Collection of one page case studies for each Boeing project since 2010.
Boeing Case Study bookAs of May 2023, the Boeing studios have resulted in 24 patents. A comprehensive PDF of all projects is below and includes the following: Take-Me-There Chair, Seat Location Indicator, Enhanced In-Flight Passenger Information System, Configurable Table, Rail Mounted Beverage Dispenser, Boeing Onboard (BO), Cabin Robotic, Sky Kitchen, Sky Dining, Sky Box, Retractable Support Surface, WiNGS, SkyHealth and Coffeehouse Cabin, Pawpass, Systems and Methods for Confirming and Identity of a Service Animal, Food & Beverage Cart/Waste Cart, Fog Divider, Seat Track, Stand-Sit Seats, Moving Chair Platform, Lounge System, Adaptive Lavatory and Pivot Seat.
Boeing Patent BookThe goal of this project is to provide Boeing with innovative solutions that help with the concept of “Wayfinding for All.” targeting everyone that air travels: flight attendants, pilot crew, and passengers. Boeing is working with Live Well to develop concepts that help make the process of wayfinding empowering and accessible for all.
The team kicked off the semester with a “day in the life” wayfinding activity around campus and their daily life identifying pain points in their experience.This helped the team gain understanding about wayfinding within an environment they are all aware of. Benchmarking and gathering insights from articles, new innovations, products, systems that have made wayfinding or the air travel easier were collected and plotted on a timeline. This familiarised the team with existing improvements to gain inspiration. Students were introduced to the user journey map of air travel divided into specific steps. Based on each step of the air travel journey, starting with departure and ending at airport arrival, the team marked pain points and opportunity areas for each stage utilizing the four impairments we identified in the past 2024 Boeing studio: Audio,Visual, Cognitive, and Mobility.The team used the Research Planning Tool to generate the key project objectives and relevant research questions to clarify. This framework provided the team with questions for our user groups, flight attendants and the Boeing team that were involved in the ideation process. After the first introductory session with the flight attendants, the team utilized an Insight Generation Tool to gather their insights into problem, observation, and tension. This helped the team reflect on the flight attendant’s roles and responsibilities and convert them into valuable insights. Every insight was further tied to our 4 impairment categories – Audio, Visual, Mobility, and Cognitive – and overlaid onto the flight user journey to identify the most problematic part of the flight. The team realized that the boarding, meal time and deplaning were the stages that need improvements.
Download Research Presentation
During the ideation phase, the class was broken into groups based on the four impairments. They started with individual and group thumbnail sketches before gathering previously completed demographic and secondary research to create personas to help with concepting.The personas covered a wide range of age, occupation status and air travel frequency and personas helped the teams embody the intent of accessible design in a actionable way. The teams also took these developed personas and filled out Empathy Mapping chart to further stimulate the members to think from the persona’s shoes.
Download Ideation Presentation
After the Co-Creation session, the team members met with 2 wheelchair users critique he wheelchair concepts produced by the class. During our last validation session with the flight attendants, the team was also joined by one of our wheelchair user to make it a focus group validation session. The class gained valuable feedback, improvements and suggestions. The focus group provided dynamic feedback from both user centric perspective as well as airline business centric. This session covered our 2 of our personas, which is why their inputs felt validating. There were times in the conversation when the flight attendants and the wheelchair user had contrasting opinions, and other times when they were on the same page. It was eye opening to see these dynamics and difference in opinions based on their personal experiences. The conversations during this focus group discussion were very valuable and influenced the teams in the design changes they made further on.The focus group feedback recommended simplifying concepts either by combining ideas or by focusing on usability and use case. Professors played a key role in providing final tweaks for the concepts. The team spent most of the time creating visual assets and physical mock ups while referring back to the focus group and Boeing team’s initial feedback. The final 6 concepts the 2025 MDes class, provided are: WEX Tray, Cabin Glow Light System, HaloRest, Air Transit Tether System, Glide Seat, and Integrated Ambulatory Aid.
In total, the Live Well team presented 6 different concepts to Boeing.
Next steps for the Live Well team include:
- Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
- Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
- Sending process books, final posters and files to the Boeing team.
Here are some of the exports from our studio that include research, benchmarking, brainstorming, posters, activities, concept development materials, and final concepts.
Research:
Secondary ResearchIdeation:
Quick Concepts - Crazy 8sHow might we design a universal and inclusive approach to address the diverse needs and preferences of passengers, including those with cognitive and physical challenges, in a way that extends support to others facing similar issues?
The research phase was kicked off by establishing a basic categorization that fully encompasses the spectrum of passengers that fly in boeing planes. These categories consisted of visual, cognitive, auditory, and mobility factors, each focusing on different user disabilities as well as applicable inflight factors for any passenger. Students were separated into groups to better organize our research process. Research activities included user journey mapping, solution benchmarking, and interviews. Insight clustering and cross pollination activities were also conducted throughout the research phase to allow groups to share findings and note consistencies/overlapping insights. User journey mapping and interviews were crucial in identifying pain points for passengers in order to properly establish our key takeaways before moving into solution generation.
The ideation phase started with the generation of “How might we…” questions based on our key insights that were created during the research phase. These questions were also clustered again into a comprehensive diagram featuring all four categories to account for areas of overlap and potential multifaceted solutions. We then employed a version of the “Crazy 8s” design technique in order to quickly generate ideas that could then be further refined. We generated well over 200 potential solutions that focused on a variety of passengers, ranging from specific problem-to-solution ideas to more versatile ideas that could benefit the entire cabin. Furthermore, more user challenges were created in order to further spark new solutions. Ideas were then collapsed and narrowed down and further refined with visualization, persona generation, and use case examples.
In total, there were 34 ideas that were expanded on during the ideation phase. For refinement, these were narrowed down into 18 concepts that could be further refined into a potential patentable solution. In order to further these ideas, research, benchmarking, and in-depth ideation were conducted for each idea. Due to the uniqueness of each idea, a variety of methods of refinement were conducted for each concept, ranging from sketching, renderings, animations, VR walkthroughs, and live demonstrations. In addition, a life scale model of a part of a 747 cabin was constructed to allow ideas to be tested and integrated into a simulated environment. A presentation was built to introduce each idea as well as whatever materials were prepared in order to fully communicate the solutions.
