BA PA
The British Airways Personal Assistant.
Helping passengers flying during the Covid-19 pandemic feel safer and more prepared for their journey.
Overview
Completed for: Industry Project Module as part of the UX Design Masters course at Loughborough University.
Duration: 9 weeks.
Role: UX Designer for ‘Turbulent Design Consultancy’ comprising of 6 MA UX Design students from Loughborough University.
Purpose: Design an evidence based and meaningful design solution to a brief set by a sponsoring organization, British Airways.
Brief
How can we make sure our customers are reassured and feel confident they can make informed decisions and travel safely throughout every stage of their journey, from planning to post-flight?
Understanding the Problem
Findings from assumptions and secondary research led to the development of our initial hunt statement which helped drive primary research.
Assumptions and Secondary Research
People who were travelling for leisure as opposed to obligation, such as school or work, were less likely to be concerned about transmitting the virus, meaning the excitement for the holiday outweighed the covid concern associated with flying.
After being in lockdown or shielding for so long, people were eager to get out and travel again.
There are concerns around how guidelines, protocols, and restrictions can change at any point due to covid.
Although airlines are doing their best to make the flying experience safer for their customers, passengers are still unsure about what the experience will be like, and how they need to prepare to have a seamless journey.
Primary Research
Hunt Statement
The following Hunt Statement was developed to help focus the direction of research:
The aim of this research is to investigate the (entire) passenger experience of flying with BA during COVID restrictions With People that have flown in the last year, or are planning to do so soon so that we can design a product or service that reduces customers’ safety concerns and increases their confidence in BA.
Patterns and themes were drawn out from primary research and collated into areas of opportunity. As a group, we decided on areas of focus that had the highest potential for addressing passenger concerns regarding Covid-19 to develop research informed insights. The cards below outline the primary research that was conducted.
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Semi-structured Interviews
7 participants | 18-26 years old | 4 male, 3 female
Conducted with people who had flown during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to learn about their overall attitudes, experiences and concerns about flying during this time.
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Survey Questionnaire
70 participants | 18-70 years old | 23 male, 47 female
We realised that participants in the semi-structured interviews were all from a similar age group, so we decided to circulate a survey inquiring about flying experiences during covid to capture the attitudes and beliefs of a broader range of participants.
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Journey Mapping
12 participants | 18-88 years old | 5 male, 7 female
Participants who had not flown during covid were asked to describe their expectations of flying during covid during each stage of the experience, from planning, to within the airport, to post-flight.
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Diary Study
1 participants | 23 years old | 1 female
I travelled by plane toward the beginning of this project, so we took this opportunity to get the most up-to-date information about what it was like to fly during the pandemic. I recorded my experiences through photos and excerpts and focused especially on points where I felt unsure or lost as a passenger.
Persona
To understand our target users key emotional pain points and goals, we created a persona. This also helped us to to focus our concept development and build empathy with our target user.
Insights
Entering the Unknown
The sense of 'entering the unknown' was a key concern for passengers, especially on the flight itself. The reality of plane travel during COVID often does not meet their expectations.
Personal Touch
With increased Covid-19 concerns and decreased face-to-face interaction, passengers are missing an element of personal touch that shows them the airline is considering their needs and taking care of them.
How Might We…
deliver an element of personal touch to passengers in a low-touch world?
Ideation and Development
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Crazy 8's
Crazy 8’s is a rapid ideation technique which helped our team generate ideas for possible solutions to address passenger concerns when flying during Covid-19. Similar ideas were grouped and evaluated against the persona to ensure they addressed the target users key pain points.
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Low-fidelity Wireframing
When we settled on the concept for our solution, we conducted experience prototyping with participants using wireframe screens to identify any potential areas of improvement within our design.
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Prototype Testing
Feedback from low-fidelity wireframing was considered when developing the hi-fidelity prototype. We then did additional rounds of usability testing with the hi-fidelity prototype to again highlight any issues or inconsistencies within the design.
Final Concept
BA PA - The British Airways Personal Assistant
BA PA is a personal assistant smartphone app for BA passengers flying during Covid-19 who want to ensure they are prepared for their journey and are being looked after by their airline from check-in to post-flight BUT don’t know what to expect and are missing the personal touch from their travel experience.
With BA PA, passengers have a personal assistant in their pocket.
