Design a product to be used in airports.

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Design a product to be used in airports.

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Knight27 · Answer 1 · 2024-06-20T15:09:40+0000

Clarification Questions

What specific problems or pain points are we aiming to solve with this product? (e.g., improving passenger experience, enhancing security, streamlining operations)-- Assuming passenger experience

Are we focusing on a specific area within the airport? (e.g., check-in, security, boarding, baggage claim, retail areas)--> Assuming check-in and baggage claim

What operational constraints do we need to consider? (e.g., regulatory requirements, space limitations, power and network infrastructure)--> Assuming space limitation as it impact user experience a lot

Vision or high level goal:

To enhance the airport experience for travelers and streamline operations for airport staff and airlines through an integrated, user-friendly digital platform.

User Base

Travelers, airport staff, airlines, security personnel.

Picking only for passengers or travellers

Pain Points: Passenger or Traveller Persona

Long lines and wait times at check-in, security, and boarding.
Difficulty navigating the airport.
Lack of real-time information about flight status and gate changes.
Limited access to amenities and services.
Language barriers for international travellers.

Feature Items

Real time flight information- A mobile app or digital display providing real-time updates on flight status, gate changes, and delays.
Interactive navigation- A wayfinding feature that helps passengers navigate the airport using AR or detailed maps.
Queue Management- Virtual queuing systems allowing passengers to reserve spots in security or check-in lines.
Amenity Finder- A feature to locate amenities such as lounges, restaurants, and restrooms.
Self Service Kiosks- Kiosks for self-check-in, printing boarding passes, and baggage tags.

Prioritization

	User Impact	Effort	Ranking
Real time flight information & Personalise Alerts	High	Low	P1
Interactive navigation	High	Medium	P2
Queue Management	High	Medium	P2
Amenity Finder	Medium	Low	P4
Self Service Kiosks	High	High	P3

Summary

Given passenger pinpoints, we can design a product that significantly enhances the airport experience. By prioritizing Real time information & personalized alerts, we can increase more engagement and provide seamless and excellent experience.

Ujjwald · Answer 2 · 2024-06-21T00:59:46+0000

Step 1 - Clarify the question and narrow down the scope

What kind of product are we looking at? Is it physical or digital?

Let's assume it is digital here.

Are we building this as part of the larger Google ecosystem or as part of a startup?

We can assume we are building this as part of the larger Google ecosystem.

Are we solving this for a specific country?

Let's solve this for airports the world over.

Are we looking to solve for a particular part of the airport?

I'll assume we will solve for the entire airport

Also, because it is a new product, I assume customer acquisition would be the first goal here.

Step 2- List user segments and choose one

If we look at a typical airport, there are a number of users who use this.

Passengers
Shop owners (of the stores there)
Airline operators
Pilots
Crew
ATC
Security officials

For the purposes of this question, I will focus a little more on passengers who fly out of/into an airport

Step 3- List and prioritize the pain points

If we look at the user journey of most passengers, we see the following

Based on time and travel passengers start to the airport -> Passengers reach the airport -> Check in -> Based on time, chill at the lounge -> board flight -> layover (lounge/shopping) -> check in for connecting flight -> land -> take cab to the hotel

Now, let's take a look at some of the pain points.

Pain Point	Current Solutions	Severity
I don't know the current time it will take for the airport given the traffic and weather conditions	Look at Google Maps - it sometimes gives a notification also of weather alerts	S (If it is something like a flight people are usually used to checking this and is not that big of a pain now)
Forget my passport/ID proof at home	Return home and get the passport	S (No other way to solve it. Also, given how important these are, people these days rarely forget them)
Search for good food / Unable to look for certain food/drinks	Ask around / look for indicators	L (This is an issue especially in the bigger airports)
Unable to find the lounge I need	Ask around / look for indicators	L (This is an issue, because apart from the location, we need to see which class the passenger is travelling in and how much will it cost)
Unable to find a rest area / feeding room/ other facilities	Ask the reception	L (In large airports, you could get lost)
Where can I buy some good stuff for back home	I will need to ask around or look at the airport map	M (Most stuff is bought in the cities, and rarely at the airports)
I can't locate the place to purchase a new sim	There are companies where you can purchase e-sims before hand now	M (Not that big of an issue now, as there are companies where you can purchase e-sims before travelling itself)
Finding the taxi stand to take me to the hotel is a challenge, also don't know how much the taxi takes instead of the metro	Google maps will show you a comparison of various networks but only for time (train/metro/cab ride)	S (Maps has kind of solved this problem)

So when we look at it, one issue we want to solve for is the ability to discover good food, lounges or other facilities in the airport. This is especially helpful during layovers, and will help the passengers get some rest before their onward journey.

Step 4- List and prioritize the solutions

Now, let's take a look at some solutions for the above pain points.

Solution	Reach	Impact	Effort
Lounge Discovery Which airline Which class How much is it (if not b-class) Which cards are accepted What features are available with the lounge	L (Lot of people will be interested)	M (you need to enter all these details and then match with the right one. Better to make it a little seamless)	M (need a list of lounges across various countries. This can be crowdsourced or can be scraped from the airport websites if the information is available)
Lounge Discovery (scan pass) We will scan the boarding pass and recommend the best lounge in the airport	L (Lot of people will be interested)	L (This will be a much better option)	M (An OCR reader to scan the airline name, class and cross reference against lounge requirements)
Facilities Search Feeding Rooms Wash rooms	L (Lot of people will be interested in this)	L (This will create great value especially to transit oriented passengers)	M (need to map out the facilities which can be crowd sourced)
Best places to eat food/drinks	L (Lot of people will be interested in this)	L (This will create great value especially to passengers who don't have any lounge access)	M (the restaurants inside need to be rated by passengers. We can use Google Places API for a lot of these)
Best way to reach the hotel	M (People may not be that interested)	M (Existing solutions are available for this)	S (Maps APIs can be used for the same)

Based on the above, I would leverage Google Maps and see how best to discover various aspects of the airport. The passenger could get these details from gmail or scan the boarding pass, and then details of :

Lounges they can use and the features available in them
Passengers can search for specific facilities and use the maps to navigate to those facilities
Restaurants can be rated and this will help others see where to get the best food across the airports in the world

Most of the implementation can rely on the Places API and the ratings that they have. For the scan and search, we could use the Google Lens APIs

Step 5 - Trade Offs

Since a lot of the airports have certain restrictions, we will have to see if Maps can be allowed / not

Step 6 - Metrics to track

Since this is a new section in the app, I would use customer acquisition

No. of boarding passes scanned
No. of searches for specific restaurants
No. of ratings given for a restaurant