In total, the Live Well team presented seventeen different concepts to Boeing that set out to optimize the cabin. These concepts were divided into four different concept categories: communication, navigation, seating, and spatial.Next steps for the Live Well team include:
- Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
- Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
- Sending process books, final posters and files to the Boeing team.
Here are some of the exports from our studio that include interviews, research and benchmarking, brainstorming, activities and concept development materials.
Process Book
2024 Spring Process Book Part 12024 Spring Process Book Part 2Final Concept Posters
Research:
Problem IdeationCabin Optimization aims to simplify and streamline the passenger experience inside the Boeing aircraft. This project is driven by their desire to assess the true value of various cabin aspects.
During the research phase, we employed the STEEP method to identify ten key trends to ideate on. Our approach encompassed a variety of primary and secondary research methodologies, including item mapping, benchmarking, user journeys, and interviews. Every area of the plane was identified, defined, and researched to identify what was obsolete. We benchmarked other plane brands' cabins, and looked into 2022’s STEEP themes. The passenger’s journey throughout the experience was also a tool used to identify pain points and better understand the user.
Download Research Presentation
To kick off the ideation phase, we began by asking "What if?" and "How can we?" questions that were based on the trends identified during the research phase. Leveraging the "Crazy 8s" ideation technique, we generated a multitude of ideas in rapid succession. These ideas were subsequently refined in focused groups specializing in digital, physical, systems, and spaces. Following this, the concepts were narrowed down, and teams were formed to create the final iterations that utilized archetypes and personas as support.
Download Ideation Presentation
We combined the 29 concepts from ideation into larger groups of similar ideas, totaling to 12 different concepts consisting of one to a few concepts each. Each concept group progressed in developing their concepts, creating models, renders, wireframes, sketches and prototypes as necessary. These creation methods helped to refine each concept and create a full, fleshed out concept. Supporting research was also done, including reference to the research and trends from the first phase and the personas from the second. These concepts were then presented for Boeing, including a full VR walkthrough, play plane, and presentations of each concept. Presentations included wireframes, prototypes, research, value, and business propositions.
In total, the Live Well team presented twelve different concepts to Boeing that set out to optimize the cabin. These concepts were divided into three different concept categories: Adaptable spaces, rethinking spaces, and digital interaction.
Next steps for the Live Well team include:
- Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
- Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
- Sending process books, final posters and files to the Boeing team.
Here are some of the exports from our studio that include research, benchmarking, brainstorming, posters, activities, concept development materials, and final concepts.
Process Log:
Research:
Team Thematic AnalysisIdeation:
Quick Concepts - Crazy 8sHow might we revolutionize current cabin layouts, experiences and offerings to proactively address critical trends and evolving passenger needs that will most influence the air transport industry?
We spent the research presentation figuring out what the world was going to be like in 2040. We did quantitative analyses, talked to airport experts, and analyzed people and world trends. We interviewed people and made broad personas for future teens, future young adults, future middle-aged adults, and future retirees. After analyzing S.T.E.E.P. (social, technological, environmental, economical, and political) factors and projecting them to 2040, we looked at how that would affect different aspects of the world and the flying experience, coming up with 16 trends to take into the next phase.
In ideation, we continued quantitative analyses, and moved into brainstorming. We combined trends and personas in unique ways, seeing what ideas come out of the combinations. We looked at user journeys and used pain points to run brainstorming sessions. After rounds of diverging and converging, we selected a few ideas and pushed them in our future scenarios graph, challenging the ideas. We came up with ideas across the categories of systematic, airport, airplane, seat design, luggage, and personal to present to the Boeing team.
Based on Boeing’s recommendations after the ideation presentations, we narrowed down our scope into 4 main areas of impact: leasing, digital interactions, rethinking overhead components, and adaptable spaces, each with individual concepts. For each concept we identified the right prototyping methodologies to explore it further. We utilized a combination of analog methods, such as sketching and paper models, 3D and physical models, and virtual reality prototyping. These series of prototypes allowed us to refine the specific details of each concept and understand the final outcomes. The final presentation was an interactive exhibition consisting of an experiential component and the final presentation. The experiential component started with an empathy exercise in which Boeing guests were guided through the lens of our future personas. Then they walked around a curated showcase of our physical low-fi mockups and prototypes alongside rough paper models and post-it notes. Finally we immersed them in a low fidelity mockup of the concepts in VR in an airplane environment and presented the final concepts in the presentation.
After this semester, the Live Well team and the class of students created thirteen concepts covering the entirety of the cabin. This included products, systems, services, and a business model that all included how the concepts could impact Boeing into 2040.
Next steps for the Live Well team include:
- Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
- Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
- Sending process books, final posters and files to the Boeing team.
Here are some of the exports from our studio that include interviews, research and benchmarking, brainstorming, activities and concept development materials.
Research:
Flight PersonasFuture air travel may not be so business oriented because of shifts in the way many companies work during the pandemic. This is something that could stick around for the foreseeable future. With this in mind, Boeing asked Live Well to envision how they might give future travelers more personal choice and control over their experience with novel configurations in the cabin, thinking outside the box of the traditional class system.
During the research phase the team completed both primary and secondary research to understand the history of the airline industry, its current products and services, as well as its long term future. This included benchmarking existing technology, identifying emerging trends, mapping the needs of passengers and airlines, creating personas for different types of airline passengers and staff, and interviewing airline passengers and staff.
Download Research Presentation
The team kicked off the ideation phase by creating and participating in multiple different design sprint activities to jump start the concept creation process. The team broke up into physical and digital groups to create and visualize concepts that were brainstormed during these activities. Once the team had a first pass at the concepts, they were tested during co-creation sessions with multiple different types of airline passengers and staff. Using new and existing research, project criteria, and feedback from the co-creation sessions these concepts were reduced to a select number to further refine during the next phase of the project.
Download Ideation Presentation
After getting feedback from the ideation presentation the team met to decide on the direction of each of the final concepts and where they may overlap. The final spaces were seating, galley, multi-purpose space, and data/AI. Within each one of these spaces there were multiple concepts that helped tell the story of a classless and connected cabin experience. The teams worked both individually and together to finalize each of the concepts and made sure they worked well together in the overall system.
After 15 weeks, the Live Well team created products, services and systems that addressed what a classless cabin looked like, and the strategy of how implementation for Boeing could look like.
Next steps for the Live Well team include:
- Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
- Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
- Sending process books, final posters and files to the Boeing team.
Here are some of the exports from our studio that include interviews, research and benchmarking, brainstorming, activities and concept development materials.
Ideation:
Co-Creation ActivitiesRefinement:
Brand MatricesAs time goes on, organizations are expected to have more and more solutions for all users in their experiences. Specifically, airlines must now accommodate for air travelers with disabilities. New requirements for accessibility and ADA are resulting in changes within the cabin. Boeing partnered with the Live Well to identify and solve these inclusive design challenges within the air traveler experience. Click here for the project brief.
The Live Well team conducted secondary and primary research to identify opportunity areas. Some of this involved in-person research at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Students were given a first-hand look into how it feels to navigate a travel experience with a simulated disability. In addition, the studio conducted multiple airline crew and passenger interview sessions. Tools such as journey maps were used to gather data on their experiences.
Download Research Presentation
During the Ideation phase, the studio produced concepts from the selected opportunity areas. Flight crew and passengers were brought back in to Live Well for co-creations sessions as well as concept validation. Tools such as menu building, ideation cubes, situational solution games, and priority cards were used to generate new ideas.
Download Ideation Presentation
The Live Well team delivered final concepts that were partnered to their corresponding user personas. Each concept was also evaluated for potential business models. Solutions ranged from digital apps to complete redesigns of the cabin interior.
The Live Well studio received final feedback from the Boeing team and packaged up all the final concepts for Boeing to continue to assess. IP protections and the next steps for concepts are still being determined.
Click on the links below for invention disclosures:
Here are more of the raw responses and insights from the passenger and flight attendant interactions from both the Research as well as the Ideation phases. Some images and other documentation from those sessions are there for additional detail on the activities themselves.
Ideation | Armstrong:
Card Game ActivityIdeation | Earhart:
Co-creation ActivityIdeation | Hughes:
Flight Attendant InterviewsIdeation | Wright:
Activity SynthesisResearch | Armstrong:
BenchmarkingResearch | Earhart:
Flight Attendant Interactions DebriefResearch | Hughes:
Passenger Transcript NotesResearch | Wright:
BenchmarkingOn January 15th, Boeing met with the Live Well team to outline the objectives of the Spring 2019 studio project. Boeing centered the design team around the idea of 'Disrupting Travel', with a focus on how future technologies will change the flight industry and open up new markets for travel. Boeing identified several key focus areas for the Live Well team to explore, as well as spheres of influence that are predicted to impact the aviation industry. Using these insights, the Live Well team will deliver unique and thoughtful solutions that push the boundaries of the future travel experience.
Objectives for the studio began to emerge:
Understand how passengers are currently traveling in an increasingly digital age. What are the current disruptors?
Explore Boeing's key focus areas. How can we learn from technologies in other industries and apply what we learn to aviation?
Identify what passengers and flight crew see as future disruptors in travel and zero in on areas of opportunity.
Develop effective solutions that push the boundaries of the travel experience.
Present final solutions to the Boeing team though visualization, storyboarding and/or physical prototyping.
On January 18th, the Live Well team visited CVG to get a detailed look at the inner workings of an airport. The team had the opportunity to learn about the complete flight experience, visiting areas such as the Flight Attendant Lounge, Delta control tower, and an empty Boeing 737-800. After distilling the research and insights gained from the airport tour, Delta Flight Attendants came to Live Well the following week to dive deeper into the flight experience. Each team prepared an interaction with the flight attendants to help develop potential areas of opportunity moving forward.
Download Research Presentation
During the ideation phase, the Live Well team worked to generate a breadth of concepts, in addition to refining existing ideas. The team met with Delta flight attendants for the second round of interactions, during which the team presented a number of concepts. The flight attendants participated in a number of activities with the Live Well team in order to further refine, ideate and discuss the concepts that the team presented. Following this interaction, the team was able to incorporate flight attendant feedback into the concepts and generate spin-off ideas before presenting the concepts to the Boeing team on March 14th. The team will now work to polish and finalize concepts that were identified as high opportunity areas during the presentation and begin working towards final deliverables.
Download Ideation Presentation
During the refinement phase the LWC team continued to further their development of Boeing’s desired concept directions. The four teams fractured into five teams, with one of them focusing specifically on identifying opportunity areas within paradoxes and paradigms of the aviation industry. As part of the final phase, the various teams interacted with flight attendants from Delta airlines one final time to receive insights and feedback on their final concepts. 10 different concepts were developed based on Boeing’s feedback and direction. Below is the final presentation of the project future. Project briefs were written based on the outcomes of the paradox and paradigm group.
Download Refinement Presentation
After 15 weeks, the LWC team created products and services that addressed disruption in the travel industry. Concepts took all stakeholders involved in the flight journey into consideration.
Next steps for the LWC team include:
Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
Taking a small team to Seattle to present the work that was conducted this semester at Boeing’s headquarters.
Below are the invention disclosure forms for the Boeing 2019 studio:
In January 2018, Cynthia from Boeing came to the Live Well to kick-off another project. This next chapter in the Boeing/Live Well relationship would take on the face of innovating to make the business-class cabin experience more efficient.
Cynthia posed a BIG QUESTION to Live Well – How can we continue to increase automation to improve cabin efficiencies and aid in crew productivity? Are there ways to enhance experience for crew and passengers? This was coupled with a BIG ASK – Develop a streamlined experience that allows crew to optimize their work in a way that creates revenue for the airline while providing an enjoyable experience for the passengers.
