User experience isn't just digital: We have to look at travel to see why

What is the user experience?        

We're all familiar with the term "user experience" when it comes to digital products. But have we lost sight of the concept when it comes to physical spaces and in-person interactions? For example: if you're an airline, how much consideration do you give to tailoring your customers travel experience? Do you give them control over any personalisation of the journey? How do you go the extra mile to make sure they have a great time in departures, arrivals or on-board?

We live in a digital society, but we have to remember the impact of real-world experiences?        

It’s hard to underplay the impact the digital world has had on everyday life, and all the benefits it brings; it has changed everything from travel to entertainment to shopping. But has the focus on the digital pulled focus from the lived experiences people have interacting with brands?

There’s a reason travel is essential for this discussion: It's an industry that's been transformed by technology but still has customer interaction at its heart, with multiple touchpoints for real-world human interaction and experience. Savvy holidaymakers may have traded travel shops for Skyscanner and digital boarding boards may be de rigour but no matter how smoothly the technology runs, it only takes one flight attendant in a mood or a delayed departure time to wipe away the goodwill.

We can learn a lot from looking at how digital experiences have evolved, and we can do so while keeping in mind that technology is only one aspect of what makes an experience genuinely great (or not).?

It's not reached the autonomy of e-commerce, travel is still an experience        

This means, when acknowledging the impact of digital, it can be compared to the relatively smooth process of buying an item online and waiting for it to appear on your doorstep or at your drop-off point; a process Amazon has mastered.

In travel, people often pay for experiences that will change their lives in some way: they may be going to a conference or meeting or doing something they've never done before. They'll meet up with family and friends who might be seeing them for the first time in years. There’s a joy and / or an urgency in these situations which heightens the impact things go wrong— or when things are just going wrong from the start.

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Travel is a physical experience delivered through a digital process.        

While there’s no doubt digital has a part to play, when it comes to travel, the digital journey is the delivery of a physical experience, and you have to ensure it's good.

In the end, as a travel company, you are controlling two things; the digital process and how that process delivers as smooth and frictionless a physical experience as possible.

This has enormous lessons for us regarding how to meet customers' needs. It's about starting with what people want and then thinking about how to deliver that in the best way possible.        

The core of UX design is starting with customers' needs and then thinking about how to deliver them. In physical spaces, this is often called service design.?

The first step in service design is to define the problem you're trying to solve for your customer or user and what their real, underlying need is. You can't just say, "I want to improve my business." You have to think about what problems specifically you're trying to solve for your users.

For example:

• Do they need help finding out when their flight or train leaves?
• Are they having trouble deciding where they should eat for lunch?
• Do they find it hard to make bookings?

Once you know what problem(s) you're solving for your users, it’s time to start thinking about how best we can provide this solution in our product or service offerings. What are some different ways that we could solve this problem? How do we integrate the digital and physical to provide a solution that is both tailored enough to the personalised and yet commercial enough to be viable and scalable if needed.

For example - How do we ensure that everyone who uses our app has access to important updates, regardless of whether they bought an annual subscription or just used it once while travelling abroad last year?

The lesson we're learning from digital is that it's not providing a technology; it's providing a service.        

What companies are increasingly finding is that a digital solution is not just about providing a technology; it's providing a service. It's about understanding what customers want and making the customer experience as simple as possible – ensuring you're always meeting the customers’ needs.?

It’s not enough to just say, "Oh, we have an app." You need to understand why people will use your app or what they're trying to do with it before downloading it on their phone, or whatever device they might be using at any given moment.

As companies like Uber and Booking.com demonstrate, travel companies can provide a better service by giving customers control over their travel plans and automating some of those actions that were previously manual processes (such as checking in).

For travel companies, that means giving customers control over their entire journey        

In travel, we've seen how companies like Airbnb and Uber have given customers control over their journeys. Nowadays, if a customer wants to check flight information at any time of day or night, they can do so; if they change their travel plans during the day because of weather or other issues, they can do that too.

If there are any issues with their flights (such as flight delays), customers receive alerts via text message and email — they no longer have to wait until the following day for news about their flights because it's already been sent out in real-time via SMS or email alerts from both airlines and airports.

This is what user experience looks like when applied in traditional industries such as retail stores; giving customers access to information whenever they need it to make informed decisions about what products suit them best based on specific criteria (like price point).

Perhaps they will be able to order a taxi while they're still on the bus home from work, check flight information at any time, have the ability to change their travel plans during the day, or receive alerts if there are any issues with their travel arrangements.

Treat technology as the aid, not the all        

It's important to remember that not everything is digital. We need to look at everyday experiences and see how we can make them better for people by using technology - whether it's in the supermarket or at the airport.