GoogleAirport
An idea to add airport maps inside Google Maps, so people can move around a terminal and feel calm instead of stressed.
Using research to solve a difficult navigation problem.
Airports are places we do not know well. This project looked at how a map on your phone could help in one of the hardest moments of a trip: walking through an airport for the first time.
Instead of designing one more airport app, I asked a different question: could an app that millions of people already use every day also help them inside a big terminal?
The project started with this question and with one idea. Articles and reports said that theft and security were big problems for travellers, so I started there. Later, talking to real people showed me that this idea was wrong.
The goal was not to prove my idea. It was to understand people.
I used different research methods to learn what passengers really find difficult, not what I thought they would find difficult.
Learn
Desk research and competitor analysis to understand the problem.
Listen
A survey, interviews and a focus group to hear real passengers.
Organise
Affinity mapping to find the ideas that appeared again and again.
Decide
"How can we" questions and MoSCoW to choose one clear direction.
was not fear.
It was not knowing.
Theft was in almost every article I read, but the people I talked to almost never mentioned it. In every interview, a different problem appeared. People got lost. They did not know how much time they needed to reach their gate. They were afraid of missing a flight because the airport was confusing. This changed the direction of the whole project.
Three problems appeared again and again.
Getting lost in big terminals
People found it hard to know where they were and which way to go.
Not knowing how much time they need
Without knowing how long security or the walk takes, people felt nervous.
Hard to find basic services
Restaurants, toilets and gates were more difficult to find than people expected.
Do not build a new app. Improve one people already use.
A new airport app asks people to learn a new interface exactly when they are most nervous. So I did the opposite: put the airport map inside the app they already have on their phone.
Using Google Maps makes the idea much easier to learn, because millions of people already use it every day.
One more airport app
Something new to learn in a stressful moment.
Airport maps inside Google Maps
A familiar app, nothing new to learn.
The ideas focused on helping people find their way, not on adding features.
"How can we" questions and the MoSCoW method helped me keep the idea simple and useful.
Answer the main question
Every screen should show where you are and how long you need, before the person has to ask for it.
Use what people know
Keep the same design people already know from Maps, so there is nothing new to learn.
Show it at the right time
Give flight, gate and service information only in the moment when the person needs it.
A travel helper, not only a map.
Google Airport adds the information travellers need to an app they already understand, so they can walk through a terminal feeling calm.
Indoor map
See the terminal floor by floor, with clear routes.
Walking time
Know how many minutes you need to reach your gate.
Security wait
See the queue time before you get there.
Your flight
Gate, time and status together in one place.
Services
Find food, toilets and shops around you.
Street View
Look around when a map is not enough.
See the idea working on a real phone.
This is a short recording of the interactive prototype: the airport map, the walking times, the flight information and the gate change, all inside Google Maps.
Prototype recording · Open on YouTube
The prototype follows the complete airport trip.
From the moment you arrive to the moment you get on the plane, in one simple flow.
Airport mode starts alone
Maps sees that you are at the airport and opens the indoor map.
Move between areas
Walk between terminals and floors with clear routes and waiting times.
Find services
Look for restaurants, toilets and shops without searching for signs.
Add your flight
Write your flight number to see gate, time and status in one place.
Gate change alerts
A notification tells you immediately if something changes.
Street View if you need it
Change from the map to Street View when the map is not enough.
The lesson was not about the design.
The most important thing I learned was how fast a strong idea can fall when you do real research. The project started with airport security and finished with navigation and not knowing what to do.
It showed me why it is important to test your ideas early, listen carefully, and let the research, not your opinion, guide your decisions.
Funcionalidad de Google Maps para optimizar tiempos y la navegación en aeropuertos.
GOOGLE AIRPORT
Introducción
Nuestro equipo se enfrentó al reto de pensar cómo mejorar la seguridad y el bienestar en las ciudades.
Investigando un poco más, vimos que últimamente se están dando muchos robos en aeropuertos. En Barajas, por ejemplo, detuvieron a 30 personas por este tipo de delitos. Así que dejamos de lado las suposiciones y nos centramos en datos reales.
En las ciudades, sentirse seguro y proteger tus cosas es algo que preocupa a mucha gente. Situaciones como robos, el lío de los sitios con mucha gente o el miedo a perder algo valioso generan bastante ansiedad. Y esto se nota aún más en aeropuertos o estaciones, donde muchas veces no hay medidas claras para prevenir todo esto y los usuarios acaban bastante desprotegidos.
Research
Durante nuestra búsqueda, nos topamos con muchas noticias que hablaban de un mismo problema: los robos en aeropuertos han aumentado en los últimos años. Esto nos llamó la atención y nos hizo querer investigar más a fondo.
Pero no podíamos quedarnos solo con lo que decían los medios. Para entender realmente el problema, necesitábamos hablar con las personas que lo viven en primera persona cómo se sienten respecto a la seguridad de sus pertenencias, si han tenido problemas para orientarse en el aeropuerto, si han sentido miedo de que les roben… Solo así podríamos definir el problema con claridad.
Con una mezcla de encuestas y entrevistas, conseguimos más de 180 testimonios que nos dieron una visión mucho más clara de la situación.
Revisamos los resultados de las encuestas para ver qué preocupaciones se repetían entre los viajeros. Pero los números por sí solos no nos contaban toda la historia, así que hablamos directamente con la gente para entender sus miedos, frustraciones y qué les haría sentir más seguros en el aeropuerto. Realizamos 4 entrevistas individuales y un focus group con 6 participantes para ello.
Investigación cuantitativa
¿Cúanto ha viaja el usuario en los ultimos 5 años?
Verbatim de un usuario
La parte que más odio de viajar es desorientarme dentro de los aeropuertos.
¿Se perdió en alguna zona del aeropuerto?
Investigación cuantitativa
Focus group
Llevamos a cabo una dinámica interactiva utilizando tarjetas rojas y amarillas con el objetivo de generar un ambiente de confianza y facilitar la participación de los asistentes desde el principio. Para ello, establecimos un sistema en el que, al inicio, los participantes solo debían mostrar una tarjeta roja si estaban en desacuerdo o amarilla si estaban de acuerdo, pudiendo compartir su opinión si lo deseaban.
Este método les permitió expresar sus opiniones sin presión y sin temor al juicio de los demás. A medida que avanzaba la actividad y el grupo se sentía más cómodo, los participantes comenzaron a verbalizar sus pensamientos de manera espontánea, sin depender de las tarjetas como intermediario. Finalmente, logramos que el espacio se transformara en un entorno de diálogo abierto, donde cada persona compartía libremente sus ideas.
Gracias a todo el proceso de investigación, nos dimos cuenta de que los robos no eran la principal preocupación de los usuarios, como pensamos al principio. El verdadero problema era:
