Hailing all road warriors,
Have you noticed our recent improvements to the kiosk check-in experience, such as the addition of new languages, international check-in, excess baggage handling, and baggage drop? Well, we’re not stopping there…and we need your help!
We have an opportunity to take the kiosk—and the online check-in experience—to a whole new level and we want to hear from you.
One of the things you told us on delta.com/change was we should offer drink vouchers from the kiosk. Another comment was, “Why do I have to press ‘Continue’ on every kiosk screen?” And, “How can I redesign the electronic check-in experience?” Okay, maybe not that one, but here’s your chance, Champ!
- What else would save you “airport time” either online or at the kiosk?
- What do you love and don’t want us to change?
- If we could change just one thing, what would it be?
We always appreciate your feedback—feel free to use this blog or our new “Feedback” widget on delta.com to tell us what you like and don’t like about each and every page on our site. Our user-centered design focuses on you, so let us know.
Mark Cohen
Manager, User Experience Design
delta.com & Self-Service Products
September 24th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I always hated the way the kiosks greet me. Delta could really use this display to show off the new logo or even market new routes (e.i. Display a picture of a new destination like Stockholm with the Delta logo and text stating new service). jetBlue has a cute welcome screen that says something like, “Hodwy”, “Hey!”, or something similar, then “Insert Credit Card or Touch to Start is in slightly smaller script on the bottom.”
It makes the whole display look so much better.
Also, I know that certain exit rows and bulkheads are marked as premium seats… How about adding an option to sell these seats at the kiosk?
Another option… With the new food-for-purchase being introduced, how about a way to order a meal from the kiosk?
I really like what Delta’s doing!
September 24th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
In Atlanta, it can often be confusing when you check in using a kiosk. The kiosk should instruct users to a numbered counter to have an attendant check their bags. The last time I checked in through a kiosk in Atlanta, there were 2 lines open. I wasn’t told which one to go to, so I went to the shorter line. There was a long line behind one counter, and it would have been quicker for passengers had we all been assigned lines.
On flights with a movie, headsets should be sold through the kiosk for those who don’t have cash (i.e., international travelers). They could simply charge the headsets to their credit card. I also agree with ordering meals from the kiosk, and for the CRC members, it would be nice if we had a “menu on demand” kiosk in the CRC where we could order food. (The CRC seriously needs a dedicated dining area with its own food since outside food is not allowed in the CRC.)
September 24th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
You really need to allow international check-in from home, like a major competitor of yours allows. You put in your passport information, and it allows you to print your boarding passes. Also, please give us the option to enter a fax # to receive the boarding passes. Very handy if staying at a hotel, or elsewhere and can’t get to a printer.
I agree that ordering a meal from the Kiosk or from home is a great idea! Your meal selection could then be printed on the boarding pass. Better yet, allow the purchasing of a meal at time of ticketing so it’s included in the final price.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Thanks, scotl453–great minds think alike! The idle state and welcome screen are two areas that we’re focusing on to both better represent Delta’s brand promise and identity and to facilitate users’ checking in more easily. We’ve identified potential areas of confusion around check-in options (SkyMiles number vs. credit card vs. …) and are designing a solution that hopefully works for both the road warriors and less-experienced travelers.
Some of your other suggestions, such as premium upgrades and food for purchase, are also items we’re considering.
If you haven’t noticed, we recently added food for purchase indicators in our shopping path on delta.com to help identify those flights where you can purchase food on-board. When you search on flights, you’ll see a “In-flight Services” link that brings-up a pop-up box with descriptions of food and entertainment options on given flights.
September 24th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I like the audio feedback given when you complete an important step (chirp!)
However, I wish the “auto logout” timer worked more quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked up to a kiosk and the previous passenger is still logged in.
September 24th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I think it would be nice to see the ability to click through some details you see only at the gate like upgrade list? Or how full the plane is?
September 24th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
How about the ability to purchase a day pass to the Crown Room club ? I recently flew a competitor who offered the day pass upon kiosk check-in and I found it to be very convenient.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
What I think would be great would be to indicate features of the plane when you are changing seats (like seatguru.com), this way, if I want to change my seats, I know what I am looking at.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
specifically, things like power ports, locations of tv screens, recline, etc. (moderator - this was supposed to be one comment - my bad)
September 24th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I used the kiosks at check in several times in the past few weeks, and honestly, they are great!