It provides an inclusive personal experience for each BA customer and passengers can feel reassured that they are being given reliable information that is relevant for them. Passengers will feel supported and looked after by their digital friend and ready to take on their journey.
Key Features
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Home Page
Passengers can customize their homepage to include information they care about the most. This could be a countdown to their flight, a map of the airport, the next items on their checklist, or even links to relevant news articles. They can also choose a default home page layout.
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PA Chat
The personal assistant is accessible on every page within the app and uses machine learning to answer any questions passengers have throughout their journey. If there is a questions BA PA cannot answer, it will put passengers in contact with a customer service representative to direct them to the nearest information desk.
Storyboard
01. TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
Life during the pandemic has been difficult and despite normally being a confident flyer, Denise has not flown since before the pandemic. She wants to travel to Greece to visit her sister, Isabelle, who is in a vulnerable category due to her recent heart attack. This is the first time in many years Denise will be flying alone and she is unsure what she needs to prepare, how her experience will differ when taking Covid-19 into account, and feels apprehensive about the journey.
02. COVID CONCERNS
Denise opens up about her concerns around travelling during a pandemic and flying alone with her sister who suggests that Denise book her flights with British Airways. She informs her about their new app called 'BA PA' which helps support passengers through every stage of their journey. She explains that the app is free and allows travelers to upload important documents in one place, manage flights, and sends any relevant Covid-19 or travel updates directly to their phone.
Later that evening Denise books her flights with British Airways and receives a confirmation email - in the email it gives her more information about the BA PA app, how it can offer personalized support throughout her journey, and how to download it. Denise downloads the app right away and creates an account.
03. BA PA
After signing into her account for the first time, Denise is presented with a screen that gives her the option to personalize her 'PA'. Denise decides to personalize her assistant so she feels more comfortable and confident using the app.
The app allows Denise to decide the assistant's gender, hair color, and language among many other features - she spends some time designing an assistant she is happy with and calls him Leo after her late husband.
Denise is then asked to put her flight details into the app. Once completed, she is taken to the homepage. Her PA pops up with a welcome message and offers to show her around the app! She accepts this invitation and Leo shows her all of the different features (such as how to upload documents, change personal details and change notification settings). Leo also shows Denise how she can personalize the homepage for an even more tailored experience. She changes some of the Home page tiles and adds a countdown to her flight- she is now ready and eager to start using BA PA to take on her journey.
04. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
Later that day, Leo pops up with a notification for Denise to enter any concerns she might have or help she might need after arriving at the airport. This reassures Denise that she has access to extra assistance and that she does not have to worry about how her airport experience might have changed as a result of the pandemic.
Denise asks for extra assistance with her baggage on the plane as she struggles to reach the overhead lockers - she is also concerned about the recycled air on the plane and requests for someone to check on her during the flight. Leo confirms these requests have been logged and recommends that Denise reads the 'Covid-19 Rules at Heathrow Airport' document before her flight - for now he sends her a quick summary of the document and its key points via their chat.
05. KEY FEATURES
The next morning Denise looks at her checklist - based on the information she has already entered and standard travel procedures, BA PA has generated a checklist for Denise. Leo reminds Denise she also has the option to add items to personalize the checklist further. The first item on her checklist is to upload her passport - Denise does this in the 'documents' section and the checklist automatically updates this item as 'complete'. Denise is impressed.
Over the next few days Denise works her way through the checklist. Leo sends her updates and reminders of the forms still to be prepared and when these should be uploaded. Denise has never heard of a 'Passenger Locator Form' and is relieved to have Leo’s help!
Without having access to all of the relevant information in one place, Denise is sure she would feel overwhelmed. She is so pleased she does not have to search for all of the Covid-19 rules and regulations herself as she finds the .gov website difficult to use, she thinks - "this is amazing, BA PA does all of the hard work!".
06. CRISIS
It is the morning of her flight and Denise wakes up extra early. She has one last look through her checklist and is confident there is nothing else that she needs to do.
She is waiting for her taxi to arrive when she receives a notification from Leo about restrictions changing in Greece! Denise reads the news article Leo has sent and she discovers local lockdowns have been implemented in Greece. The area her sister lives in has not been locked down, however, the airport she is flying to is in an area that has. She asks Leo what this means for her flight but he is unsure - he directs her to speak directly with a member of the BA team.
After speaking with a BA customer service representative, Denise is reassured that as long as she is being picked up directly from the airport and members of her family do not get out of the car, her journey will not be impacted by the local lockdowns and she can safely travel straight to her destination.
07. WELCOME TO HEATHROW
Denise arrives at Heathrow Airport with plenty of time. She receives a welcome message from Leo and he recommends she uses the map to find her check-in desk. Denise is feeling confident as she knows she has all of the necessary documents prepared and they are safely stored in one place. She quickly arrives at the check-in desk, scans all of the relevant documents using the app and is soon on her way to security.
As she leaves the check-in desk she receives a notification that her in airport check-list has been updated. Security is next on the list.
Once through security she receives a message from Leo: "Congratulations you can now relax until it is time for your flight! You have 1 hour and 58 minutes until your gate opens. I will update you then. In the meantime, ask me anything, use the map to pin locations such as sanitization stations and help desks, or simply sit back and relax. Speak to you soon!".
08. SHOWTIME
The two hours pass quickly and Denise receives a message from Leo that her gate is now open. Denise suddenly starts to feel extremely anxious about boarding the plane. Regular messages and unrivalled support from Leo is helping to put her nerves at ease.
When boarding Denise uses the app to scan her boarding pass and is quickly boarding the plane and finding her seat. She waits for the other passengers to board and get seated before she looks out for a flight attendant to help with her bags. She sees the flight attendant helping a couple of other passengers before he makes his way to where she is sitting. He asks how she is feeling and offers to help with her bags. Denise is delighted her earlier request has been actioned and her concerns immediately lessen.
During the flight, her second request is met and a flight attendant asks Denise if everything is ok, if he can get her anything and reassures her that there is not long left to go now. This attentive approach helps as she knows she can depend on staff if necessary.
09. ARRIVED AT DESTINATION
Denise's flight lands in Greece. She turns off flight mode and receives a "Welcome to Greece!" message from Leo.
Denise uses the app to scan her passport and quickly makes her way through security. While she waits patiently at baggage collection she loads up the map of the airport and uses it to find her sister's location in the car park. Unfortunately, given the recent restrictions, her sister is unable to meet her in airport arrivals but this is not a problem for long as BA PA helps Denise to determine the most appropriate exit and she is soon reunited with her sister.
Whilst in the car on the journey to her sister's house, Leo sends Denise a message asking if there is anything else he can do for her today and wishes her a lovely trip. Denise smiles as she did not anticipate how much she would appreciate having a 'person in her pocket'. She tells Leo that she doesn’t need anything else until her return flight and she resumes happily chatting with her sister. Without BA PA Denise would not have felt so reassured and confident - she applauds BA for being so attentive and will use the app for her future trips.
Benefits
To Customers:
Gives uncertain passengers more confidence while travelling.
Provides reliable and personalized support.
Give passengers the opportunity to have more control over their journey.
Re-establishes the personal touch that was lost due to the pandemic.
To British Airways:
Provides more information about passenger concerns.
Creates a compassionate on-board atmosphere which reflects positively on the company.
Re-establishes the personal touch that was lost due to the pandemic.
Helps build the relationship between British Airways and its customers.
In future iterations of BA PA, we want to:
provide help that extends beyond just inside the airport by including a map that assists with travel to and from the airport.
include a ‘crowd control’ feature where the app could detect other passengers and direct passengers to less populated areas of the airport to improve social distancing and provide passengers with an extra level of control over their journey.
incorporate an augmented reality function into our map so that users can easily see the path they need to take to get to certain locations in the airport through their phone.
Future Developments
Working on this project gave me the opportunity to truly step into the mindset of a designer. By presenting ourselves as Turbulent Design Consultancy, my team and I were able to gain authentic experience as designers working directly with our clients. We had the opportunity to present our progress every two weeks to the British Airways team, receive feedback, and implement changes based on the wants and needs of both the client and our target users.
Additionally, this project involved working with teammates that I had never worked with before which contributed to the learning experience. As we progressed and grew as a team, we began to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses and were soon able to support each other. This enabled us to relax into a productive pattern of working which led to producing high-quality work. I value learning from others and I believe this project allowed me to be exposed to different working styles and skill levels. This helped me develop a better understanding of others which I believe helped me become a better team member.
