Site Visit Saves Money and Increases Use
Brenda Huettner, one of the organizers of the World Usability Day 2005 event in Tucson, Arizona, told us about her experience improving information for pilots.
“We realized that instead of one manual per airport installation, we could create inexpensive quick-reference cards for each pilot user…. the new version became a huge success, with installations in thousands of sites across the country.”
Back in 1993, Weather Services International (WSI) had a product called PilotBrief II. It was a standalone PC that provided satellite-delivered weather briefings to pilots at small, regional airports around the country. It was much easier to use than the original, dial-up product. However, there were enough differences from the previous version that it required some documentation, originally delivered as an 8.5 x 11'' spiral bound notebook. The notebook was expensive to produce and easily misplaced in the in the busy, publicly-accessible locations for most systems. Adoption of the new version of the system was slow.
Most of these small airport installations also had a literature rack nearby, much like you'd see in a hotel lobby. Instead of brochures for sightseers, though, this was filled with sheets of data for pilots about different local airports: orientation of runways, radio frequencies, hours of operation, etc. Each sheet was 5.5" x 8.5", with seven holes down one side, specifically made to fit the "Jeppeson Airway Manual" binder that most pilots carried with them.
We realized that instead of one manual per airport installation, we could create inexpensive quick-reference cards for each pilot user. These sheets fit into the existing literature racks, they fit into the binders the pilots carried, and they increased the use of the systems (which in turn increased the sales of the systems). Once the “how to information” became easier for the pilots to use, the new version became a huge success, with installations in thousands of sites across the country.
1993 was a while ago now, but the pilots are still carrying those crazy 7-hole binders!
From Brenda Huettner, P-N Designs, Inc., Tucson
World Usability Day 2007 is sponsored by:
