Ai Video: Is technology inhibiting the UX of airlines’ digital assets?
First Published on 13th July, 2018
Majority of airlines are not agile enough and most are not willing to fail fast, thus they will always be behind until they change their internal processes to stay ahead of their customers, writes Ai's Ritesh Gupta.
What does being agile signify from the perspective of being user-centric?
At its core, UX is about creating ease of use. So being agile, being equipped to create compelling, relevant experiences across all touchpoints, devices etc. is must.
Mike Slone, Chief Experience Officer, Travelaer says airlines need to act fast and ensure technology doesn’t prove to be a roadblock in their quest of being user centric.
Citing an example, Slone said, “Delta Air Lines offers a consistent UX.” He explained: “Below the engine” or working alongside their IBE or Internet Booking Engine, they are working with a lot of technology providers.” Technology has been developed in-house, too. “Airlines need to re-assess their technology requirements – they need to control the user interface and functionality on their digital experiences and often to do this they will need full control of their IBE, which most do not have today.” Travel technology specialists should be able to assist and enable an airline digital team with their IBE, not provide them with an IBE. “There is a difference. At Travelaer, we are producing tools in a modular format via API or UI that will enhance the user experience for an airline, but we don’t always expect them to adopt our entire IBE. This is different than most travel tech providers that offer airlines everything or nothing approach.”
Also, UX isn’t equal to user interface (UI). There is a need to understand passengers’ journey, from the beginning of the trip idea. “The issue is that technology products across the customer journey are in different departments and there is no one person who owns the journey and not one (entity) who owns the technology behind it. For airlines to be successful, they need teams that think across the silos, go beyond them (silos) and integrate them. Often that means a digital transformation of sorts,” said Slone.
Hear from senior industry executives about the significance of UX and being agile at the upcoming #MegaAPAC - Mega Event Asia-Pacific (Ancillary, Loyalty and Co-Brand Conferences) to be held in Bangkok, Thailand (28-30 August, 2018).
Follow Ai on Twitter: @Ai_Connects_Us