Product Overview

AirPorter is an all-in-one IoT solution for everyday problems passengers face in airports, including the stress of navigation, being late for boarding, missing flight announcements, and long-standing time in queue.

We utilize a comprehensive beacon network, BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and in-door GPS to provide stress-free navigation, real-time flight updates, and time management on a phone application.

AirPorter also provides corresponding in-airport services using near-field communication as the solution for late passengers, including TSA fast pass, check-in fast pass, and autopilot vehicles for quick transportation to the boarding gate.

With AirPorter, let’s fly smarter, not harder!

Problem Statement

At the airport, passengers fall into two categories: early arrivals and latecomers. Early arrivals spend hours browsing but often miss critical announcements like gate changes or boarding calls. Latecomers struggle with TSA lines, check-ins, and reaching their gates on time.

Project Timeline

Contextual Inquiry

During the investigative phase of our research, we conducted a contextual inquiry to identify key problems addressable by an IoT solution and to understand which demographics we should target in further research. The inquiry involved interviewing participants from our university network who had recently traveled through an airport.

What I learned after the interview

• Travel needs vary: Frequent flyers prioritize timely information to manage potential delays, while international travelers face language barriers impacting navigation. Nervous travelers struggle with unfamiliar airports and past negative experiences.
• Unfamiliarity and language barriers create anxiety: Both new airports and language difficulties significantly increase anxiety levels for all travelers, potentially leading them to miss flights or crucial information.
• Everyone needs clear communication: Regardless of experience level, clear and timely information is essential for a smooth travel experience.

IoT Solution Opportunities

Coming out of our contextual inquiry we identified a few initial IoT solution opportunities.

• Idea 1: Smart Airport Device that lets you scan your boarding pass and navigate the airport.
• Idea 2: Smart Airport Device that displays gates, aircraft schedules, delays, or baggage claims.
• Idea 3: Smart Airport Device that helps to overcome language barriers when flying internationally.

Quantitative & Qualitative Research

We aimed to narrow down a Smart Airport IoT idea based on our initial findings and decide on the core features of our solution.

Our leading research questions aimed to answer the following about the airport experience and potential audience:

• What are common challenges they are going through during their flying journey?
• What is the typical process of our target user while they are flying?
• What group of people are our target user?

Cognitive Walkthrough

Goal: Assess how travelers perceive different steps of the airport journey by identifying pain points, neutral moments, and easy steps in a structured evaluation.

Method: Participants walked through predefined images depicting key airport experiences (e.g., check-in, security, boarding). They evaluated each step using colored stickers:

• 🔴 Red – Difficult/frustrating step
• 🟡 Yellow – Neutral step
• 🟢 Green – Easy step

If a photo/experience elicited frustration, they wrote a short explanation on the back.

Participants: 14 university participants recruited via Slack, email, and Discord. Categorized into three groups:

• 🛫Frequent Flyers
• 🌍 International Flyers
• 🆕 Inexperienced Flyers

Session Duration: Each participant session lasted approximately 30 minutes.

Key Insights:

• Identified which airport steps were most challenging across different traveler types.
• Revealed emotional responses and usability pain points in airport processes.
• Provided structured feedback for improving traveler experiences.

Survey

Goal: Collect quantitative data to supplement the qualitative data from the cultural probe.

Logistics: Leverage Qualtrics to deploy the survey.

Participants: We received 120 responses. The survey was circulated through university Slack channels, personal networks, and social media. Our participants fell into one of three categories:

• Frequent Flyers
• International Flyers
• Inexperienced Flyers

Screener questions were used at the beginning of the survey in order to parse out responses that didn't fall into our target audience.

Insights

User Persona

Solution

Coming out of our research we decided that our proposed IoT solution will focus on navigation, real-time updates, and time management assistance, as these areas can be significantly improved through the implementation of an IoT ecosystem.

Ideas based on User Research

1. Deliver real-time updates on check-in, TSA, immigration, boarding gates, and flight delays using beacons, Wi-Fi, GPS, or BLE technologies.
2. Estimate average wait times for bag drop, check-in, security, and immigration, offering time management suggestions and sharing updates with users.
3. Streamline airport navigation and transitions with robots and self-driving vehicles to reduce anxiety and ensure timely arrivals at gates.

Journey Map

Empathy Map

Speed Dating/Ideation

We ideated solutions to address the user needs identified in our user research. These solutions explored varying levels of automation, including a smart robot, a driverless car, and navigation support using beacons and NFC integration with users' existing devices.

User Enactments

We next embarked into Experience Prototyping and tested out our product in class.

Key Insights from User Enactments

1. Information Delivery: Users want estimated wait times one day in advance to plan.
2. Decision-Making: Users prefer help executing decisions, not making them.
3. Convenience: Users value privileged, controlled experiences, even at extra cost.
4. Guaranteed Solutions: Guarantee arrival times and process payment after service to ensure reliability.
5. Expectations: Inform users the system can't control flight delays or security rules.

System Proposal

High Fidelity Screens

Product Video

Key Takeaways

Working on AirPorter was my first experience with Photon and ubiquitous computing, and it was an eye-opening journey. I learned how technologies like BLE, GPS, and beacons can work together to create smarter systems that solve real-world problems, like navigating airports.

One major challenge was balancing user needs with technical constraints. Initially, we struggled to find the right direction and had to explore multiple ideas to identify solutions that aligned with user comfort and expectations. Prototyping was especially complex since a mobile interface alone wasn’t enough; combining hardware and software meant we needed to use storyboards to fully capture the user experience.

This process taught me the importance of iterative research and design, and seeing the system come together to address such a stressful scenario was incredibly rewarding.