Site cover image showing my app designs from above

Airport App Concept

An app concept for one of the Polish airports made in 3 weeks

About the project

I chose to share this project because it’s very different from Egeria (my current big corporate project described here). Mostly for two reasons:

First (spoiler alert) – the app wasn’t created, it remains a concept. The project died before it could be born. Memento mori.

Second – my other projects usually have a roadmap, a contract, long business analysis and a hard-to-navigate structure of indecisive-decision-making people – which makes some projects last for years.

This project however lasted... 2 weeks.

And I loved it for that.

…Kind of.

Let me explain.

TL;DR version

Client wanted to make an app for people with disabilities to help them get around their airport.

I didn’t love that idea and suggested making an app for the whole airport instead.

My project manager said ‘ok, make a pitch for the client’.

I designed the app and made the pitch.

COVID happened, client said ‘yea cool idea but we are kinda closed now’.

The anticlimactic end.

It was cool though I promise, keep reading 👀

Full version

The concept

The main goal of the project was to create an app for passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) for one of the biggest Polish airports.

You see, every airport is obliged to have a procedure in place to help people with different needs to get to an airplane easily. Our client had one already, but they wanted us to come up with an app that would have all the PRM information in it, showing how it’s done at their airport, since they cared about accessibility. I thought that an app specifically for people with reduced mobility is a bad idea. The target group is relatively small and it could feel almost stigmatizing for users if they had to download a whole app just for them, only to be able to get around the airport. I didn’t want the app to make them feel different, just the opposite – I wanted the app to say „Everybody is welcome at our airport, traveling is easy!”

That’s why I came up with a different idea – an app for the entire airport – for everybody to use, with more things in it than just the PRM info.

I shared my idea with the project manager and he said “alright, figure out what should be in the app, draw it and we’ll develop a demo and show it to the client”.

This sentence might not be as mind-blowing to you as it was to me, but keep in mind – I work for the Public Administration sector. That kind of creative freedom isn’t usually a thing here. We don’t play like that. We have Terms of Reference and other boring, long documents describing products, written by people with 0 knowledge about product design.

(So, you know… If that creative freedom seems normal to you... Hire me? 😅)

But I digress. Back to the project.

There was a catch – they had some strict deadlines, so I only had about 7 days to figure out what should be in the app, to draw up some mockups and make a pitch presentation for the client.
(it ended up being two weeks, so I had time to design some more screens)

So I went to work! Here’s how it went:

Benchmarking

I wasn’t sure which features and information should be inside such an app, so I did a quick benchmark of other airport apps from around the world. I took some features from those, came up with others myself and asked other coworkers and friends, since everybody travels via planes from time to time.

Now… Would this have been a good time to do some exploration research to get to know actual user needs and pains?

Yes.

To build an app based on real data instead of my imagination?

Yes.

Was there time for such tomfooleries?

No ✨

Keep in mind though, this wasn’t the final product, just a pitch to convince the client that my idea was cool. UX Gods, please don’t strike me down. I think research is super cool…

Anyway

Empathizing

I came up with a lot of features that could be useful to travellers, but the PRM (passengers with reduced mobility) section was still the most important. So I wanted to get to know this world a bit better.

I found a great blog run by „people with two legs and four wheels” – a charming couple who travel around the world together and show that disability shouldn’t be an obstacle.

Amazing work by the way, shoutout to RobimyPodróże! Great blog, great people.

I got in contanct with them and learned how people with reduced mobility get around the airport – on every stage, from arriving, to the parking lot, to taking off in the airplane. I learned all the useful info I could find, I learned about the obstacles and painponts along the way. Kamil explained everything so well that I felt like I was ready to start designing.

Off to the pen and paper!

Designing

My main priority when designing the app was to make everything as easy and legible as possibe. Not only for my end users, rushing through a busy airport, but also for the client (since it was just a demo concept). I wanted to show a lot of content and selling points on the first screens. That’s why we start in the Main page and services.

Main page and services

The main page consists of 6 tiles with shortcuts to the most important features, such as Parking, WiFi, a Map and of course – PRM – crème de la crème. It also features a carousel with the most important airport announcements.

In the Services tab we can find other services offered by the airport – transport, ICE, contact etc.

Flights

Flights tab offers a list of flights, similar to the big one at the airport. After tapping on one we can see all the flight details and a map to the gate.

Our flights are in a seperate „My flights” tab for easy access.

PRM

Okay, PRM – what we’re here for

The PRM tab offers 4 tabs with information about every part of the journey – basic information, tips for preparing before the trip and instructions what to do at the airport itself.

We also have a big „My trip” CTA, which takes you to the PRM onboarding.

PRM Onboarding

I came up with PRM Onboarding to show users that traveling with disabilities doesn’t have to be super complicated. I’ve divided the whole journey to three easy steps:

1. Filling out the PRM form

If users fill out a form, the airport can be better prepared and waiting for their arrival

2. Coming to the airport

Users can check means of transport, accessibility options and more

3. Meeting a member of the staff

Upon the arrival, a member of staff will be waiting to assist in all of the airport procedures