Design a way to make airport layovers suck less.

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Design a way to make airport layovers suck less.

Asked at Meta (Facebook) over a year ago

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H P · Answer 1 · 2020-01-31T09:40:55+0000

Few clarifications:

By Suck less, the expectation is to have the layover time utilized better which could be anything from being productive, get to know people, watch something interesting, do something interesting etc. -Yes
We are talking about the layovers for international flights in particular (more common) - Yes
The traveler being an international traveler, mostly wouldn’t have access to mobile data and would he have access to free wifi at the airports - No for this discussion

Here are some of the personas I can think of

Family travelers
Corporate Travelers
Solo leisure travelers
Group Travelers

Generic need of each of groups would be:

Utilize the time during the layover more effectively (assumption is currently the time spent is on reading something, watching other travelers or just taking a nap)

We'll choose the solo leisure traveler persona:

They would like to meet like minded people, who are flying to the same destination as theirs
They would like to meet people of opposite sex (or same sex) with similar interest as theirs for a casual date
They would like to know more about the destination they are traveling to, the culture, the do's and don'ts
They would like to have some local host/person of the country the traveler is traveling to, to guide
They would like to eat food, freshen up, charge their phone
They would like to browse through various social apps to keep abreast with what's happening in their social circle
They would like to share their pics on social media
They would like to get entertained by whatever means to pass the layover time

Here are the various opportunities I can think of

Efforts/Revenue potential are relative to the opportunities

Solutions/Opportunities (considering no internet access to users device)	Effort	Impact/Outcome	Revenue Potential
An app can be created for dating at the airport layovers. It syncs up social media data, and based on interests, can recommend potential matches. This has to be done before the journey when the user has internet access, and then users can meet at a designated sport at a chosen airport. App can provide offline maps/spots to meet etc.	M	H	H
A booth can be created to show and let people hear the local monuments/cultures/guided tour etc. via a VR headset. This can also help earn money by providing marketing opportunities to the companies like Bose, Samsung etc. who can let user use the devices and potentially get a customer	H	H	M
Airports can have a blind date kiosk by the food outlets there, where a traveler can sign up, meet someone and have a lunch/dinner/coffee at the food outlet	M	M	M
Airports can have sections where travelers can wear a AR?VR headset, play some interactive games, perform some activities. Tech companies can have their gadgets used by travelers and collect usage data	M	M	L

Some of these options can be evaluated and implemented. Based on the parameters used, #1 seems a good candidate to pursue.

We can evaluate the effectiveness by capturing how many users sign up and fix an appointment (Activation).

How many users use it for more than once(repeated usage)

Additional premium features can be provided (like may be not limiting the # of profiles, showing pics etc.) for premium user

aramakris21 · Answer 2 · 2020-01-29T04:55:11+0000

Clarifying questions as the problem statement appears to be very broad:

An airport layover experience has many components such as waiting for the next flight, food, shopping, having to potentially go through security again (most International flights), finding the right gate etc. Did the interviewer have a particular experience in mind? Also there are multiple potential segments here:

1. Business travellers.

2. Families with young kids.

3. Young travellers (19-25) seeking an adventure

Also which potential FB product in play here, either the main app, instagram, or the AR/VR?

Assuming the interviewer wants me to make my own assumptions and keep moving:

Let's focus more on the young traveller seeking an adventure category and look at their key pain-points/unmet needs.

1. They would like to make a social connection with other travellers on their flight/transit passengers in their age group to make new social connections/friends

2. The layover is long, yet not long enough for the traveller to venture out into the transit city and be able to get back in time to make their flight.

Potential solutions that aligns with FB's mission of bringing the world closer and with products that align with what FB is investing in are:

1. An ability to connect with other transit passengers via the FB app. Perhaps having an ability for passengers to self identify as adventurers in their FB profile and then performing an algorithmic match of travellers based on their interests. Passengers would potentially scan for other nearby adventurers and other users who match interests and are in the same geo fence range will show up for them to connect and potentially share experiences together.

2. Building kiosks that let the traveller experience must-see tourist sights in the transit city via the AR/VR immersive experience. Example: You have a connecting flight in Paris, and would love to see the Louvre.

Evaluating both solutions:

Solution	Customer Value	Value to FB	Engineering complexity	Other consideratons
FB adventurer tagging	High	Gels with Facebooks motto and helps drive user engagement by increasing a user's social network	Medium	Dependent on users self-identifying and also on allowing FB to track location
Immersive AR/VR experience	High	Revenue stream and potential 2-sided marketplace with venues and customers who want to virtually visit them	High	Dependent on being able to establish critical mass of user base as well as suppliers who allow for their venues to be virtually present.

Based on impact and ease of implementation i would like to pursue the adventurer tagging. Key metrics to measure the success of this solution:

1. Number of users self-identifying as adventurers.

2. DAU, WAU, MAU of these users

3. Number of mutual connections established via app.

4. Daily social engagement on the app between users connected via app (posts, likes, messages, tags etc)

5. If adventurers indulge in shared activities that were advertised through the platform then CTR