Some things you could improve on include
- Making the option to express check in w/o bags. People who might have done all their arrangements online would simply insert their credit card or skymiles card, confirm who they are, and a page would simply come up with their flights, their current seat assignments and any special arragnements, and no checked luggage. if they click confirm, they simply get their boarding passes printed and off they are! You dont always have the opportunity to check in on-line, so this would be the next best thing.
- Show if upgrades to First / Business class are available at check in, and available for purchase using the current fare. Much easier than having to wait in line at the gate counter. Would be nice if Medallion members could also be confirmed right then if they requested an upgrade.
- Allow flight changes to earlier flights for no additional charge if there are seats available at time of check in.
- Having kiosks in the gate areas in airports that serve many delta flights (LA, ATL, HNL
)
Just some ideas. I dont think Delta offers food-for-purchase on any flights right now so I dont think that idea would be necesessary. And it would be nice to choose what meal I want when I purchase the ticket (esp. on International Flights).
September 25th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Wow–lots of great ideas; some of these are under consideration for our current kiosk redesign while others are great enhancements for the future.
HRGM:
We’ve been exploring audio feedback on the kiosk, but our current hardware doesn’t support audio playback. The chirps you may hear are actually built into the card reader rather than the kiosk itself. Also, audio can be a challenge in noisy lobbies. The auto logout is something we’re looking at to see how to make it better; I think it’s a 30-45 second timer right now.
paparazzi1983:
I like the idea of the express check-in with no baggage–definitely something to consider.
Also, you may not have noticed, but we do have kiosks in some gate areas in Atlanta to facilitate changing seats or flights.
And we just launched our food for purchase program about a week ago; you can read about it here:
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10822
September 25th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Please do not allow CRC purchases to be made at the kiosk. I don’t think Delta should even be selling day passes. For those of us who fly frequently and who are CRC members, the CRC lounges are getting way too crowded and the amenities offered are minimal now. Delta may find that it has a mass exodus of CRC members if it doesn’t rethink its day passes.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I would like to be able to print a receipt at the kiosks after I Check In for the flight from home, without resetting my Upgrade List time.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Hey mark… wow, you actually check back often
I just finished reading the food-for-purchase article, I like it! The last transcon flight I did was DL 547 but on Sept 17… would be nice if the old Song 757s didnt power spike and cause a plane-wide outage on the ground.
The food for purchase made me think- on one hand, it would be great to be able to choose what type of food you want to buy at the kiosk and have it paid for already so on the plane you either simply get the food or give the voucher to the FA and voila- dinner on a plane on a transcon! But at many airports there aren’t always excess kiosks- and huge lines can form when multiple flights are about to depart. Adding too many options at the check-in Kiosk might cause those running on tight schedules (for whatever reason) to blow up under the stress. So while the check-in Kiosks can be a great resource to automate many things, it also needs to be efficient and to the point, especially when airports are crowded and under stress.
I think adding kiosks at the gate areas of more major airports would be better for people to make changes to their flight/customizations after passing through security and allowing the gate agents to take care of real problems (like people missing their flights).
Maybe allowing Delta.com to be available for free through WiFi in major airports would be a nice addition for business travelers at the gate areas. Would allow flyers to access flight information, make new travel arrangements, maybe even allow people to make last minute car or hotel reservations using the Delta.com website (remember, the free WiFi is only through Delta.com, not any other website.)
For the Food-For-Purchase program, would be absoluteley AWESOME if there was a online “menu” with pictures and nutritional information of the current offerings for all classes and all menus, since menus do not change except month-to-month. A mini-menu could also be placed in Sky. If people are able to see what might be available on a flight and how much it costs (and have somewhat accurate, although glorified, pictures of the food) they might not stop by McD’s and wait to enjoy a meal in the sky :). Nutrition Information and/or Ingridients lists would also go a ways to be a better customer-oriented airline.
Even cooler? If the full menus pictures and nutritional info is placed online, you could also place links to those places that make the cheese and those darn good brownies.
I want one now…
September 25th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Thanks, paparazzi1983–I am trying to keep an eye on the thread; the easiest way for me is using our RSS link (above). I use Safari on the Mac and have it up in my toolbar so I can see whenever you guys post–very convenient.
I like the idea of the online menu and nutrition info; I’m passing it onto Julie Palmer, our Manager of Website Content, since we’re looking at revamping our In-flight Services section to better inform our customers.
September 27th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
My request is pretty simple. When pressing virtual keys on the touchscreen, provide audible feedback. Providing both visual and audible feedback helps those that type/enter fast. Thanks.
September 27th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Thanks, Rickp–unfortunately our current kiosk hardware doesn’t support audio playback at all; any sounds you may currently hear are embedded in the card reader itself. I doubt we’ll be updating the hardware itself for a few years, as we did that quite recently in order to standardize across our system. I do agree with you, though, that audio is a great way of providing feedback and ensuring accuracy in entry.
I read an article recently about a user who had modified their system so that their keyboard sounded like an old typewriter–the feedback made their experience supposedly more “tactile”.
September 29th, 2007 at 4:50 am
Flying in and out of SLC is becoming a pleasant habit, however with the sprawl of DL/DL Conx flights into Terminal 1, would there be a way to put express kiosks at T1? This way passengers who check gate information on the way to the airport, would not have to travel to T2, then haul themselves to T1? Also the space between the kiosks and the baggage check stations in T2 seems to be quite large. While I think the kiosks are wonderful, I would recommend moving the banks closer to the baggage check stations and creating a line that will allow a first come, first served versus the free for all that is quite chaotic during peak times.
September 29th, 2007 at 6:45 am
mark- you need to teach all the other department heads how to do the RSS thing
kudos on working for Delta with a Mac
another idea came up, but this may not work from a “delta needs your money” point-of-view: Allowing people who check in early the opportunity to take a earlier flight without penalty should there still be seats available on an earlier flight in their origional booking class. This could help people move their itineraries up, and should later in the day those seats need to be used for helping alleviate a delayed/cancelled flight situation, you at least sent someone off earlier. Of course this would only be offered to people who check in early, and is not a guarantee…
one other idea is to offer the “upgrade to first class” right at check-in if there are still seats available. Hawaiian Airlines does this for their Inter-Island flights (at least) and although I wouldn’t pay $25 for a little extra wiggle room for 1 hour, I would think about it for $300 on a 10-12hr Trans-atlantic flight.
Hope the ideas arent getting too bothersome yet
September 29th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Thanks for the comments on SLC, Cameo–I’ll pass that onto the folks that handle kiosk deployments.
Hey, Paparazzi–yeah, RSS is pretty cool; we’re looking at adding it to areas of the site that have frequent updates, like Deals & Offers–that way you can keep up on rapidly changing fares.
I like the idea of offering earlier flights; I think this is something we’ve discussed, but I need to check. I know we offer alternative flights when there has been a cancellation, but this is a nice idea.
And no problems on the ideas–that’s why I’m here! We build this site for our users and want all our products to meet your needs.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:07 am
Whatever you do…Please, do not make the kiosks mandatory. I flew once with US Airways (I had little choice as that last minute flight was over $2000 less with them than delta). When I needed help checking in the airline staff had to go over to the kiosk as they had no way to check me in at the actual desk. It felt very uninviting, disconcerting, and unfriendly to check-in this way. Admittedly, in an airport I was familiar with, it would’ve been easier…but please please do not switch to a kiosk-only system, it’s awful! Besides, I love the friendly Delta staff, they always put me at ease while answering my questions.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I have two suggestions related to the online check-in process.
1. Integrate PMUs into the online system
2. Have Outlook calendar (.ics) files available with flight information for upcoming itineraries. I use a Blackberry and currently manually input this information into my Outlook. I find it very handy to have my flight numbers, departure times, and confirmation numbers easily accessible and believe others would as well.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:57 pm
chazbrownfield–thanks for the great ideas.
We’re actually adding Outlook calendar (.ics) support with all that you mention to an upcoming Itineraries maintenance load that should be out soon; it will let you automagically add your outbound and return flights to your calendar. I debated about the default reminder time for the flight–should it be 24 hrs. (day before) or the Outlook default of 15 minutes? I left it at 15 minutes for now, but would be curious what you guys think.
October 1st, 2007 at 7:33 pm
One specific thing I don’t like about the kiosks is that, sometimes they offer me an “alternative route” that will actually take me longer to get to my destination! These days, does anyone in their right mind want to spend one more minute than necessary “in the system?” Overall though, kiosk check-in is as fast as it’s going to get. If you reduce my kiosk time from 2 minutes down to 1.5 minutes but I’m still facing a 45 minute delay due to a maintenance issue, who cares about the 30 seconds you saved me at the kiosk?
