the top fold of the screen included a legend for "Fast Lane" and "Busy Lane" without clear indications of their intended usage. Additionally, the design and placement of the refresh button did not indicate that it is clickable.
Pain Point # 3
This dropdown menu provided a list of airline options for users to select from. However, it lacked an input field to specify its contents, thereby conveying incomplete information to the user when first viewed.
Pain Point # 2
The lack of clarity in the relationship between the gate number and the associated time led to confusion, and became a primary reason contributing to user drop-off.
Pain Point # 4
The excessive white space between 2 sections led to endless scrolling and thereby resulted in users losing trust in the feature.
Pain Point # 5
The content within this section was primarily intended to assist users in recognizing, diagnosing, and recovering from errors. Unfortunately, it became overshadowed by the surrounding information above.
Old Product
Shipped Product
Old Product
Shipped Product
New design
"Time to Gate" feature
Given that the user's primary concern was to know the exact time needed to reach the boarding gate, we placed this critical information prominently in the page's first fold.
#Addresses pain point 2
Defined User Journey
We outlined all user journey steps from airport arrival to boarding and displayed counter/queue details and their respective wait times at each stage for improved passenger planning.
#Addresses pain point 3
Mindful Copy Usage
To avoid causing panic, we used colorful tabs following the traffic sign coding to indicate queue time instead of using alarming messages.
#Addresses pain point 5
Skip the line, save time
While these three new features bring delight to the page, their placement was slightly lower, in accordance with data prioritization.
#Addresses pain point 4
Latest Time Updates
Ensuring the feature displayed the most up-to-date timeline was crucial, so we designed the refresh button to be a sticky element at the bottom.
#Addresses pain point 1
Refining the Entry Points
Old design
Panic Induced CTA
The previous entry point induced user anxiety with its queue wait time status each time they opened their phones.
New design
"Tell me what I need to know" CTA
The new entry point provides upfront, precise information, delivering only the essential data that users need to know.
Responsive Design
The initial focus was on designing the mobile journey, taking into account users' natural inclination to use mobile devices when in a hurry as opposed to desktops. After finalizing the wireframes for the mobile screens, we proceeded to create and certify its responsive version for shipment.
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Challenges and Learnings
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Considering the context is important. Specially in the case of an Airport App.
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It is important to understand the business needs and targets of the airport and its stakeholders.
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Trust your users and follow the data. They help drive design decisions.
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Be a team player. It is important to be able to work together to achieve common goals.
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Adapt and iterate. The best digital platforms are constantly evolving. Hence, going ahead I am looking forward to adapt my designs based on feedback from users and new data.
Here's a glimpse into our stakeholder meeting for On-Ground and App Integration of this feature !
