Pick - L is a solution that reimagines the airport baggage claim process. It was designed to improve the current experience by increasing communication, access points, security and convenience
The objective of this individual course project was to translate existing user insights and needs into a design solution that made use of a network. It was completed over the course of six weeks.
6 Weeks
Interaction Designer
Individual Course Project
Picking up your bags from the airport can be frustrating because there is oftentimes a lack of communication regarding when and where your luggage will be, lack of security and lots of waiting
Passengers enter their flight details then selecting who will be picking up their luggage: themselves, a friend, or a driver that will deliver it.
Passengers can track their luggage on a map from plane to pickup or delivery.
When the luggage has arrived at it's pick up location, a QR code is sent to appropriate parties to be securely and efficiently picked up.
I was provided with a set of insights and pain points generated from previously conducted research and tasked with analyzing the insights and turning them into user needs and ultimately a design solution.
To supplement my understanding of the provided problem space, I went to an airport baggage claim area and observed how people interacted with the space and what might be causing some of the pain points. I also analyzed existing solutions in the problem space, focusing on what worked and why they weren't more widespread solutions.
Analyze existing insights
5 services compared
2 hour observations
1. People wait too long for their baggage
2. Current baggage carousels are crowded
3. Passengers want to know when and where they can expect their luggage to arrive
4. There is limited security surrounding the pick up process
1. Many people waiting at a limited number of carousels, only a max of 3 ran at a time
2. Not all carousels displayed which flight luggage came
3. No information about luggage whereabouts prior to arriving on carousel
4. People in the baggage claim area included passengers, friends and family and limited security
After getting a general idea of the problem space, I needed a more in depth understanding of how the current luggage system worked.
Luggage is sorted on a bunch of conveyor belts to the right plane. The luggage destination is stored in the barcode on its tag which is scanned throughout the conveyor belt sorting. The system always knows where the luggage is.
After arriving at it's destination airport, luggage is either driven to or placed on another conveyor belt that sorts it to the right baggage claim carousel.
Next, I looked at existing solutions to the problem space.
Airportr allows passengers to have their luggage picked up ahead of time from and Luggage Free allows passengers to ship their luggage to its final destination.
Limited User Scope
Both of these solutions improve the experience by allowing passengers to bypass some part of the existing baggage process.
Limited Accessibility & Communication
Both services lack cross platform accessibility and minimal status updates throughout the service.
After considering the existing insights, observations, current system and existing solutions, I decided to focus on solutions airports could implement and came up with the following design criteria:
Increased Communication & Accessibility
Passengers need to know when and where their luggage is going to arrive in a consistent manner and should be made easily accessible to them
More efficient use of space
Only a few carousels are used at a time and there are other personnel in baggage claim areas such as family and friends. More efficiently using space and people could reduce overall wait times
Luggage arrival time
Passengers have to wait for their luggage because it takes longer for luggage to get to a carousel than it does for a passenger, a solution should consider if arrival time can be reduced
Before fleshing out the entire flow, I focused on just designing a means to increase communication to passengers during the existing baggage claim process and got feedback, focusing on what information is most valuable to users. I brainstormed multiple ways luggage information could be communicated to passengers.
Updated displays with passenger name
Make use of existing display screens near carousels to display the next few passengers who's luggage was coming out so they could head to the output of the carousel.
Concerns: This might cause lots of passengers to gather at each point of the carousel that had screens or around the mouth of the carousel. It also only provides increased communication at the end of the experience when passengers are already at baggage claim.
AR view of luggage
Use existing data and infrastructure to show passengers where their luggage is on the conveyor belt above them or behind the walls as it approaches the baggage claim carousel.
Concerns: While it might make waiting a bit more entertaining, a bunch of passengers walking around looking for their luggage through a view on their phone might cause more congestion and confusion as to where their luggage is.
Push/ Text Notifications
Notify passengers of luggage whereabouts in real time via text or app to reduce amount of people aimlessly waiting around the carousel. Passengers could receive communication wherever they are at the airport.
Concerns: It wouldn't necessarily shorten the entire waiting process, but could shorten time spent at the carousel and could be part of a larger solution.
Shifting responsibility to the system
Users liked push notifications most because it shifted the responsibility of finding when and where their luggage was from them to the system compared to the AR nav and updated screen displays. It would also reduce their time waiting at the actual carousel.
More information
Users were concerned about the accuracy of update milestones other than notifications of delivery. There was little trust that a time estimate would be representative of when luggage would actually arrive.
I fleshed out more of the text message idea, focusing on the experience of finding their luggage. I thought about the inefficient use of space and lack of security emphasized in the problem space and brainstormed alternative baggage carousels.
Vertical Lockers
After considering people flow throughout the airport and current baggage claim location, I looked for existing design patterns in the physical world that gave lots of people access to individual objects all in one place and thought about lockers and vertical car parking lots and wondered if I could use that pattern.
I stumbled across the image below that looks like some sort of vertical storage container for suitcases that are delivered by robots and used it to illustrate how a vertical locker could work.
