Flight Not Fancy
Technology is transforming the world and that transformation is nowhere greater than in the design world. There are incredibly well designed products everywhere. So if design is the dominant language of public life today do you think American Airlines hears me scream when I sit down on one of their planes? You’d think that something as technically advanced as an airplane, something that carries us at 500 mph at 30,000 feet for hours at a times would be designed, both inside and out, with a “great customer experience” as it’s goal.
Well, I’m wrong. Their goal is to keep us safe, be “dependable” and be more or less friendly. Safety first, design last. The airlines are often the easiest targets of bad design. (Well, not Swiss Air, Emirates or Virgin). Good design costs money and flying has become so commoditized it is no surprise the interiors of most planes are simply about function, about getting us on and off, not about truly enhancing the experience in your assigned seat. As new travel behaviors become more pronounced and the pared down minimalists who check nothing rule the skies, you’d think the airlines would accommodate (through design research – ethnography, spatial mapping, anything) these “rulers” rather than punish them. Tom Peters always said, “Be close to your customer.” These folks have no clue how to get close to me.
On a recent AA trip, in first class no less (where the customer is obviously paying the most and are generally the most loyal), the recent “redesign” of a the seat sacrificed any ability to store carry-ons - no briefcase, not even shoes – in the area under the seat in front of me. This human purpose, stuffing my bag under the seat, has been around as long as I’ve been flying. The design had a purpose and was well served. I want to keep my stuff close, especially now when my emotions are frayed, my vulnerabilities exposed.
It was an amazing event witnessing other passengers take their seats, put down their gear and then, in total disbelief, look around shaking their heads. Every single person hailed the stewards and asked what they should do with their bags. Now the overheads are filled to capacity, or worse, over capacity and now people are being told they’re going to have to check some of their carry-ons. It was a total disaster.
If design is a process for creating value and customers always define that value then AA lost enormous worth and credibility by just not serving the very people it relies on most.
