How might we…
create a queuing experience for families that optimizes their speed and maximizes their fun?
Parents often need to prepare more to avoid distractions and consider how to keep their children occupied and aware throughout the airport. Over the course of 20 weeks, my team worked for Southwest Airlines to create a solution that takes pressure off the parents.
Initial Research
Through trips to O’Hare Air to conduct field research and user interviews, my group identified key stakeholders in the family travel experience. We also synthesized our research to create journey maps for both the digital and in person components of the family travel experience.
User-Centric Synthesis
In synthesizing our initial UX research we created a persona, Rachel, whose pain points we hope to address. Through insight categories and modeling the lobby experience, we determined that kids need to be engaged in a manner that distracts them but not parents as Rachel’s focus is required elsewhere.
Initial Prototypes
During ideation we realized that our intervention needs to not only engaged the user, but also encourage the right behaviors. Thus we created three initial prototypes: a baggage tag designed to distract children, an in-app support feature that provides advice on family travel, and an interactive book that pushes kids forward through the lobby experience.
Final Prototype
Upon receiving feedback from Southwest Airlines executives regarding our initial prototypes, we determined that the “Southwest Passport” would be most effective at moving kids forward through the airport while keeping parents focused. Conducting more interviews and user testing, we arrived at our final prototype.
Meet Luv.
Luv encourages the right behaviors by keeping kids engaged and on track as they navigate the airport. This interactive booklet teaches about everything from the various checkpoints of the airport journey to the roles of different staff.