On January 19, the Live Well brought on the CVG airport in Cincinnati to get a behind-the-scenes look at all the moving parts in a flight experience. The following week, Flight Attendants who work for Delta Airlines came into the office to interact with the four different groups. This time provided students with a deeper understanding of the day-to-day operations of the FA’s and their perceived passenger pros + cons.
Download Research Presentation
During the ideation phase the Live Well team met with flight attendants from Delta Airlines a second time to get feedback on the concepts that Boeing had chosen to move forward with from the research phase. The Live Well team also interacted with four business class travelers to gain insight and feedback from the passenger perspective.
Two of the groups, Team Fishbone and the Plane Janes, merged together to create one large group. This helped the two teams focus and target overlapping ideas and interests.
During the refinement phase the Live Well team continued to further their development of Boeing’s desired concept directions. The team interacted with flight attendants from Delta airlines one final time to receive insights and feedback on their final concepts. The teams were also able to revisit CVG to do more pointed and guided tours. 11 different concepts were developed based on Boeing’s feedback and direction. Below are project posters for each of the concepts, along with the final presentation of the project.
After 15 weeks, the LWC team created products and services that addressed efficiency and automation for the flight journey. Concepts took all stakeholders involved in the flight journey into consideration.
Next steps for the Live Well team include:
Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
Taking a small team to Seattle to present the work that was conducted this semester at Boeing’s headquarters.
SkyDining
The Live Well team met with the Boeing team on January 12th to outline the details of the studio project. The Boeing team conveyed their interest in the implementation of future technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality to enhance the in-flight experience for passengers, as well as the improvement of crew productivity. This establishes the opportunity for Live Well to provide insights, designs, and implementations regarding the types of technologies that will best fit within Boeing’s areas of interest.
Objectives for the studio project include:
Understand the current flying experience from a passenger and crew member point of view
Identify emerging VR/AR technologies that could be translated to an in-flight experience
Identify areas of opportunity within the flight journey to implement these emerging technologies
Understand appropriate interaction points for these technologies
Present final solutions to the Boeing team that will include visualization of solutions, storyboards for solutions, and a video or VR/AR experience
The Live Well team began research after meeting with the Boeing team. On January 13th the team privately toured Delta Airlines at the CVG Airport. The team was able to interact with flight attendants and gain insights about their typical day on the job. This enabled the team to identify areas of opportunity that showed potential for design. The Live Well team then split into four smaller teams and began benchmarking by identifying emerging technologies in the virtual reality and augmented reality fields. The teams conducted research on the applications of these technologies both inside and outside the airline industry to gather inspiration for concepts within Boeing’s scope of influence. Each team also developed activities to implement during an interaction with six flight attendants. The team presented research and concepts to the flight attendants in a fun, comfortable and understandable way.
These experiences, interactions, and feedback provided the Live Well team with a breadth of practical knowledge on the roles of a flight attendant, as well as where products and/or systems on the plane could be improved. The team was then able to identify areas of inefficiency and inefficacy, as well as opportunity areas to implement future technologies. Live Well presented their findings and early ideations from the research phase to the Boeing team on 2/9/17. The Boeing team gave individualized feedback for each sub-team’s ideas so that they could continue to develop concepts.
The Live Well team and the Boeing team met on March 9th, 2017 for the Ideation presentation. During the ideation phase the Live Well team met with flight attendants from Delta Airlines to get feedback on the concepts that Boeing had chosen to move forward with from the research phase. Live Well created a number of exercises for the flight attendants, including “Build Your Own Robot” and personalizing information prioritization. The Live Well team was able to refine current ideas as well as continue ideating on improved solutions for the chosen directions by applying the feedback gathered from flight attendants. The team will finalize concepts chosen during the ideation presentation, work out practical issues that come with concepts, and begin to execute any final deliverable that is needed to clearly present the solution at the final presentation.
Download Ideation Presentation
During the refinement phase the Live Well team continued to further their development of Boeing’s desired concept directions. The team interacted with flight attendants from Delta airlines one final time to receive insights and feedback on their final concepts.
The four desired final directions were Robotic Assistance, VR/AR, Smart Galley Redesign, and Holographic Walls. The Robotics team developed two robots, C.H.A.R.L.I. and M.O.L.L.I.E., that performed a multitude of tasks but focused mainly on three; trash, medical emergencies, and luggage assistance. The VR/AR team developed a fully immersive experience within a VR headset that displayed the potentials of VR/AR in the future of flight. The team created a virtual space on the plane for each passenger and developed a virtual flight assistant, BO, to help in the journey. The Smart Galley team reimagined the entire galley space. The team redesigned the drink cart, food cart, and how the galley works as a system. The Holographic Walls team developed areas of opportunity and functions for technology such as holographic walls and OLED screens throughout the plane.
The Live Well team gave a presentation to Boeing on April 27th, 2017 where all of these concepts were presented with next steps to be determined!
The Live Well team’s concepts and areas of focus covered a large spectrum of products and services and the team delivered final concepts to the Boeing team at the Live Well Collaborative after 15 weeks.
Next steps for the Live Well team include:
Internal documentation and organization of the past 15 weeks.
Documenting all Intellectual Property and hand that off to the Boeing team.
Taking a small team to Seattle to present the work that was conducted this semester at Boeing’s headquarters.
Below are the invention disclosure forms for the Boeing 2017 studio:
Virtual Assistant: Boeing Onboard (Bo):
Boeing approached the Live Well Collaborative with the task of visualizing the use of cabin surfaces as a communication displays for both the crew and passengers during the entire flight experience from boarding to arriving at the final destination. The goal of the project is to use the principles of inclusive design and state of the art technologies to create a system that keeps everyone in mind and does not isolate any given demographic.
In the first week, Live Well designers benchmarked innovative technologies in various market sectors to research emerging technology trends. Market sectors include Hospitality, Healthcare, Education, Public Services, and Retail. These technological advances will assist the Live Well teams in projecting technology trends for the next 10-15 years.
