SITA airport bag drop

Automated kiosks designed to reduce operational costs and check-in times.

Investigated attitudes and behaviours of passengers and staff in order to improve the self-serve experience.

  • Generated attitudinal and behavioural insights through contextual inquiry and interviews in airports.

  • Delivered prioritised insights and recommendations in Figjam, for efficiency and to maximise utility across product teams and development cycles.

Client

SITA

Competencies

Desk research Workshop facilitation Observing behaviour Contextual inquiry Guerilla interviews

Industry

Travel & logistics

Duration

7 weeks

A passenger with luggage bending down at a kiosk
A passenger with luggage bending down at a kiosk
A passenger with luggage bending down at a kiosk

Context

  • SITA provide information technology and communications to airports across the globe. They offer a range of configurable solutions to help airports retro-fit or modernise operational infrastructure.

  • Scan & Drop is a two-step self-service offering. Using their check-in credentials passengers print and tag their own luggage at kiosks, then scan and load their luggage onto conveyor belts so they can be loaded onto planes. This reduces wait times and the cost to airlines managing the process.


Problem

  • Staff from various airlines reported a number of common problems affecting passengers’ ability to self-serve using the kiosks. This was having a negative impact on the overall experience and represented a risk to the vision of an automated journey.

  • Products had been developed in-house with limited user testing and devices had no analytics capability to help identify user problems and needs.


Objectives

  • Visit airports observe and gain deep insights into the attitudes and behaviours of passengers using the Bag Drop and Scan kiosks in live airport environments.

  • Deliver insights in a compelling way that will not be forgotten, ensuring that they are utilised across the product development lifecycle.


Audience & users

  • SITA stakeholders - Head of design, Strategy personnel, Airport managers, product teams.

  • Diverse passengers guided to self service - segmented by relevant criteria e.g. travel behaviour, age, digital skill.


Roles

  • As Senior UX Consultant I planned and managed day-to-day tasks and provided direction to a junior colleague, with a design lead providing oversight.

  • Because I had a strong protocol in place I was able to involve a client developer in field research and rapidly onboard a new UX partner when my colleague became ill.

  • The Client Success Manager and UX Director scoped the project. The Project Manager helped coordinate logistics and involvement of stakeholders from SITA business functions.


Constraints

  • Research was conducted on weekdays during school term so we did not observe the experience at its busiest time.

  • Language and timelines limited our ability to conduct research in airports with the relevant technology.

  • Rail strikes affected our ability to reach airports during the planned project timeline.


Approach

  • Desk research

  • Discovery workshop

  • Ethnographic research

  • Service agent interviews

  • Deliverables & presentation

Middle-aged man and woman interacting with a kiosk
Middle-aged man and woman interacting with a kiosk
Middle-aged man and woman interacting with a kiosk

I facilitated an alignment workshop to identify knowledge gaps and prioritise research objectives

Objectives for ethnographic research


  • Assess passengers’ attitude and willingness to engage with self-service

  • Understand attitudes and motivations of passengers’ not using self-service

  • Assess passengers’ experience of the overall Bag Drop journey

  • Assess UX of the touchless Bag Tag and Bag Drop kiosks

  • Identify distinct attitudes, behaviours and challenges for users

  • Assess the validity of user-types and associated needs

  • Identify additional user-types relevant to Self-serve Bag Drop

Staff helping a passenger put their suitcase onto a conveyer belt
Staff helping a passenger put their suitcase onto a conveyer belt
Staff helping a passenger put their suitcase onto a conveyer belt
Researchers with clipboards interviewing airline staff
Researchers with clipboards interviewing airline staff
Researchers with clipboards interviewing airline staff

Passengers were unable to complete the two-step process unassisted; Service Agents highlighted operational and recurring problems

Research findings with photos, presented in themed columns
Research findings with photos, presented in themed columns
Research findings with photos, presented in themed columns

A Figma whiteboard ensured research insights could be accessed easily by product teams

Outcomes


  • Ticket vendors and airports need to raise awareness of self-serve kiosks to set expectations and help drive adoption.
    Poor communication, airport layout and inadequate signage undermined the offering, causing anxiety, resentment and frustration. Some queued at desks unnecessarily.


  • Responsive kiosks that provide flexibility, clear instructions and error messaging will improve the experience.
    Kiosks lacked many of the heuristic attributes that people expect from digital products. Many errors were caused by unclear instructions and sluggish performance.


  • Increased visibility of errors and support will help staff and passengers adapt to kiosks.
    As with supermarkets, most recognised the economic imperative and time benefits. Many passengers felt the level of support was inadequate, while staff said it was not always easy to who needed help.


  • Passengers need to know an in-person service option is available.
    Older, anxious and less tech-confident passengers struggled to self-serve, as did groups and those with access needs. Some felt kiosks should be a queue-jumping option and expected in-person service to be the default.