At the beginning of 2007 the executive team at Air New Zealand set down a challenge to the project team to design a customer-driven innovation approach to the design of the pending 777-300ER aircraft. While the research insights, user needs and segmentation were used across all aspects of the long-haul program, designing for just two universal traveler needs, instead of individuals, opened up opportunities for experiences never before seen on an aircraft.

“The ANZ design research project was powerful not only in the clarity of its insights, but also in its visible impact on the design and, significantly, on the way the airline now does business.
Airlines usually treat economy passengers as a single category, and the design research team did a great job of shattering this myth. They really unearthed the acute differences in wants and needs between single travellers, families and couples. Having recently travelled long haul with a young baby for the first time, I could definitely empathize with the truth of their findings!

I love how the team complemented their research with method actors – stuck in their rough polystyrene seats in early cabin mockups for hours, I can imagine the actors took on the roles of the passengers and made issues pop much more clearly.”  – Anton Andrews, Director Strategic Experiences, IEB Design, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft

Credits: IDEO, Synovate, Optimal Usability, Colmar Brunton, Society (New Zealand) for Air New Zealand

Contact: Geoff Suvalko: [email protected]