Through interviews with the flight attendants and frequent flyers, the Live Well team was able to better understand the pleasure points and pain points that exist when flying. The attendants provided a better understanding of what communication needs to occur for them to do their jobs, while the passengers helped the team paint a picture of their ideal flight experience.
The Live Well has been infusing the identified situations with the benchmarked technologies to create a future cabin experience. Building the improved situations into storyboards, the team was able to pull out specific areas that would have new technologies and systems that could span across the whole flight experience. On Thursday, March 17th each team brought Cynthia through their scenarios, and then the team leaders talked through each innovation and mapped out where it would be on a future Boeing plane.
Download Ideation Presentation
The Live Well presented the final concepts developed over the refinement phase to the Boeing Team.
Click below to download the final presentation:
In Cynthia’s presentation, she introduced the Adaptable Space Design project, including what are the challenges, what need to be considered, and areas of opportunity. Since the definition of adaptable space design is new to the students, Cynthia also showed the class several inspiring videos. In the Q&A, Cynthia answered various students’ questions. Everyone in class was looking forward to getting their hands dirty in this exciting product design studio.
The opportunity: Using the principles of adaptable design to create cabin spaces that meet the needs of all stakeholders, including passengers and flight crew.
The research presentation was about the research process and findings. Students presented the cognitive map, which visualized the thinking process of the translation from research insights to opportunity areas. In order to getting a better start on ideation phase, the teams invited Cynthia to a brainstorming session. Based on the opportunity areas the teams developed, Cynthia and the students had various quick concept sketching sessions and inspiring discussions to explore the potential design solutions.
Download Research Presentation
Based on Cynthia’s feedback at the research presentation, teams identified three opportunity areas to pursue: doorways, overhead space, and galleys. Each team can also have one passion project. Three rounds of ideation and co-creations were conducted to develop concepts iteratively. The first round of conception was quick sketches translating research findings. The second round was more sketches and scenarios. The third round of conception was the development of 3D scale models. The goal of making scale models was to generate physical space where concepts can be explained and tested. The 1/8 scale fuselage was made with 3D modeling, laser cutting and CNC machining. During the presentation, students presented concepts with the 3D mock-up, scenarios, and SWOT analysis.
Download Ideation Presentation
Fifteen consumers were involved in this validation, including six Delta flight attendants, six 65+ consumers, and three business flyers. In order to give the consumers a real experience of the designed airplane, teams made full-scale models to let the consumers interact with. The consumers showed a strong interest in engaging and finding the problems that would help the students to improve these concepts.
This is an overview presentation about the process and what is unique about this product design studio.
Click to view the process book that outlines the studio’s design research approach this semester.
This project will build on the research base established from the prior projects and specifically the project entitled: Flight Attendant Job Redesign. The big question is, “What is the latest and greatest technology that could enable a new communication system on board for the crew?” The main objective is to understand all communication needs of the crew and other personnel they communicate with on the ground as well as the cost impact and potential benefits associated with these recommended product or service offerings.
It was great hearing from Cynthia and Kent from Boeing on Wednesday during the students’ research presentation. They gave the students plenty of good feedback to take home regarding their research, reaffirming or correcting directions the students were going in. They also were able to fill the students in on the similarities between research that they are doing within Boeing and the students’ research. Cynthia and Kent also provided the students with insightful, pragmatic, and solid ideas about what could possibly happen in the next steps.
The teams also realized the importance of thinking in the FA’s shoes about what what service or products they would really appreciate and problems they wish to fix. One thing Kent commented on really struck home—don’t give me something that you think I need but I don’t. The discussion and Co-Creation session really helped groups to refine their insights and dive deeper into the root causes.
The teams presented concepts based on research, research feedback, and co-creation feedback from flight attendants, international, and domestic travelers. The mix of concepts covered a wide spectrum from analog, low-tech, and high-tech digital solutions. The sponsors preferred mostly digital and software solutions. Based on the extensive feedback the teams received from Cynthia and Kent, each team zoomed in to specific areas, mainly:
Charlie Foxtrot: RFID technology in luggage and boarding
F4: Data API
Occam’s Razor: In-flight communication for flight attendants
Puddle Jumpers: Bin storage monitoring and boarding efficiency
T3: In-flight communication tools (bracelet/earpiece)
Tail Wind: Passenger experience
Each team took turns to present their final design directions and refined concepts to the four Delta flight attendants who joined us for the meet-and-greet and co-creation sessions. The flight attendants validated the concepts while sharing insights on possible improvements. By the end of the validation session, the teams gathered valuable feedbacks from the flight attendants to furnish their final concepts with.
After a faux airport ticketing–security–gate–boarding process, the students presented their finely executed ideas that were ready to take off with the new Boeing flights. In addition to giving generous compliments to the teams, Cynthia and Kent once again offered their professional input on the concepts presented.
What is the best technology that can be used by an airline crew to communicate? Below is the studio process book to show how the Live Well team answered that question:
This is the 6th studio project in a series that will provide holistic solutions to improve the air travel experience. Students will draw on past projects (Traveller of the Future, Door to Door Journey, Lavatory Redesign, Seating Redesign, Flight Attendant Job Redesign) to improve the air travel experience.
At the end of Cynthia's presentation students were left with The Big Question: “What ancillary revenue or feature on the airplane could you imagine for the boomer passenger segment that makes money for the airlines and improves the travel experience?”
The students went on a field trip to the CVG Airport. We were lead behind the scenes of Delta’s operations and got to inspect the flight experience first hand through a critical eye. Students went through the security process, rode the shuttle, and waited at the gate as passengers were getting off. Once the plane was clear, we were able to board. It was a Boeing 737. Students collected a lot of insights on the flight experience. One of the most interesting notes was how much more efficient the Delta representative said the automated kiosks were in comparison to the personal service desks.
After the CVG trip, interactions with Flight Attendants and multiple brainstorming sessions, the class got together, compared notes, and put together a presentation of their research.
