Airport for iPhone

Flying itself is easy, but airports are too complicated. Our app is here to help.

Airport App Screenshots
from left to right: Flight list, Flight Overview, Process Navigation

An airport can be a confusing place, especially if you're not flying every week. The process from arrival to finding your seat after boarding is similar every time, yet we struggle to find our way.

We arrive 4 hours early but still earn despising looks at the counter, because we didn't know that we'd need our passport right now.

What's next, where do I have to go? Where is the next restroom?

Sitting in your plane seat just in time doesn't have to be so stressful.

Adding flights to the flight list and reviewing the flight overview screen.

Airport manages your Journey

Airport syncs with your airline user account and manages your booked flights. It helps you getting to the airport and always keeps an eye on your schedule.
Mobile check-in will close soon? Airport let's you know. And because the app is connected to your airline, you don't have to enter your personal info every time. Checking in is just one tap of a button.
The same goes for gate changes, other unforeseeable events or if you're running short on time. Automatic updates to your schedule and push notifications make sure that you will reach your plane comfortably.

An animated Gif showing the airport check-in animation
Check in with one tap

Streamlined Process Navigation

Airport breaks down the process at the airport into smaller tasks like Parking, Check-In, Baggage, Security and boarding.
The main view is a split-screen showing you the current task and a map of where to go next. The map automatically updates with your position. It's like a car navigation system, but inside the airport building.

A personal Assistant, right in your Pocket

You can search for venues like restrooms, shops, restaurants or first-aid. Airport will guide you there.

A handy info section helps you resolve questions about luggage weight limits or security information.

Big Data inside

Tracking hundreds of even thousands of users and how they move around the airport could have benefits for users and airport operators alike.
It would be possible to predict walking times or how long the security waiting line is going to take for any given airport. Airports operators could run analytics on the data and, for example, optimize staff distribution around the site.
And privacy-wise, it would be a bit scary, too.

Design Process

The app design is designed to fit in with the current iOS 7 guidelines. It makes heavy use of animation — not for the sake of eye-candy, but to emphasize the application structure and to convey information.

Airport flight overview animation gif
Airport displays journeys in a sentence. You can flick between connecting flights by swiping.

The research and design process involved information architecture, a SWOT analysis, personas, use-cases and a lot of wire-framing. An in-depth documentation is available for download here.

The final screens were designed in Sketch and brought to life in After Effects.

Credits

Concept/Design/Development: Philipp Schmitt, Louis Fischediek and Meredith Bruner
Consulting: Jürgen Graef
University: Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd