Windowless Airplanes by Carly Harmon

Figure 1

I read an article recently that talked about the development of air travel within the next ten years. According to this article, the concept design of “windowless planes” is the work of the Teesside-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI). It was reported that the windows of the aircraft would be replaced with full-length OLED screens that would display panoramic views that are captured by cameras on the outside of the plane, along with in-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi (although, I’m not so sure how I could concentrate on watching a movie when I could watch the panoramic view from 30,000 feet, but that’s just me.) Not only does this new design offer very unique, albeit terrifying, view for passengers, but it also reduces the weight of the plane, thus lowering the cost for both the passenger and airline, according to CPI.

Figure 2

When we think of air travel today, a lot of flyers have many things to complain about. One guy doesn't have enough leg room between him and the seat in front of him, so he feels too cramped. A woman's wifi isn't working, so she can't get any work done during her flight. Another guy doesn't like who he's sitting next to. The list can go on and on because, let's face it, users will always find something to complain about. But that's where UxD comes in. It's our job to give users little to complain about.

I think it's interesting to compare air travel from the 50s and 60s to now. Back in "The Golden Age," as some call it, air travel was considered a luxury. Based on the pictures and movies I've seen, hopping aboard an airplane in 1960 would provide passengers with bigger seats, more open space, gourmet meals, the freedom to light up a cigarette, and tons of booze. By looking at these depictions of 1960s air travel, I can only assume that flying was a basically a massive cocktail party at 30,000 feet. 

Figure 3

In the 21st century, air travel is anything but that. When you purchase a plane ticket, you get to look forward to a cramped couple of hours staring at the back of a chair with some headphones in. WiFi probably will be available, but it's most likely going to cost you some extra money.

A user's experience is very important. After all, that is the whole point of UxD. The whole idea behind designing things for air travel is to make it a great experience for the flyer, from the moment they purchase the ticket to when they land and collect their luggage. The better the experience the flyer has, the more they will keep coming back. Part of making the flyer's experience a great one is pushing the boundaries in order to stay innovative. This new design for air crafts is certainly pushing the boundaries to normal air travel. Talk about an experience! Having WiFi on a plane would suffice for a simple minded person like me. This panoramic in flight view in place of regular windows goes above and beyond. But boy, would I feel bad for a passenger who has a fear of flying!

Figure 4

I think it's interesting to see designers channeling their ideas to bring back the air travel experience to that of the 50s and 60s. Designers are making air travel a luxury again. Although, still no smoking!

The way designers think of innovative ideas that go above and beyond regular air travel that users are used to is the same way we should be thinking about redesigning the Purdue OWL. If you think about it, we should want our users to have some of the same experiences that passengers on airplanes have:

1) We don't want users to feel cramped when searching through the Purdue OWL, which they will get if so many pages and resources available are just scattered randomly throughout the website. 

2) We don't want users to come across pages and resources that don't work, even though they seem easily available, much like having WiFi on an airplane that doesn't work how it should.

3) Lastly and most importantly, we want our users to come back for more. If we create new ideas for the Purdue OWL that are innovative as well as reliable, then we will have more users who want to keep using the website as well as suggest the OWL to other users. 

I think that’s important for us to keep in mind when we are recreating the Purdue OWL. It’s important for us to think above and beyond on what we can do. Of course, there are limitations, but having extravagant and creative ideas from the get go can get us closer to where we want the Purdue OWL to be.

Below you can watch the full CPI clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ga3PMsrHpjU