1. Replace current carousels with more vertical lockers accessible by QR code
2. Distribute luggage to
the lockers using existing conveyor belt infrastructure and notify passengers when theirs has
arrived
3.Passengers could pick up their luggage one by one
at increased access points
Better use of space
Many multiple of these lockers would take up the space of just a single carousel which would increase the amount of luggage access points. By distributing luggage to the lockers all over, it reduces the load of people in one area.
Decreased wait time
Getting luggage from the plane to passengers more quickly was outside of my scope. However, vertical lockers and notifications could reduce the amount of time passengers spent waiting at the actual baggage carousel which could reduce perceived waiting time.
Fits into existing network
Airport luggage sorting systems already know where luggage is at all times because of the code on luggage tags. That information could be leveraged to provide real time updates about where luggage is and when it will arrive and increased security.
A new use case
If luggage could be retrieved by a QR code which could be sent to anyone, I considered if there was a case when someone other than the passenger would want to pick up luggage for them from the airport:
-A driver picking someone up
-Friends or family who get to baggage claim before the passenger
- A courier who could deliver luggage to an external location such as a hotel
I iterated on a user flows considering if this service would best be integrated in existing airline or airport apps, deciding on a standalone app. I prototyped the passenger side of the app for three main use cases:
1. A passenger wants to pick up their own luggage
2. A passenger wants someone else they know pick up their luggage
3. A passenger wants to skip baggage claim and have their luggage delivered to a designated address
Flight Info
Putting in flight information might cause users to think they are checking-in to their flight. The app should provide context as to why they are putting in their flight info
Preventing User Error
Users will likely have to flights they are juggling, one to their destination and another back. Confirming they have entered the right flight would prevent errors later on in the process
Changing Trip
Users can edit their trip, but it was unclear at what points during the trip they change a delivery option
I looked at three existing delivery services before designing the driver network half of my solution
Managing Drivers
Bags uses their own network of drivers who only deliver luggage. Uber Eats uses the existing Uber network of drivers. Roadie relies on a network of drivers already traveling in the direction of the luggage they deliver.
Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I decided to brainstorm how to make use of the network of Uber drivers. The idea of pooling luggage came to mind as a way to keep costs down.
Similar to a food delivery, Uber drivers could:
1. Accept a new request for a delivery
2. Pick up the luggage
3. Drop it off to the passengers desired location
Considering the previous feedback I prototyped higher fidelity screens to user test.
Verify Flight Details
Passengers' flight info serves as the entry point to the app tracking their luggage. It asks them to verify their flight incase they enter a return flight by mistake.
Live Tracking
After setting up a trip, passengers can track their luggage in real time until it's delivered.
QR Code
Regardless of who's picking up the luggage, passengers can always view the QR code for their luggage so they have access to pick it up.
I prototyped the mobile passenger app using InVision. Due to time and resource constraints, I constructed low fidelity vertical lockers out of an an existing vertical cabinet and paper. This provided enough context to users so that they could provide feedback during a test interaction.
To evaluate this design, I focused on usability of the app and gauging perception of a reimagined luggage locker system. I asked 7 participants about their thoughts on using a QR code to access luggage via a locker and to complete the following four tasks and think aloud as they do them:
1. Start a new trip and set a delivery location for your luggage
2. View the signature verifying that your luggage has been delivered
3. Select yourself to pick up your luggage on a different trip
4. View the QR code to pick your luggage
Trip setup was intuitive
Users thought the process of setting up a new trip was easy and clear. Some appreciated the conversational language used which helped them select the right decision.
Most recent delivery update on top
Many users liked that the most recent status update was on top. Some noted that their first instinct was to read the bottom update. However, after realizing the newest update was on top, it was more convenient to look at the luggage location on the map and then glance right below to the update.
Emphasizing information
Users eventually found the option to view the QR code or signature, but it was not immediately apparent to them. The options need to look more like actions and not just text.
AR navigation
One user suggested AR way finding once their luggage had been delivered. A map is useful when you want to see how far your luggage is from the locker, but with so many lockers and little direction in an airport, AR way-finding might be useful.
International Availability
Due to customs regulations, passengers traveling internationally would not be able to have their luggage delivered in the current system. The Luggage Network requires users to fill out customs forms and their couriers go through customs for them. This would need to be considered in the future.
Failed Delivery Attempts
If delivering to a hotel, someone is always at the front desk to receive luggage. At an AirBnB or home address, there is a chance no one is home when a driver tries to drop off luggage. For a package service this is ok because there is a warehouse to store packages at until the next attempted delivery. There is no mechanism in place setup for an airport to receive failed luggage delivery if Uber drivers drive back, nor is there a place for Uber drivers to store that luggage.
Driver Experience
Vertical lockers would securely allow anyone with a QR code to retrieve luggage. However, more work could be done to improve the experience of drivers when picking up luggage to deliver.
An alternative place for them to pickup luggage so they didn't have to sit in "arrivals" traffic could be beneficial. If they could pick up luggage closer to the plane before it got back on the conveyor belt, it could both improve their experience and increase efficiency.