Project Overview
Traveling through airports is particularly challenging for individuals with Type 1 diabetes due to the need for constant management of their condition, carrying necessary medical supplies, and dealing with potential routine disruptions. The situation is exacerbated by a lack of understanding and sensitivity from airport staff. There's a need for improved processes and education to better accommodate and support these passengers, thus enhancing their airport experience.
Project Details
Role: Team Lead
Timeline: 10 weeks
Tools: Figma, Miro, Adobe CC
Team: Sree Sevitha, Tina Lee, Charmalina Brazile, Ankit Chaturvedi, Phoebe Gao
The Problem
From these 8.75 million people, 1.4 million live in the United States. When talking about travel, this translates into 12.65 million person-trips a year. This is just domestic US flights.
We approached the project in four phases, beginning with a comprehensive research phase to understand the lifestyle and challenges faced by type 1 diabetics. During this phase, we conducted interviews, developed case studies, and even distributed an online survey.
project flow diagram
Prioritization matrix
After defining our focus area, we developed a prioritization matrix to help us define the areas we wanted to address. We focused on the solutions that would bring the most value to stakeholders with the lowest level of effort to implement.
service leverage points framewrok
Once we identified the areas of improvement, we correlated them to service leverage points. These were classified into three pillars; before arrival at the airport, the experience at the airport, and an overarching awareness campaign. Improvements in these three parts of the overall journey work together to enhance the travel experience.
Each of the three pillars were addressed with different approaches based on the prioritization matrix developed earlier in the project. Pre flight pain points were addressed by implementing a pre-travel toolkit to assist passengers in preparing for travel, as well as an integrated medical card that would streamline processes once at the airport. A certification training is also proposed to address inconsistencies in the security screening process at the airport.
project roadmap
We broke down our solution implementation into four categories. The Awareness Campaign would be the first phase, with the goal of educating the general public on the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in travel, focused on type 1 diabetes. Certification Training for airport staff would follow to make sure service delivery is consistent. Finally, the passenger facing solutions would come online, in the form of the toolkit, medical ID card, and tags.
Ecosystem
We mapped the proposed solutions into the existing ecosystem to understand how they would affect the system as a whole. Our solutions address multiple areas within the system and affect various stakeholders at different points in their experience journeys. The green highlighted areas are where the interventions took place.
Current Ecosystem
Proposed Ecosystem
proposed service blueprint
experience lifecycle
Current Experience Lifecycle
Proposed Experience Lifecycle
system map
The System Map allowed us to understand the relationships between different stakeholders. We were able to track information and financial flows, as well as the physical flow of people within the system. By understanding these flows, we were able to identify key partnerships and value exchanges.
We then zoomed in and mapped how our solutions would work in an airport setting. We tracked the user journey and understood the effect our proposal would have across touchpoints.
At the airport, the different phases of our proposed solution come together. The pre-travel toolkit and integrated medical card aid the passenger across the entire travel experience. The certification training provides airport staff with the tools to make interactions with passengers as seamless as possible, improving the experience for both stakeholders. The awareness campaign educates the general public at the airport, but in other public spaces as well.
Want to see more? Check out our full process book!