No hassle of carrying luggage to the airport, check it in from home!
(CONCEPT PROJECT)
As a travel enthusiast, I've been to a lot of places and taken a ton of flights. But no matter how many times I fly, I always feel a little stressed on the day of travel, even if I'm super prepared. This is what inspired me to create a product that can help to reduce the stress experienced by the travelers on the day of their flight.
Prototype
Secondary Research
Survey & Interview
User Persona
Hypothesis
Problem Statement
How Might We
Competitive Analysis
Lo-fi sketches
Hi-Fi Designs
Usability Test
Prototype
After reading online articles about the various factors that contribute to stress before air travel, I discovered that...
I conducted a survey on 34 Indian participants to better understand and narrow down the issues faced by Indian travelers, as the online articles I had previously referenced in my secondary research were from different countries and did not necessarily reflect the situation in India.
Female Travelers
Newly Married Couple
Senior Citizens
Female Travelers: Solo
Married Couple: Family
Senior Citizens: Family
Most of the users prefer private taxi over public transport.
Reaching to the airport
Passing Security
Baggage collection
Based on the findings from user survey, I interviewed 4 users (2 young female, a newly married husband and a senior citizen). Below are few of the questions which I asked them during the interview:
Why reaching to the airport is a stressful task according to you?
Why do you choose private taxi over public transport? (Where do you think public transport lacks as compared to private taxis?)
How far is airport in your city from the place where you live and how much time does it take you to reach the airport? How much does it cost to take the private taxi? Do you feel relaxed after boarding the taxi on time from your home? If not, then why?
How air travel with family is different than traveling solo?
Why security check and luggage check-in is a stressful task according to you?
Did you ever face any major problem in your past travels during security check or luggage check-in at the airport?
Fear of getting stuck in the traffic & reaching late to the airport.
Managing kids/babies and luggage together at airport.
Long queues at security & luggage check-in.
Difficult to handle luggage in public transport.
Extra luggage gets added when traveling with babies/kids
Senior citizens often travel with family, that’s why managing luggage is not an issue.
Lengthy queues and long wait time is the prime reason that makes it stressful.
Taking out items from bags during airport security checks can cause inconvenience.
Arriving at the airport on time can help to manage the stress associated with security checks.
They are more convenient than public transport when traveling with lots of luggage & other family members
Even after boarding the taxi, users continue to feel stress until they arrive at the airport on time.
This will reduce their commuting time as well as the stress of getting stuck in traffic and reaching late to the airport.
I want to travel with ease and enjoy the journey, not just the destination.
Ananya is a 26-year-old professional who works in an MNC. She mostly travels solo and finds it difficult to manage her luggage in public transport. This has made her dependent on taxis to commute to the airport. However, even after boarding the taxi, she feels stressed until she reaches the airport on time. She realizes that air travel can be overwhelming, but arriving on time gives her a sense of relief.
Difficulty in managing luggage
Stress and worry about reaching the airport on time
Long queues at airport
To feel relaxed and calm during her travels
To find a solution for managing her luggage during her travels
To focus on her work and not be bogged down by travel-related stress.
Traveling with a baby is fun, but it comes with a lot of challenges
The Abrahams are a young couple who recently became parents to a new-born baby. They love to travel together and make memories with their little one. However, traveling with a baby has added an extra layer of difficulty. From the moment they start their journey to the airport, they feel stressed and worried about how they will manage everything on their own.
Additional luggage due to the baby
Difficulty in managing both the baby and luggage during travel
Stress and anxiety during the journey to the airport and at the airport
To have a smooth and stress-free travel experience with their baby
To make memories with their baby
To be able to manage their luggage and baby with ease while traveling
HMW provide a more organized and efficient packing process for users?
HMW reduce the physical effort required to transport and handle luggage?
HMW improve the overall planning of users from leaving their home to boarding the airplane?
HMW make luggage carrying experience less tiresome?
HMW make luggage handling so easy that it can be done by kids?
HMW prompt/help users to travel light?
HMW provide additional assistance to travelers with heavy or extra luggage?
