UberELEVATE Design Exercise

Uber ATC
Design Exercise
Airport Arrivals Flow
Zaid Haque, www.zaidhaque.com
Watch screen transitions on https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/
4512128/20161027%20Design%20Exercise%20Prototype%20Video.m4v

Uber ATC Design Challenge - Airport Arrivals Flow
Outline • Project + Considerations
• Design Process
• Exploration
• Prototype
2

TL;DR
I created an interaction flow for the
arrivals process for an airport app.
The app works with a process flow
logic - each step in the travel flow
is a ‘card’. Passengers would be able
to scroll through all cards to
understand the process for going
through the airport.
3

Exercise
Details
This project took me 8 hours to
complete: 1 hour conceptualizing,
4 hours designing prototype+UI,
1 hour making interactions and 2
hours on documenting.
Software used:
UI: Illustrator + Sketch + XD
Interactions: Keynote
4

Full
Disclosure
I worked in airport management (at Qatar Airways) as an Interaction
Designer for 3 years. I personally feel that airports should not have
their own apps because the relevant information they provide should
already be accessible enough in the airport facility to not warrant a
need to take out a cell phone for said information. A passenger
should not need to download yet another app for an airport, until
either (1) there is a unified airport/travel app that has information on
all airports, or (2) it has a killer feature like the ability to check you
into your flight using iBeacons/micro-location sensing tech when you
enter the facility, which would only be possible if airlines collaborated
with airports - which has not happened because of legal implications
for data sharing.
Baggage Information - technology exists to allow us to determine
where a particular bag is in the baggage handling system (e.g.
whether it is in the plane, has gone past border security scanners,
etc.) but there is no plan to share this info with passengers for
security reasons. If a dangerous passenger with a bomb knows where
his bag is in the terminal, it could lead to dangerous consequences.
5

Project +
Considerations
6

Introduction
Uber recently released a
whitepaper about a blue-
sky future where we
would be able to be
transported by air, on-
demand. Although that
may not be the intent of
this design challenge - for
this exercise I have made
a fictional “Uber Elevate”
app - which could
potentially be a universal
airport app.
7
Elevate

Types of Passengers
First and foremost, we have
to understand which types
of passengers would be
going through the arrival
flow in the app. Then we
need to narrow down to
passengers that would need
to use the specific feature.
8
Pittsburgh
International
AirportTerminal Departing
Arriving Transit
Arriving Domestic
Arriving International
Terminal Arriving
Departing Domestic
Departing International
AIRSIDE
LANDSIDE

Types of Passengers
First and foremost, we have
to understand which types
of passengers would be
going through the arrival
flow in the app. Then we
need to narrow down to
passengers that would need
to use the specific feature.
This Interaction Flow needs
to target passengers who
may need to pick up bags
in PGH
9
Pittsburgh
International
AirportTerminal Departing
Arriving Transit
Arriving Domestic
Arriving International
Terminal Arriving
Departing Domestic
Departing International
AIRSIDE
LANDSIDE

Hierarchy of Needs
Throughout the airport
experience, we would need
to understand what our
passengers’s priorities are.
It goes without saying that
the main priority is to
travel, but as frequent
travelers we understand
other needs as well. The
app should reflect an
understanding of these
needs.
10
Travel!
Depart/Arrive, and all associated
steps/touchpoints (e.g. check-in, baggage etc)
Routine needs
Restrooms, children’s rooms,
other such facilities/amenities
Food
Cafes + Restaurants
Entertainment
Shopping/Exploring

Passengers are stressed
Passengers are generally
stressed about being late for
a flight, or confused by the
information overload around
them. Given that an airport
facility caters to many
thousands of individuals per
day, there will surely be
information overload. This
app is an opportunity to
reduce the information to
show what’s relevant to the
individual, rather than cater
to all passengers.
11

Passengers are busy
Apart from passengers’
minds being busy, their
hands are also busy. They
are generally carrying
bags and may only have
one hand free. We need
to minimize taps and
minimize engagement in
general - the faster we
can pass information to
the passenger, the more
successful the app would
be.
12

Exploration The first step involved looking at
a couple of different concepts
and trying to see which ones
would fit best with the
considerations listed on the
previous slides.
13

