Overview

Intelsat provides commercial airlines around the world with inflight internet and entertainment access for their passengers.

Role & Project Completion Date

UX Designer and UX Researcher
2023 –2024

Problem

While reviewing CSAT surveys and interviewing airline passengers, a key pain point identified was unexpected internet outages. Our objective was to create a seamless experience that informs passengers about these outages while effectively managing their flight expectations regarding internet connectivity.

Current Wi-Fi Down Experience

Passengers are not notified via text, app notification, or email about the unavailability of Wi-Fi on their flight. If the connection is never restored, it is up to the passenger to initiate contact for a refund.

Onboard Portal Design

Turning the Quantitative to Qualitative

Passengers who provided feedback regarding their in-flight Wi-Fi experience were interviewed. They were asked various questions about their Wi-Fi usage on planes, with a primary focus on their response to Wi-Fi outages.

User Interview Insights

- Participants visited the onboard portal to troubleshoot or resolve their Wi-Fi issues.
- "To connect, I would visit the page, and it would display a message stating, 'We're sorry, we're not connected to the Internet right now,' along with links to access onboard entertainment." - participant quote
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- They sought clarification on the cause of internet disruptions, expressing concern that they may have inadvertently caused the problem.
- "I want to understand why the internet is down because that also indicates how long it will be unavailable. For example, if we're flying over Kansas and there's a dead zone for about 30 miles where you can't get a connection, that's one thing. But if the internet is down for the entire flight, I'd like to be informed so I don't keep trying."

Internet Down in Other Spaces

When considering the optimal approach to handle each scenario from an information and user interface perspective, I analyzed common outage messages employed by leading internet companies.

In-flight Wi-Fi Scenarios

The backend development team and I mapped out several scenarios to address Wi-Fi disruptions, including complete outages.

Final Wi-Fi Down Experience

The team is working with airlines to add SMS messages and app notification notifying passengers ahead of time when Wi-Fi might not be on their flight. We are also working with a third party system that would generate refunds or free pass for passengers who weren't able to use their passes

Wi-Fi down Messages

Examples of implemented messages for the airlines we collaborated with.

Onboard Portal Design

After conducting interviews, we decided to introduce a banner message to inform passengers about the reason for their Wi-Fi outage, along with the option to access free entertainment. Additionally, we incorporated an indicator in the flight tracker and introduced a zero state for passes component.

Next Steps

After the MVP launch, monitor CSAT scores, comments, and customer service feedback to gauge the impact of the UI on passenger satisfaction, now that they're informed about internet downtime reasons. The next step is to integrate an estimated time feature into the UI, providing passengers with an estimated internet restoration time.

What I Learned

Airline passengers heavily depend on internet connectivity, not only for business purposes but also for entertainment, particularly for keeping their children occupied. It can be a lifesaver in many situations. When passengers understand the reason for internet outages, they tend to be more patient and understanding.

Learnings

Even though the product hasn’t launched, the work validated key interactions and provided evidence of user value.

Testing users who shave outside the shower could reveal additional context for the full end-to-end experience.
Understanding how to make IoT features feel valuable, not gimmicky, and support user confidence.