October 1st, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I like the 24 hour reminder, I use that as a guage when I am entering it into outlook now.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 am
I think 24-hours would be nice. Would also be cool to download those dates to Apple’s iCal, since its used on the iPhone and more laptops as time progresses… iCal, I believe, runs on an open-source program so if it’s iCal compatible, should be compatible with any calendar app that is willing to be open source.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:34 pm
iCal can handle the .ics files that Outlook uses, so you should be all set, Paparazzi.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:38 pm
wow a Delta Management guy knows more about Mac than me. thats fine, still trying to get FCE to work like my old Adobe Premiere 6.5… mac newbie here
Mark, any idea if you can offer the “pay $200 to upgrade to 1st class standy” at the Check-In Kiosk? Hawaiian Airlines does, and it’s sorta nice to have that option presented when you check in (but I’m sure Medallion members, such as myself, will be upset when we get passed up for our complimentary upgrades for some joe paying money to upgrade)….
And I hope that the suggestion made by a handsome poster earlier to allow earlier-flight changes at the Kiosk without penalty or change fees is taken up… of course this may only work say if a plane is less than 80% full or something in order to reduce potential chaos should a flight get cancelled, but at least then if traffic later gets backed up somehow there are extra seats available (and also could accomodate more last-minute flyers).
You ROCK, Mark!
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:04 am
LOL Paparazzi–just doing my job! (And I’ve been using Macs for 20 years, both at work and home, so I have a slight advantage! BTW–Adobe is looking to bring Premiere back to the Mac platform sometime in the next year.)
Currently, we have no immediate plans for paid-for upgrades directly via the Kiosk, but we are exploring those and other options already mentioned (such as purchasing food, Crown Room Club passes, etc.).
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:18 pm
As a Gold Medallion member, I know when I can use a kiosk and when I need an agent, but Delta reps seem to push people to the kiosks. As I tried to explain to the agent in Charleston this week, I need to see a rep. She virtually pulled me out of the first spot in line and took me to a kiosk. I wanted to take an earlier flight, but was confirmed first class on a flight that left less than two hours later. Standing at the kiosk, I asked her what was the status of the first class cabin as it relates to upgrade availability. She stated that from a kiosk I had to buy a ticket on the earlier flight for $50 BEFORE I could find that out. I bought the ticket at the kiosk and flew coach home, no avialability.
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Okay–I’ve tried to answer all your questions, but there were some I wasn’t sure about, so I checked with our experts. (Okay, “expert”–Chris Porter (CP) of our Kiosk team, to be specific. Thanks, Chris!):
1) I wish the “auto logout” timer worked more quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked up to a kiosk and the previous passenger is still logged in.
[CP] There are two timeout values on kiosk – one for passenger input screens (30 secs.) and one for non input screens (15 secs.), I believe. The final “thank you” screen should be up for only 15 seconds before it logs out the last user. We are looking at these timings as part of our current redesign.
2) Show if upgrades to First / Business class are available at check in, and available for purchase using the current fare.
[CP] This is part of a potential kiosk reissue project that we have on our list.
3) Allow flight changes to earlier flights for no additional charge if there are seats available at time of check in
[CP] Unfortunately, free changes are not currently a Delta product. The Kiosk does handle same day changes, however, for the $50 fee or free if it’s an unrestricted ticket
4) I would like to be able to print a receipt at the kiosks after I Check In for the flight from home, without resetting my Upgrade List time
[CP] Using the kiosk after online checkin will NOT change priority on the standby list for Medallion upgrades.
5) One specific thing I don’t like about the kiosks is that, sometimes they offer me an “alternative route” that will actually take me longer to get to my destination!
[CP] Yes, this is an annoying defect that has been on our list to fix. The Kiosk looks at departure time only when looking for earlier flights, which sometimes includes connections that might actually land later than the passenger’s current flight. This is a thankfully infrequent but still annoying problem that we need to fix.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
All cool people have the first name Chris
Auto Logout feature, in my opinion, should say thank you for only 5-7 seconds. Otherwise I think it’s OK for now (in my experience).
- Change for Free: Hmm, yeah I guess you’re right, Delta needs to make money so I doubt that policy will change.
It would be nice to check in online and be able to reprint the the boarding pass at the airport, has happened to me many times where I check in online either to see that my black ink cartridge just died or I forgot I’m in a hotel room without a printer anywhere.
Another Kiosk idea came up to me when i was waiting to do a Airport Shuttle run at HNL… why not have a guided tour available with a actual delta agent video run people through the whole Kiosk enviroment? Audio may be a problem, however when I worked at an electronic store before they had these “sound stations” that had a dome and focused audio downward, making the sounds only audible to those in the “dome”… if you place a sound-deadening carpet underneath it, the sound should just stay “in the zone”. I know this may be a large project, however I think you could try to get some college students in video production (like myself
)and computer engineering to be able to produce it as a internship project- their enthusiasm might help. The basic idea is to have a video of a Delta Attendant greet the passenger and walk them through every step of the check in process. This would allow counter agents to concentrate more on passengers who need their bags tagged, and only if the kiosk runs into problems that are really beyond itself, it asks you to see an agent.
