Creating a Web-Based Airport Navigation Solution
Overview
This project was conceptualized and completed for my capstone project at the University of Waterloo’s Stratford School of Interaction and Design in collaboration with Rogers 5G Innovation Labs. As a member of a team of 5, we set out to develop a digital solution to mitigate frequent travelers’ stress induced by the struggle of navigating Toronto Pearson Airport. My role when collaborating on this project was as the creative director, with responsibilities including by not limited to lead designer, UX and market researcher, prototyping, and business analyst.
Project Scope
Sector
Date
Understanding the Problem Space
Problem Statement
Airports are complex environments that must manage a wide range of operational and security challenges, including crowd management and long wait times. Despite advances in technology, many airports continue to struggle with these challenges, resulting in long wait times, crowded and congested areas, and reduced overall customer satisfaction.
“How might we leverage digital twin technology in an airport setting to optimize crowd flow and alleviate uncertainty, resulting in an overall improved travel experience?”
What is a Digital Twin?
In its simplest form, a digital twin is a digital representation of a physical object, person or process, used as a vehicle to simulate real situations and their outcomes. In this project’s context, the digital twin in question is a comprehensive mapped model of Toronto Pearson Airport’s infrastructure, ultimately providing crucial insights that allow travellers to make more informed decisions when navigating the airport on the go.
Enabling Technologies
Beacon Sensors
Beacon sensors are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) enabled devices that can be placed strategically throughout the airport to provide real-time location-based services to travellers. Once signaled, nearby devices will be given a unique identifier and connected to the network of other devices in the airport, thus providing travelers with accurately updated information.
Infrared Cameras
Infrared cameras, can be used to monitor crowd density and distribution patterns, even in low-light conditions. The data collected by these devices can be analyzed and outputted to travellers in order to determine wait times, and provide real-time information regarding the activity of people within the airport.
Relevant Research
Traveller Reviews
“Toronto Pearson Airport is ranked the 7th most frustrating and 3rd hardest to commute airport in all of the United States and Canada” — Bloomberg Statistics
User Persona
Key Insight #1
Time is a valuable commodity, so convenience is the most important aspect target users are looking for in a service.
Key Insight #2
Technology is a key tool in target users’ daily life, but they want a flexible and untethered experience when travelling.
Key Insight #3
Users are busy with other matters so the experience delivered by the service needs to be intuitive but informative.
Outcome
Before starting the wireframing process for the app itself, the insights gained from the user persona research led us in a clear direction for its design and functionality. For clarity and consistency’s sake, we highlighted three main pillars that we could call back to at any point over the course of the app’s conception, including simplicity, versatility, and above all else, ease of access.
Ideation
High-Fidelity Wireframes
MVP Testing Insight #1: Users found the first version of the high-fidelity wireframes to be an information overload, noting that certain interactions were vague and hard to understand. With this insight, we pivoted our design to improve clarity by means of reducing overall information and simplifying the language on each screen, as well as including the necessary indicators to smooth the flow of user interactions and comprehension.
MVP Testing Insight #2: In the second version of the wireframes, users didn’t have as much trouble with quantity of information, but instead had issues with its arrangement. Additionally, users noted having troubles understanding the practicality of the “Additional Stops” feature. With this insight, we once again pivoted our design, this time reworking the stops feature into a more applicable filter system, and rearranging the necessary components in order to reduce the number of interactions needed for the user to begin navigating.
Design System
Feature Breakdown
Navigate on the Go
"I don't have time to download an app, but I need an easy in-airport navigation solution when I'm on the go."
Travellers are able to immediately access Dira’s web-based application and start navigating seamlessly by scanning a QR code at any given kiosk location or designated signage in the airport. No signup, no app to download, no slowdown.
Find the Best Route
"The airport is always very confusing to navigate in a rush, I wish I could see what the best route to my gate is."
When using Dira, travellers can rest assured that the best route available to them is generated. With 5G connectivity, data collected by the various sensors around the airport offers real-time insights that can be used to identify patterns and predict wait times based on crowd activity.
Control Your Experience
"I value my privacy and I want to control what information I choose to provide when using any given service."
Dira takes the privacy and security of its travellers very seriously, offering complete control over their own data. Each navigation session started by a traveller is temporary, and can be freely closed at any time without the worry of sensitive information being logged after the session expires.
Final Product
Dira Prototype
If you’re interested, you can view the finished high-fidelity Dira prototype on Figma and test our in-airport navigation solution yourself!
Lessons Learned
🛤️ Leave No Path Untaken
Exploration was a huge part of the success of this project, wherein experimenting with several different features that at first didn’t work, ultimately evolved into an experience that proved to be much more valuable to the user.
👑 Feedback is King
After working collaboratively on crafting a user-first experience, I noticed that getting a constant stream of feedback from both peers and usability testing gave me perspective clarity, thus allowing me to make more informed design decisions and reduce my overall bias.
Thank you for taking the time to explore this project!
If you’re interested, you can check out some of my other projects below.