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Recently, Project Managers Mathijs and Alec and UX/UI Designer Vera traveled to Northern Kentucky. There they visited our client CVG, better known to the international traveler as Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The reason for their visit? The official kickoff of a new project!
New website with focus on more and mobile users
CVG Airport is an ideal environment to test solutions for the benefit of passengers. CVG’s current website is many years old and in need of renewal. Move is taking care of the design and construction of the new website in the coming months. Passengers, partners, job seekers, the local community and people working on the airport campus (including for cargo partners such as Amazon and DHL) will be able to find information relevant to them. With over 70% of current website traffic coming from mobile devices, the new website will focus more on mobile users. Thus, our "mobile first" mentality comes in handy.
Snapshot of the work
As with other clients, especially in the public domain, accessibility is an increasingly important topic for airports. Therefore, CVG's new website is being designed according to modern UX trends and meets the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Integration with various backend systems is also planned. Among other things, this will allow website visitors to view flight information and security wait times online. This integration also enables participation in the airport's Parking Advantage parking rewards program, where customers can redeem points accumulated per booking for free parking. We do this kind of integration more often, which puts us in a good position to connect different systems. Of course, we also keep an eye on security and ensure that the website is protected against DDoS attacks. Another great development is the rapid implementation of a user-friendly CMS that improves workability. This is very important for CVG, because the amount of content that employees have to process due to the dynamics of target groups and partners is significant. By implementing the CMS in a tight timeline, technology and content will be going live at the same time.
It doesn't stop after these examples; there is a lot involved in this project. To ensure a flying start, project managers Mathijs and Alec and UX/UI Designer Vera traveled to Northern Kentucky with three clear goals and to really understand the client and its stakeholders, and in this case the dynamics of the region.
'It's such a privilege to travel the world and meet our clients face to face. This visit was an invaluable kickstart for the project.' - Mathijs Kraai
Goal 1: Identify desires and interests
During the formal project kick-off, our Move colleagues met with all the stakeholders involved in the new website. In addition to the project's regular contacts, they also spoke with staff from Parking & Concessions, Innovation & Customer Experience, Human Resources, Air Service Development, Information Technology and Procurement. These stakeholders in turn work with business partners, job seekers and the local community. Thus, we learned all about customer needs and interests. Then we outlined an overview of the project and mapped risks with the client. An important part of such project kick-off is the coordination of Move's working methods. And in the case of international clients, the culture and its potential impact on the process are always discussed.
Goal 2: Discover unique challenges and characteristics
Each airport has its own unique challenges. One challenge for CVG Airport is that it is physically located in Northern Kentucky, but the main city it serves - Cincinnati - is just over the state line in Ohio. The site visit helped us understand exactly what this situation means. That's why we now refer only to Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport, or CVG, in designs and communications. In addition to unique challenges, each airport has unique characteristics. Natural light is dominant at CVG - something you notice immediately when you're there. Therefore, we implemented a light and bright approach in the visual style. As a result, a visit to the website and airport feels like a holistic user experience.
Goal 3: Develop an information architecture
The trip also included the development of a new information architecture. As a starting point for an interactive session, we hung the old architecture with post-its on the wall. In just an hour and a half, together with the stakeholders, we made choices, removed post-its, added post-its and created the new, lighter and more flexible version. A basis suitable for CVG's further development needs. The personal contact was extremely valuable here, because discussion and fine-tuning was possible directly 'in front of the wall'. Digitally this session would not have had the same effect.
Next steps
It was a fantastic trip full of valuable insights, which have now been incorporated into a final design proposal and sharpened scope we can further hang the project on. Because of the visit, we now also know how the project fits into the bigger picture for CVG as it seeks to embrace innovation and deliver an unforgettably positive customer experience—whether that be in-person or digitally (or both)!