After the research presentation with Boeing, students switched gears into the ideation phase. The class engaged in brainstorming activities, and shared different ideas while still doing secondary research in existing technology trends. The goal for the studio currently is to generate as many ideas as possible.
The presentation briefly covered class activities used to bring light on the areas the students wanted to focus on. Then in 4 different teams, students went over what the specific areas included as well as a break down of how personas were developed and to be used during concept development.
These past few classes have been spent discovering which ideas stood out from others and how the students plan to divide and conquer the various concepts.
The teams wrapped up and presented their final concepts. Each team came up with a variety of solutions ranging from digital applications to different strategies regarding boarding and deplaning.
How can the Baby Boomer flight experiences be improved through ancillary product and services offerings? Below is the studio process book to show how the Live Well team answered that question:
Download Process BookThis is the fifth studio project in a series that will provide holistic solutions to improve the air travel experience for stakeholders. This project will build on the research base established from prior projects: Traveler of the Future, Door to Door Journey, Lavatory Redesign and Seating Redesign.
Flight crews are getting older. Anyone can observe this as they experience air travel. At the same time the airline industry has had the added pressure of cost savings, which has put an increased burden on flight crews, specifically the flight attendant. There is tremendous opportunity to improve the work environment (products and processes) for flight attendants that will not only make their jobs more ergononomic, less stressful, and simpler, etc., but also improve the passenger’s experience.
The students compiled all of the information they have learned thus far for a research presentation for Boeing. They organized their presentation into two phases in addition to opportunity areas:
Phase 1: Environment Understanding
Phase 2: Flight Attendant Understanding
They included everything they have learned so far from secondary research, the aging simulation assignment, consumer interaction (OLLI), client perspective, flight attendant panel, and the site visit to CVG airport. The students presented their research in 3 categories: Environment Understanding, Flight Attendant Understanding, and Opportunity Areas. They presented these areas of research to Cynthia Vandewall and Vicki Curtis via webcam. Each team came up with their own set of problems to focus on after pulling information from the consumer interaction, trip to CVG, aging simulation assignment, and flight attendant panel. The problems and insights include the following areas:
luggage frustrations
communication
hospitality
daily routines and procedures
seniority
service
environment
maintenance
stress points
flight attendant versatility
safety
motivations
relationships
health
After two separate ideation sessions, each student ideated and sketched out 10-15 initial concepts. The teams then talked amongst each other and chose the strongest ones. After choosing their teams’ best ideas, they presented the top 10 concepts from the group to the entire class. The whole class then voted on the best concepts from that group and narrowed them down to 6-7 to propose to one of our flight attendant representatives at Southwest Airlines, and also to Vicki and Cynthia at Boeing.
The students presented their preliminary concepts to Vicki and Cynthia at Boeing and to 5 flight attendants from Delta.
The three teams presented their concepts to three flight attendants from Delta. The flight attendants made their way around the room by alternating between each team, one flight attendant per team.
They provided the teams with all kinds of suggestions, questions, comments, and concerns.
How can we better suit the needs of aging flight attendants? Below is the studio process book to show how the Live Well team answered that question:
The fourth Livewell + Boeing studio was kicked off with a presentation from Vicki Curtis, senior engineer at Boeing, and Klaus Brauer from B/E Aerospace. Vicki is an engineer at The Concept Center at Boeing in Everett, Washington and spends her time working on innovative ways to make flying more enjoyable for consumers. Klaus recently retired from The Boeing Company and now serves as a consultant to B/E Aerospace, a company that produces interiors for planes. Vicki and Klaus presented the studio with the basics on airline seating and government safety regulations. They also explained the human mechanics of rising from a seated position and the physical difficulties this causes aging consumers. These presentations brought up some problems Vicki and Klaus were already aware of and raised questions like “Once in your seat, can you reach the attendant call, and distinguish between that and the light?” Also, the tray table was initially designed for food. Now how many things is it used for? It provided a great jumping off point for the students to begin their problem statements and research.
The students presented their research in the form of problem statements to Klaus Brauer and Vicki Curtis via webcam. Each team came up with their own set of problems to focus on after pulling information from the consumer interaction and trip to CVG. The problems and insights include the following areas:
ergonomics
storage and access
personal space
managing interactions
organizations
signage
lack of clear communication
perception of space
powerlessness
From the presentation, students were able to gain a better understanding of Boeing’s expectations. Vicki and Klaus pointed out areas they have already explored, and areas they were most excited for the students to pursue.
Download Research Presentation
After receiving initial feedback both from Boeing representatives and consumers, the students refined their concepts and produced rendered drawings. Keeping the Baby Boomer in mind, the concepts were more tailored to their desires. Some groups created personas that would represent an ideal user for each new concept. These newly refined concepts were presented to Vicki and Klaus for review. Each team received individual compliments and criticisms, but they were instructed to continue focusing on the Baby Boomers because that sector has the most potential for breakthroughs. They were also instructed to start playing with materials and begin creating prototypes.
Stealth came up with the concepts DOT and TOD and created animations for both ideas.
DOT is about adaptability to the different circumstances when flying, day or night, size of individuals, number of passengers, length of trip, etc. It takes into account that the cabin is a space you inherently share with other people, and the interactions that occur between them. DOT is about enabling a population of Baby Boomers who are becoming less physically capable to have a comfortable trip with fewer hassles. DOT has arm rests with flaps for more elbow space, that can become flush with the back seat to create a sofa-like seat. When the middle seat is not being used a middle tray is lowered which can be used for drinks and also provides more seating real-estate for passengers, as well as more space for bigger travelers. The aisle seat has a rounded corner which allows passengers to rotate 45 degrees into the aisle and stand up easier. DOT has a tray divided into three, when one section is rotated it provides a smaller less invasive tray for drinks. It can be transformed into a regular tray table, and into a support for a tablet or a book. Light is provided under the seat in order to search your luggage at night and a light beacon is provided when going to the bathroom to help find your seat in the dark.
TOD on the other hand is about embracing individuality. It is about adapting to the individual’s comfort, size and position. It is about creating more leg space for the passengers, and assisting them when standing up. TOD changes shape to allow a more comfortable resting position. The same change in form also has the function of helping the passenger to stand up. It has foot rests that can be extended to the desired foot position and when desired the lever on the top right corner can be tapped with the foot, returning the footrest to its original position. The tray table can rotate 360 degrees, to position books and tablets in a comfortable use/read position and the cup-holder pivots when the tray is rotated freeing the passenger from having to hold his drink and book when letting a passenger through.
How can we make airplane seating more comfortable for the aging traveler? Below is the studio process book to show how the Live Well team answered that question:
Download Process BookThis is the third studio project in a series that will provide holistic solutions to improve and maintain the positive experiences of baby boomer airline passengers as they age. This project will build on the research base established from the fall quarter 2010 Traveler of the Future and the winter 2011 Door to Door Journey projects. The main objective of this studio was to design an accessible lavatory that meets the needs of individuals with reduced mobility.
The airplane lavatory is there for the people who use it. Because of this, the class felt it important to spend some time understanding Boeing’s passengers. Boeing planes are used for international travel and, especially because many of the students in the studio were international students, they felt it important to consider different cultures in their design concepts. Students from different countries gave presentations about the bathrooms commonly found in their homes, while other students researched and presented different reports on bathroom culture from places they had either visited or read about. Students showed everything from dazzling modern toilets in Japan to Western-style toilets in England and even even squat-toilets in Ghana and China. Students discussed the different uses of water, the various disposal methods of toilet paper and waste, and the different cultural connotations associated with using the restroom.
Download Research Presentation
Before the students began to conceptualize ideas and solutions, they tried to gain perspective on bathrooms, in general. First, the students explored all the functions and fixtures of their bathrooms at home by creating individual lists. Next, the students broke into groups and used post-its to list all the various activities airplane passengers might do in an airplane lavatory. The students shared their ideas and put their post-its up on the wall, taking care to avoid repeats. Then, the students were asked to take their brainstorm a step deeper and identify various physical, emotional, and psychological reasons why passengers would engage in such activities.
As a follow-up on the discussion of bathroom functions and activities, one group decided to create a cardboard mock-up of a Boeing 737 lavatory. The group built the model to scale according to Vicki’s presentation from the first day of class. The mock up helped the students get an understanding of the small space as they moved around in it. As the students interacted with the model, they were also able to gain an understanding of popular touch points that would house the most germs. This lead the students to different realizations of issues pertaining to hygiene, effective use of space, lighting, and safety.
The students presented their research and concept ideas to Vicki Curtis via web-cam. The presentation covered research and insights in the following areas:
Personae
Information Needs
Functions & Fixtures
Cultural Bathroom Considerations
CVG/Delta Visit
Opportunities for Further Exploration
From the presentation, the students were able to gain a better understanding of the direction best aligned with Boeing’s expectations as Vicki pointed out the areas she was most excited for the students to pursue. From this, the students realized that cultural bathroom considerations were not something to heavily concentrate on, but there was a great opportunity to develop a more comprehensive marketing strategy for Boeing.
Download Refinement Presentation
How can airplane lavatories be comfortable for everyone? Below is the studio process book to show how the Live Well team answered that question:
The class broke out into 3 small groups and brainstormed, starting with writing down “What do we do when we’re bored.” The second stage of the brainstorm activity revolved around taking into consideration 3 specific people on a plane and what their needs might be if their flight was delayed while taxiing on the runway. These “people” were: a 32-year-old traveler from Madagascar; a 37-year-old mother of two; and a 72-year-old businessman. Each group presented what they had come up with, focusing on general themes of the terms and ideas they had generated.
After the initial brainstorming session, the class gathered as a whole and generated ideas and terms defining what factors were different for each of the three passengers on the flight. These included making sure a mother of two had the proper nutrition for her kids as they waited, or the 72-year old passenger could tune out the noise as he wanted.
Vicki Curtis, a Senior Engineer for Boeing’s Concept Center, came in from Seattle to give the students an idea of what the process of flying is like; along with some of the pitfalls and frustrations of air travel. Vicki spent roughly an hour going through her presentation The Door to Door Journey for the Aging Baby Boomer. The presentation had a breakdown of the main components involved in air travel: The Airport, the Airplane, the Airline, and the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and how each component affected travelers’ experiences. For instance, after an explanation of each phase of the pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight stages, she listed notable facts or points of interest. An example would be that at the TSA checkpoint, travelers are expected to be able to raise their arms above shoulder level, a potential problem for ailing seniors, and those who use walkers, canes or seeing-eye dogs can not use the standard checkpoint areas or methods.
The most interesting section of the presentation was called “Some Big Questions.” Each factor of air travel, the airplane, airport, airline, and TSA, had its own set of questions and problems pertaining to it.
The team held a Friday session for exclusively brainstorming within the class’s small groups: TSA, Wayfinding, Airframe, Seamless Integration, and Sensory Experience. A result of this brainstorming session was a breakthrough in the Seamless Integration group. Kyle, an accounting student, came up with a unique solution: by switching to an international standard of bookkeeping, Boeing would free up millions of dollars to invest and improve. Professor Curry especially encouraged thinking like this because it was a “business” approach as opposed to strictly a “design” solution.
The class went to room 215, a computer lab, in the College of Business to participate in a video conference with Vicki Curtis, who was at Boeing’s headquarters in Seattle, WA. The conference started off with Professor Curry making opening remarks and setting the agenda. Alex then introduced the students, providing their pictures and majors to describe how diverse the studio was. Professors Curry and Zammit then described the brainstorming process and segued into the students’ presentations.
Just like the dry run done on Monday, each group’s leader stood before the class and explained their research and findings to Vicki. Four of the five groups explained issues they found within their topic, while the Sensory Experience group had rendered concepts for their topic which involved improving the experience of air travel by livening up the environment.
Vicki had positive feedback for each group, especially praising groups that had concrete solutions to well-identified problems. After the students’ presentations, two videos were shown. The first was Microsoft’s “Future Vision,” which overviews potential future technologies; and then a blend of two animations that Matt Johnson, a senior in Digital Design, had worked on in his co-op experiences was shown. These were meant to show Vicki what the class was aiming for (Microsoft vision) and what the class is capable of (Matt’s videos) when it comes to final deliverables. By the end of the video conference, the class was in agreement that the final deliverable needs to be a video or animation to properly describe the groups’ ideas in a consistent format that is easily interpreted by any viewer.
The first idea was a directional arrow projected onto the floor to guide a passenger about the airport. The students had to come up with a way to make the concept directly profitable to the airports or airlines. Most ideas dealt with either branding the arrow (Boeing branded or the highest bidder. Example: the American Express Airport Guide, etc.) or creating advertising space on it related to restaurants or shopping points located in the airport. For instance, if there was a Starbucks nearby, and Starbucks had paid to advertise on the arrow, the arrow would not only show you where to go, but would also have a space dedicated to showing how close the nearest Starbucks was.
The second concept was creating handicapped bathrooms in airports. The students responded by coming up with new methods of advertising such as video-screen stall doors, creating new airport layouts where terminals branch off of a central hub with a lobby and bathroom in the center, and making travel-safe containers of shampoo and other health supplies available for purchase in the bathrooms.
Having grouped all the original idea tags into five zones, (Arrival/Security, To the Gate, At the Gate, In Flight, and Baggage) the students further refined the concepts into clusters based on each concept’s area of influence. For instance, in the “To the Gate” zone, the group had a few ideas all revolving around a personal carry-on item that would help guide a person around the airport. These ideas all became the “Boeing Bear” cluster, named after an initial idea of having a talking teddy bear guide children through the confusing and intimidating environment of an airport concourse.
A common theme between all groups was a need to prove their concepts and fully detail their benefits to both passengers and Boeing; not just describing what each concept was.
While the Validation group toiled away with their written pieces, the Animation group reviewed the sketches they had drawn to populate their concept video. Allen, having worked at Jack Rouse and Associates—a local environmental and exhibit design firm—sketched multiple backdrops that would make up the key areas of exploration in the video. These included a check-in kiosk area, the loading gate, general concourse intervals and in-plane settings. Jason, Zhaoyi, Jianzhou, and Nate all sketched the people and products that would fully explain the story of the class’s concepts. Matt and Molly Johnson began creating the framework for animating all the sketches.
The final presentation for the Boeing Studio saw visitors from Delta Airlines, CVG Airport, P&G and Boeing, (Linda has complete list). Vicki Curtis flew in from Seattle and was very impressed. The day began in the Upper Studio with Maria Hayhow emceeing the event as a sort of flight attendant/grand marshal. After introductions by Professors Curry and Zammit, Lauren Magrisso presented the footage she and Maria recorded on their trip to Atlanta and New York City. Molly then presented the “Solutions” animation to much praise from the audience.
Directly after the students took their stations downstairs, Maria led the guests through the steps of air travel. There were stations for Arrival, Security, To the Gate, and At the Gate. The concepts presented were the Flight Watch, a new Check-In Kiosk, a Tri-Line Security system, Facial Recognition software, a “Like” button for the TSA experience, a Take-Me-There Chair transport, the Bilateral Information Portal, Interactive Playground, Interactive Sculpture, and a Permaculture Garden.
The guests were then led into the basement studio and shown a Powerpoint presentation of the Info Gate, Boarding Capsule, Biomimicry and Suspension seating, the Sky Cart, Personal Dashboard, and Effortless Baggage concepts. They also were shown an extensive financial presentation by Kyle Quinn. All in all, the visitors were very impressed, and Vicki showed her gratitude by allowing the students to use all their work in their portfolios and resumes. In addition, she announced that she will continue Boeing’s partnership with Live Well by having another studio in the Fall of 2011.
This is the first studio project in a series that will provide holistic solutions to improve and maintain the positive experiences of Baby Boomer airline passengers. This first studio will establish a better understanding of the identity and unique attributes of the current airline traveler, and will provide a foundational research base for studios to follow. Based on these findings, the studio team will envision the “future” traveler.
There are currently no known sources for this information. Once this traveler is defined, it will be used as a tool to attract existing owners of air travel-related product and service offerings to collaborate on “future” innovative and cost-effective solutions.
Students made their own hypotheses about what the travel experience was like, and found out their expectations differed greatly from the reality. The areas they focused on were baggage claim, self-service kiosks, and moving walkways.
Download Research Presentation
The class was able to travel to the CVG airport to observe the typical flight phases, which can be narrowed down to the following:
Baggage transportation: Luggage that is being checked-in needs to be taken to the counter either by using trolley or pulling the stroller/s.
Provide information: The ticket number/print out and identification needs to be provided at the counter or the barcode/credit card/passport can be scanned at the self-service kiosk.
Boarding pass collection: Boarding pass/es have to be collected along with luggage identification tags.
Proceed to security check: carry-on bags are taken to the appropriate security checkpoint according to gate number.
Boarding passes might not be required in the future if Boeing could create a system where showing identification at baggage drop and security check enables the airport attendants to check the validity of passing through to the gate and thus skip the hassle of this step, especially if a passenger has only carry-ons. Boeing must work with the airports and ensure that some form to check information validity of passenger is available at each stop.
The studio was split into multiple teams, one of which was the future scenarios group. Its focus was to study some of the key factors that might affect Boeing and its ability to service the 50+ passenger during the next 10-15 years. Both internal and external factors were taken into consideration.
The group began by brainstorming ideas likely to have an impact on the airline industry, such as competition from high-speed rail and environmental concerns related to airplane emissions. As the research moved to the next phase, they combined factors into larger categories: environmental issues, future transportation, globalization, and internal factors.
This research was used to make projections about the impact of these factors on future passengers. The group’s findings were compiled into a PDF book and condensed into a poster; both are available below.
20 E Central Parkway
Cincinnati, OH 45202
*Entrance on Jackson St.
contactus@livewellcollaborative.org
