Beyond the Clouds: Identifying and Addressing Aviation Industry Issues - A Work in Progress
Please note that this is an ongoing project that aims to explore the challenges of the aviation industry.
🏭 Industry: Aviation
📱 Application Format: -
⌛️ Time Frame: November 2023 - Present
👩🏼💻 Roles: UX Designer
What comes to mind when you think about Brazil? Beach, football, carnival... and how about aviation? Embraer, Brazilian Commercial Aircraft Company, is the 3rd largest commercial jets manufacturer and has more than 8,000 airplanes delivered, most of them to North America.
Having that in mind, imagine a former flight attendant who, inspired by her previous experience, decides to embark on a new journey. This flight attendant, familiar with the ups and downs of Brazilian aviation, now lives in Canada, so she decides to explore these two worlds in a personal UX Design project.
Her objective? Uncover the potential problems and opportunities that permeate the aviation industry on both continents. Nice to meet you, that former flight attendant is me! 👋
Tailored Insights: Navigating Project Engagement for Busy Readers
Recognizing the busy nature of the reader, two distinct pathways are offered:
The project in a nutshell provides a quick, high-level overview tailored for efficiency.
The project in depth caters to those with a bit more time and curiosity, offering a detailed exploration.
1. This project in a nutshell
For methodology, I used an adaptation of the Double Diamond (Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver).
Identifying Aviation Industry Issues
Imagine your workplace as a pressurized metal vessel, soaring through the skies powered by chemical additives. If you work in commercial civil aviation, your everyday life means being in a small place, always paying attention to what you see and hear, or staying alert to keep everyone safe. It also means being away from home, with little time to connect with co-workers.
These challenges, uncovered through exploratory research based on studies carried out with professionals from Brazil and North America, fall into three critical categories: social, physical, and psychological.
Having that in mind, the next step is to delve deeper by engaging with professionals in Brazil and North America in one-on-one user interviews. While the search for collaborators has been challenging, the journey has just begun with the scheduling of the first user interview.
Stay tuned for further updates. 🎉
Tools:
Exploratory Research
Qualitative Research
Discover: Diverge into the problem
Identifying Aviation Industry Issues
Tools:
Exploratory Research
Qualitative Research
A Deep Dive into Aviation Challenges
Imagine being at work inside a pressurized metal aircraft, flying across the world powered by chemicals. You spend long hours in a small space, staying focused on visual and sound signals. Or you may be standing for extended periods, alert for the safety of at least 50 people.
On top of this, you're away from home and family, surrounded by co-workers you don't have enough time to connect with. You work during hours when your body thinks it should be asleep, throwing your circadian cycle off balance. If you are a commercial aviation professional, these are some of the challenges you face.
These challenges, uncovered through exploratory research based on studies carried out with professionals from Brazil and North America, fall into three critical categories that you can explore more about below:
Bringing Professionals into the Conversation
After exploratory research, the next step is to delve deeper in this problems by engaging with professionals in Brazil and North America. To achieve this, I chose to carry out qualitative research, which involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research. I chose the one-on-one interview method and created a interview script with questions that would help me identify possible problems and generate insights.
Overview
This script aims to organize information that I would like to extract from interviews with aviation professionals.
Target Audience
- Crew members (pilot, co-pilot, flight attendants) that work for Airlines in Brazil and North America.
- Union workers from the same industry.
Goals
- Understand what are the biggest challenges in aviation industry;
- Get to know the crew member's daily work routine;
- Understand how crew/union member's manage their schedule and personal life;
What do I want to know
- What are the biggest challenges or issues facing the aviation industry today?
- Are there any specific issues that need immediate attention?
- What solutions or strategies could help address some of the problems identified in aviation?
- Are there technologies that will impact how crew members perform their duties?
- How crew member’s manage their schedule and personal life?
Challenging Assumptions: Surprises and Adjustments 💔
A valuable book I read was “The Mom Test“ (book summary available here) and it taught me valuable lessons when preparing the interview script. I hope it helps you too: talk about the user life instead of your idea & ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future;
Recruiting Interviwees
With a questionnaire in hand, it’s time to recruit potential interviewees. To do that, I used the following resources:
1. Linkedin direct messages:
Resource 1:
Add on LinkedIn, wait the invitation be accepted and then send a message.
Why:
Add on LinkedIn, wait the invitation be accepted and then send a message.
Challenges:
People were not accepting the invitations.
Results:
10
invitations sent
6
invitations accepted
1
messages answered
1
interview scheduled
1
no show on interview
Resource 2:
Message of max 200 characters summarizing the proposal sent along with the invitation.
Why:
People were not accepting the invitations, so I started to send messages before the it be needed.
Challenges:
People were not accepting the invitation. When they accept, they ignore the message;
Results:
7
invitations sent
3
invitations accepted
0
messages answered
Resource 2:
I changed the term UX Designer to Product Designer in the invitation message.
Why:
I did that to evaluate whether it generates more familiarity for people.
Challenges:
LinkedIn allows you to send 10 connection requests per month that include a message, and I've use all mine.
Results:
7
invitations sent
3
invitations accepted
0
messages answered
Dramatic pause
A couple years ago, when I was a flight attendant, a person asked me via LinkedIn to be interviewed in a research about aviation professionals. I did not answer. Now, it's my turn to be ignored. 🫠 Today, as a designer, I learned that we should help whenever possible.
2. LinkedIn Post Calling Commercial aviation Professionals
Resource 1:
Post on LinkedIn Calling for Commercial Aviation Professionals (copy + generic photo)
Why:
LinkedIn is widely used, so the post would have a chance of reaching professionals in the field or people close to them who could recommend them.
Challenges:
The post had 721 impressions, but only 13 reactions. Maybe people didn't read the post.
Results:
13
reactions
1
comments
2
shares
0
interview scheduled
Resource 2:
Post on LinkedIn Calling for Commercial Aviation Professionals with a photo containing the main information about the post
Why:
Maybe people didn't read the post, so thinking about reaching more people, I replaced the generic photo with a photo containing the main information about the post - so that those who just scan it understand what it's about. Additionally, I added hashtags for greater reach.
Challenges:
The post had 547 impressions, less than the first one 🫠
Results:
8
reactions
1
comments
1
shares
0
interviews scheduled
Well, not this time... I got 0 interviews so far
Next steps: look for other ways to recruit interviewees.
I once heard my teacher say that if you can't get an interview with a professional, a good alternative is students who will become these professionals. Therefore, I decided to contact companies that offer training for civil aviation professionals in search of people willing to collaborate. Another alternative is to look at unions and communities of aviation professionals and supporters.
3. Inquiry on Collaboration of companies in the sector
Resource 1:
CAE Inc.
Why:
CAE is a company globally involved in training aviation professionals, as well as technologies aimed at improving the industry. I myself did training in flight safety with CAE Brasil, so I thought it would be a good option to seek contact.
Results:
0
interview scheduled
Resource 2:
SNA - Sindicato Nacional dos Aeronautas, Brazil (Union)
Why:
Unions are organizations dedicated to listening and negotiating the problems of some category. That's why I thought that getting in touch and publicizing my research could bring good contacts and insights.
Results:
0
interviews scheduled
Resource 3:
LinkedIn Aviation Network Group
Why:
Linkedin is a great tool for publicizing work and research. As I was not successful with the general public, I decided to use a specific networking group for people who like and/or work in aviation to publicize my research and ask for collaboration.
Results:
0
interviews scheduled
4. Post on Social Media
Resource 1:
Instagram Stories
Why:
A post on my personal Instagram stories can reach former professional colleagues who can participate or nominate other people.
Results:
1
interview scheduled 🎉
It's happening ✨ I have an interview scheduled!
Looking forward to this important step in the project. It's been especially great to work on this project and I'm still excited to discover and solve the problems of so many colleagues who still work in aviation. Each revelation is like turning the pages of an unfolding story, and with the upcoming interview, I hope to add another chapter.
What Comes Next
The next step is looking for new professionals to interview and test new ways of recruiting. For the upcoming user interview, my goal is to make myself clear about the project proposal and be able to absorb as many insights as possible.
I appreciate your support and interest and invite you to stay tuned for the unfolding chapters and potential breakthroughs. 😊
Last but not least...
If you're an aviation professional and are interested to contribute to this project or know someone who might be, please send me a message 📩 💜
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