Too often in HCI (Human Computer Interaction) design we emphasize the computer part over the human part. We forget that the goal is NOT to show the user every amazing option and function the computer has at its virtual fingertips, but to let the computer make some decisions and, by doing so, we can free the human. As an example of this, travel, especially business travel, should be a lot simpler.
Waaaay back in the day, around the turn in the millennium, I was a Road Warrior, a 100% travel consultant. I flew a Devil’s Triangle between Minneapolis, Chicago, and Kansas City. I flew so often between MSP and ORD that the Northwest Airline crews knew me by first name.
I learned early on that tourists and business travelers are different species. Where the tourist wants to see and experience everything so – at their best – little issues in travel are “an adventure” and will make a great story when they get home. The business traveler, on the other hand, is not there to “experience” anything. They are traveling to work, and anything that gets in the way is lost productivity, or worse, lost money.
Your average business traveler knows what they want because they’ve experienced it all and can easily list the airlines they prefer and, even more easily, list the airlines they will never fly. For example, I learned to loathe United Airlines, partially because of their “service” but mostly because they changed the rules on me and stole 60,000+ frequent flyer miles from me. I suffered for those miles so to the end of my days, United is always second to the bottom of preferred airlines (Aeroflot is always at the bottom of my list, but that’s another story).
This leads to a very simple interface that, if combined with other simple interfaces, produces a remarkable experience, or more accurately, a simple non-experience, just a service. If we want to gather the airlines preferences for business travelers, we can ask them to just rank them, favorite to least favorite, but that gives us only a vague idea of how they would differentiate them. If, on the other hand, we asked them to handicap airlines in a $ value, we get specific information that can be acted upon. I, for example, prefer Delta Airlines over American Airlines. If the fare is similar, though, I’ll fly either one. How much would I pay to fly Delta over American? Maybe $50?
On the other hand, if Aeroflot is an option, I’ll choose “When hell freezes over!”
This information can then actually allow the system to make decisions for the traveler. There is no point in showing me any United or Aeroflot flight options, and if American is more expensive for the flight I want, then just show me the Delta flights.
Each possible preference can be gathered and handicapped:
- Home Airport(s)
- Preferred flight time outgoing
- Preferred flight time returning
- Preferred seating class
- Preferred meal or in cabin service
- Preferred Hotel Chain
- Preferred Hotel distance (to workplace or airport)
- Preferred Car Rental company
- Preferred Car type
Imagine each of the above as a set of dollar value preferences, each little decision you have to make to book a business trip, codified and measured.
If we get one final input of ‘total cost target’ for the trip, which can be set by either the user or by their employer, the system has all the information to get the most agreeable possible trip for the business traveler.
This allows a very simple result interface wherein the business traveler just inputs the destination, the dates of travel and everything else will be decided by the system. Literally three inputs and the system at the time of use and we get something like this:
The entire trip is based on preferences. Each element is a proposed solution which best matches the user’s preferences. Each can be overridden by clicking on the dropdown and choosing the second, third, fourth best options. Under each option, specifics can be edited, such as seat number or room type or car type.
Imagine that interface, as an experienced user. You open the app on your phone, choose a trip to Cincinatti, choose your dates, and then ‘Find’. In a couple seconds the optimum business trip is proposed and you hit ‘Reserve’ and get on with your day. Easy.
UX UNbound 