A large, unorganized ecosystem
The aviation industry thrives on efficiency. If a plane is delayed, money is lost.
Boeing has a large, unconnected ecosystem of apps and services that aviation industry workers need to access for their every day workflow. Currently, they access it through what is essentially a link farm with little hierarchy.
Boeing asked our team how we could connect together Boeing’s apps and services for a more efficient workflow for aviation workers.
We set out to create a vision of what an efficient, personalized workspace could look like. It was called AviationOS.
Creating a framework
We proposed creating a portal that could be customized by our users. It would be composed of micro-experiences which surfaced each app’s top functionality in the portal. I proposed that the apps would follow a personalization gradient, with the most used apps surfaced at the top for easy access.
Defining our primary users
There is an overwhelming amount of different jobs and people that work in the aviation industry. Working with our partners at Boeing, we decided to focus on 3 user types: Materials Buyers, Station Maintenance Managers, and General Aviation Pilots. Each of these user types were tied to specific business goals and initiatives. Starting with Commercial Materials Buyers, we interviewed a team from Alaska Airlines to better understand their needs. We started with Materials buyers because they are the highest revenue drivers within airlines. Their job is to buy parts for airplanes.
Insights
To better understand what apps and functionality to surface for Materials Buyers, we interviewed a team of materials buyers from Alaska Airlines to better understand their needs. Some insights:
Buyers only use a few apps every day, but use them constantly.
There’s a lack of transparency between Boeing and it’s customers, from inventory to order and shipping status.
There are a multitude of systems to receive part requests and track order status internally.
Buyers spend hours each day looking through parts documentation to ensure the correct part is being ordered.
Buyers often times spend hours on the phone with Boeing support tracking order status.
