Electric airplanes are a very new concept in the field of aviation. The goal of this emerging field is to fly cleaner, quieter, cheaper, and more fuel-efficient manner. However, most airports don’t know how to manage those airplanes yet.
The challenge is to find a way for regional airports and their staff to help each other regarding the lack of knowledge about electrical airplanes. For most regional airports, it is the first time that an electric aircraft arrives. This presents them with a number of challenges, particularly in terms of safety, energy management, maintenance, and general organization.

To cater to these challenges, we delivered an innovative knowledge base with an integrated voice search to enable airport staff to access relevant information wherever they are.
 

ROLE

Research, Strategy, Concepting, UI Design Visual Design, Motion Graphics

TEAM

Tizian Fendt, Simon De Rooij

CLIENT

Dutch Electric Aviation Center

DISCOVERY PHASE

Because of the recency of the topic, it was enormously important for us to get realistic impressions beyond the typical desk research. This is why we visited the airport in Teuge, Netherlands. By going into the problem space, we got insights into where, how, and by whom our product would be used later.

CUSTOMIZED ILLUSTRATIONS FOR CATEGORIES

We illustrated custom electric aircraft imitating the technical drawing technique. We used this convention instead of icons in categories to bring it closer to our target audience's knowledge. 

All the categories are color-coded to navigate the website easier. 

VOICE SEARCH

As a custom feature, we integrated a voice search to enable airport staff to access relevant information just with their walkie-talkie. Why did we decide to do that? Well, during the airport visit we noticed three relevant aspects. First, these airport workers mainly communicate with each other using walkie-talkies. Second, they don’t always have the possibility to have a smartphone or tablet with them. And last, the internet connection across the field is not guaranteed everywhere. Therefore, we tried to find a way for them to interact with the knowledge base only with their voice – accessible wherever they are.

How it works:

1. Open the E-Port website from a desktop located at the tower
2. Give access to the microphone, unmute the speakers
3. Place the walkie-talkie prototype next to the computer
4. Bring all the walkie-talkies to the same channel to interact with the voice assistant
5. Ask a question wherever you are on the field, saying the trigger word “Hey E-Port” and hear the answer