HMW offer extra support/helping hand to travelers for easier carrying of heavy baggage during airport commute?
eliminating the stress and inconvenience of carrying luggage to the airport and avoiding long check-in lines
I investigated the websites and reservation procedures of three leading competitors providing a similar service as my proposal. Although their features were largely alike but customer reviews uncovered some common problems experienced by users across all three companies.
Sudden cancellation cause panic and stress for users as they are then forced to carry their luggage to the airport.
Users may feel that their belongings were not handled with care and it leads to frustration and loss of trust.
If the pickup company has sufficient resources and good routing software, then the only reason due to which they would need to cancel a user's booking is if the pickup driver does not have enough time to reach the user's location, collect their bags, and return to the luggage storage warehouse or to the airport for the luggage check-in within the allotted time.
Solution:
This will encourage users of a specific area to choose pickup in specific time slot which will simplify the pickup process for the driver, allowing them to complete pickups in one area before moving to another. This eliminates the need for constant back and forth travel between areas, saving time which means completing all the scheduled bookings and no cancellations!
If the pickup company is solely held accountable for luggage mishandling, then where is it going wrong?
Incorrect labeling of luggage by the pickup agent causing bags to be loaded onto incorrect flights and ending up at unintended destinations.
For example, in a warehouse with 200 bags, it can be challenging for an individual to determine which bags need to be checked in and at...
For example, in a warehouse with 200 bags, it can be challenging for an individual to determine which bags need to be checked in and at what time, as the flights associated with each bag may have different departure times (e.g. 11:00 am or 5:00 pm). Automation is necessary to manage this task effectively.
While it is highly unlikely, but there is a possibility of an airport agent to check in the luggage to the wrong airline. However, each luggage is linked...
While it is highly unlikely, but there is a possibility of an airport agent to check in the luggage to the wrong airline. However, each luggage is linked to a specific airline ticket/ boarding pass, which is checked by the airline staff during check-in, reducing the chance of such errors.
Solution:
Ask users to verify their name and flight details on Onboard bag tags at the time of pickup.
Implement the use of QR codes to scan luggage at luggage storage warehouse, allowing the system to access flight information of that particular bag so that it can alert the staff to check in the bags on time.
Upload pictures of Airline bag tag and Onboard tag with all the details clearly visible, ensuring their peace of mind that their bags have been checked in to the correct flight.
As the concept of checking in luggage from home is relatively new in India and not widely known, so try to explain what company does, their operational procedures, the geographical coverage of service, the benefits it offers to customers, and try to establish trust and reliability among users.
During the booking process, allow users to check if the service is available in their area and on their flight or not before anything else.
Keep the booking steps similar to the standard flight booking process, as it is already a familiar and user-friendly format for most users.
I conducted a moderated usability test on four participants who fall under the category of our user personas. During the test, I asked them to complete below tasks:
Check the price and book the pickup service for 2 bags of you and your friend for the flight from Delhi to Leh.
Make modifications to the existing luggage pickup reservation for the Delhi to Leh flight, where you need to re-schedule the flight to the one which departs at 10:00 am.
Check the final status of your luggage to find out if it's successfully checked in or not?
To address the users' preference for confirming their luggage pickup details first, the pickup slots, the number of bags scheduled for pickup, and the pickup address have been moved to the top of the page.
The user interface (UI) has been updated to enhance its visual appeal and improve visual hierarchy. Different icons have been added to aid users in quickly identify and navigate to the type of data represented by each field.
Changed to
To streamline the booking process, I have combined the fields which collects personal details(Fig 1) and the number of travelers(Fig 2) into a single step. Users can now provide this information in step 2 itself when they tap on “Travelers” in Fig 2.
Step 3 now focuses entirely on pickup details, including the number of bags, the pickup date, the chosen time slot, and the pickup address. Personal details have been removed from this step.
Upon opening my bookings, immediately display the status of users' checked-in luggage without requiring them to navigate multiple pages to access this information.
To avoid confusion for users regarding where to check the status of their luggage for a recently boarded flight, I replaced the term "Completed" with "Checked-in".
Changed to
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