5 Design Concepts
I started with 5 ideas on
how to communicate
baggage information to
passengers. The next slides
explains each in more
detail.
14

AR Directions
What if you were able to pick
up your phone and point it
around to see which direction
to go in?
While this seems to be an idea
AR enthusiast dub to be great
for wayfinding, it would not
fair well in an airport. Apart
from requiring too much
engagement (passenger needs
to carry it around in hand) - it
could be considered a security
threat to be carrying a camera
phone around in that manner.
Hardware deficiencies may also
limit the success of such a
product.
15

Airport Maps
Providing a nice looking map
of the airport to help
passengers with directions.
Maps of new places can be
difficult to understand for
everyone - and chances are
for something as simple as
‘baggage claim’ there would
be enough signs in the airport
and enough people walking in
the same direction for a
passenger to experience less
cognitive load by simply
following the crowd.
16

Walk times only
The other option is to go
minimal and remove
directionality information
completely.
Although an app like this
could provide all the basic
information a passenger would
need, it wouldn’t warrant
enough reason to take one’s
phone out of the pocket just
to look at this information.
17

Complete Status
On the other hand, we could
provide our passengers with
all information pertaining to
their bags.
This would be on the other
end of the spectrum - and
may be too much information
that the passenger does not
need. Could be a secondary
function - after pressing a
‘more information’ button.  
However airports are not
authorized to provide too
much detail on these things
for security reasons (see
disclosure p. 5).
18

Process Flow
What if baggage information
could be a ‘card’ on a page
which has multiple cards
depending on the passenger
information?
If this app showed one screen
which contained the
individuals’ complete itinerary,
including all the touch points
in the passenger journey, it
could possibly both provide a
low cognitive load, but also
enough relevant information
on one page for the user to
understand the entire journey
with a glance.
19

Final design
I explored the idea of using
cards to showcase touchpoints
in the passenger flow. Each
card would have information
about a certain point, and
could be expanded to show
more details if required. The
idea was that if the passenger
is only interested in getting
from A to B, all the
information is on one screen.
20

Prototype Created in a combination of
Illustrator, Sketch and Adobe XD.
Whereas the final designs were
produced in XD, some elements
were easily manipulated in
Illustrator/Sketch instead.
Transitions done in Keynote.
Watch interaction video here
21

Notification
The app starts off with a
notification. For most
people, this would be
enough information so
there would be no need to
proceed. Opening the app
reveals more information.
22

Splash Screen
App branding + possibility
of displaying a personalized
welcome message for
airport.
23

Home Screen
Shows information on the
passenger’s flight, as well as
all relevant touchpoints. Since
we are currently looking at a
domestic arrivals passenger,
the only information showed
is baggage info and exit info.
Exit info provides options to
ride with uber, get a rental or
choose public transit as well.
Baggage info provides
minimum relevant detail, but
can be tapped to show more.
24

Expanded view
Upon clicking on the
Baggage card, it is
expanded to show more
information
25

Home Screen
Upon clicking again, map
and extra information hides
again.
26

At Carousel
Once passenger is at
carousel, relevant
information changes to
show ‘wait time’ instead of
‘walk time’.
27

At Carousel
After wait time is over
and bags are on carousel,
status changes to display
“Bags on Carousel”
28

At Carousel
Once the last bag is on
the carousel, there is a
possibility that the
passenger’s bag did not
turn up. They can press
the ‘information’ button
to file a missing bag
report.
29

At Carousel
report.
30

At Carousel
report.
31

At Exit
Once the baggage process
is over, the baggage
information is no long
shown on the screen. Now
the passenger has the
ability to access exit
information only.
32

Alternative screens
Based on the passenger
profile, the initial screen
could show different
information. Shown here
are screens for Transiting
passengers (left) and
international arriving
passengers (right).
33

Alternative screens
Based on the passenger
profile, the initial screen
could show different
information. Shown here
are screens for Transiting
passengers (left) and
international arriving
passengers (right).
34

Uber ATC Design Challenge - Airport Arrivals Flow 35
Overview

Uber ATC
Design Exercise
Airport Arrivals Flow
Zaid Haque, www.zaidhaque.com

UberELEVATE Design Exercise

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