Airport experience design agency

Project Title
JFK Terminal 1 Customer Experience Design
Client
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Category
Trends, Benchmarks, Research, Strategy, Vision, Brochure design

“The Yard Creative are inspiring. They really force us to be aspirational when it comes to our approach. Even if we only end up enacting 25% of their recommendations, it would be a world of difference from what we would’ve achieved on our own.”

Bradley Tollefson
Senior Vice President Developments

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Question

Research agency London

How can we shift mindsets to define a new era in air travel retail and set a new benchmark for the industry in 2035?

Facing the most disruptive two years in history for air travel, TYC were asked to create a strategic piece on the future of JFK airport to entice the world into travelling again.

Undertaking granular secondary research including benchmarks and trends, TYC then went on to design a consumer research piece to understand not just the ‘what’, but the ‘why’ behind traveller behaviour and motivations. These findings went on to inform a strategic journey with a fresh approach to air travel.

To compete with the city that never sleeps, we had to research far and wide; understanding not just local competitors, but global benchmarks and trends that influenced our international travellers. Covering thirteen countries across continents, we investigated what makes our diverse audiences tick. We found that 87% of survey respondents arrive at the airport early, but often for the wrong reasons – often motivated by stress and nerves rather than excitement and curiosity.

Customer experience design agency

London design agency Our aim text with N Y background

Strategy agency UK Travellers Cultural differences

Research agency London Space travel research

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Change

Uncovering the future of airport retail

The people who travel via international airports like JFK are wonderfully different – which means making them happy is equally varied. It became clear to us that we could not judge JFK’s audience as a whole – and that to attract the mass, we must satisfy the needs of the individual.

Through learning about the emotional and rational motivations behind consumer behaviour, we constructed our vision: “JFK – see it your way”, a promise to travellers that their airport experience could be tailored to suit them and their needs.

We needed to create an experience that blew the age-old mundane and functional reputation of airports out of the water. From the anxious holidaymaker to the hyper-organised business flyer, JFK needed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone, every time.

Our research and strategy became such an integral component to the team’s vision that we were requested to transform it into a ‘little black book’ publication, so that everyone at URW could refer back to the journey we came on i order to inform every decision. Bring on 2035!