2019 - 2020
Reimagining the inflight experience for Virgin Atlantic
In 2019 Virgin Atlantic was updating its fleet with x12 new A350 aircrafts.
I led the design and strategy for an all new inflight experience that combined industrial and digital product design.
CONTEXT
The A350 'entry to service' program was well established when I joined the team, so I worked quickly to establish the scope of any immediate opportunities, whilst acting as the orchestrator of the longer term strategy.
As the safety, timing and budget constraints were firmly established for the first aircraft going in to production, I positioned 1 product designer and 1 UX writer as consultants to the delivery program and sought out any 'quick wins' that would serve as good foundations for the next 12 aircraft.
Whilst the 'quick wins' team focussed on the immediate. Myself and my Lead Designer and Content Strategist started with the long-view of what the experience could/should be. So I became author of the new vision and worked to articulate it across the business.
CHALLENGE
Previously the industrial design team had worked in isolation to UX, so I worked to blur the lines between teams by hosting joint design reviews, leading pair-prototyping sessions, setting up inter-team slack channels and hosted regular demos.
I brought together both teams to take part in user research, which helped drive insights for both groups and inform design decisions on seat designs and production, as well as interactions and digital content. This not only added a more user centric view to the development cycle, but it also helped protect the considerable investment on the new aircrafts.
OPPORTUNITY
A key part of my longer term strategy was to establish smarter partnerships. I knew that the Virgin Atlantic could not keep pace with hardware/software giants, when planes are being designed to last much longer. In short the tech needed to be as interchangeable and unmanaged as possible.
This led us to establishing new partnerships with Google/Android for a centrally updated OS and Headspace for original content for nervous flyers.
Bringing the vision to life
My team and I designed a number of assets to articulate the new experience. From working prototypes to timelines and storyboards detailing every step of a customer's journey and how the Virgin Atlantic brand will encourage loyalty and drive NPS.
Outputs (the fun stuff!)
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We designed a system that allowed customers to access their inflight entertainment before the flight – even start films from the lounge and continue watching in their seats.
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We mapped an architecture that connected the loyalty system (Flying Club) to the seat-back screens for personalised messages.
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We built and launched a fully digital duty-free service that provided customers the option to have items sent to their destinations or to their homes - avoiding baggage restrictions.
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The launch of our exclusive Headspace content was covered by a range of media outlets including BBC, LA Times, Forbes, Wallpaper and even the Crawley Herald!!
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The design of our inflight entertainment system was the first long-haul airline to include multi-device controls - so passengers can use their own devices to stream or control films and TV shows.
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We were the first (and so far only) airline to introduce 'night mode' and wellbeing checks to encourage passengers to take breaks for their eyes and move during long-haul flights.