Also, the Kiosks at “converted airports”, where the kiosks have taken the place of counters but in a line, would have “HELP ME!!! call lights”, like those attendant call buttons on planes. When the kiosk needs agent interaction, either for problems with the reservation or what not, a light or some sort of notification is made by the Kiosk, rahter than forcing passengers to hunt down an agent. Heck, the Kiosk was asking for it in the first place
Nice to know I can make you laugh, mark
Aloha
Paparazzi
October 17th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Mark,
I can’t quite find the right spot for this subject, baggage claim. Your blog is a close fit. Knock on wood, I have had great baggage claim experiences over the last several months in ATL. Some of the smaller destinations have a tough time keeping up, but still do an ok job.
As a note regarding experiences, this is the last one a traveler has with Delta. It is nice that check-in is quick, but the real test for Delta is the time it takes to pull the bags from the holds and get them to baggage claim.
I understand that various aircraft demand various methods of retrieval and that weather conditions can really impact the ground crews performance. I believe that this experience can either make or break getting that passenger to fly Delta again.
Thanks!
October 20th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Mark,
maybe this is not exactly your topic, but I have an issue with the “view/manage reservations” section at delta.com which has bugged me for quite some time already…. I am a German AF Flying Blue Gold member which gives me Skyteam Elite Plus status. Although I am thus elegible for preferred seating on DL flights I cannot choose those seats online, but have to call a reservation center every time I want to make a seat reservation. Same thing for adding my FF number to an intinerary, regardless if it was booked through delta.com or another travel agency.
So it would be really nice if you could add those two features to delta.com: give me a way of adding my Flying Blue number to an itinerary - regardless from if it is booked through delta.com or not - and allow Skyteam Elites from other FF programs than DL Skymiles to choose their preferred seats online.
Thanks,
haggis
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:30 pm
I’d like to add my two cents here.
First of all I’d like to say I hope that delta.com will allow other airlines’ FF numbers to be put in as suggested by Haggis.
Second and very much related to the kiosks are the fact that I absolutely hate the thermal paper which the boarding passes are printed on. They are impersonal, fade easily and provide no souveneer (what a feeling it is to find old stubs and remember the airline I flew). I really charish the old paper BPs and go out of my way to get an agent to print one out for me (I have my well proven methods though it is getting harder). I’m not the only one out there who does that.
November 15th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Here’s a suggestion for the WebExperience. As a Gold (turning Platnium next week) customer, when i check in if i haven’t received a complimentary upgrade i’m transferred to “the list.” Sometimes I don’t know where i am on that list unless i ask an agent. Airports like IND don’t have the monitiors like they do at ATL. I can’t imagine how many times the gate agent is asked “can you tell me where i am on the list?”
Suggestion:
Why not show online the same Upgrade List displayed on the monitor by the gate. Of course you have to have BIG BOLD DISCLAIMER that says “list positioning subject to change” or something like that. You could also show the list on the mobile DL site.
November 15th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
NickBjr–thanks for the suggestion; that’s actually pretty interesting. We’re trying to minimize the overt display of information online to ensure users can quickly find what they need, but something like this could be an advanced option for those who need it. I’d have to check on the data source and see if it’s feasible, but it’s an interesting idea for the future.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
This isn’t about checking in, but I can’t find a place to leave this comment because there’s nothing for “RESERVATIONS”. Record locators - confirmation numbers, whatever you want to call them. Why are they alpha characters where phonetics have to be used over the phone, and reservationists don’t know the official ones anyhow and when I give them the correct words, they often get confused. SO why can’t these be numeric instead, where far less confusion would result? 123-456 is a lot better than BVP-SCZ which keeps em guessing.
November 19th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Hi Mark, Good blog. Check my profile (you will understand) and e-mail me your e-mail address so I can send you a private comment. Thanks, Jim O
November 19th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Not sure if anything can be done about this, but the kiosks that have the new 3D-barcode-capable scanners are almost always unable to read the barcode printed on the back of my card or on the luggage tag. Not a huge deal, but it was quicker and easier to scan, rather than insert, the card to begin the checkin process on the 2D-barcode-only kiosks.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Ok Now We’re Checked in….How about Clear at Security?
DL needs to help get Clear Registered Traveler Program to more DL sites!
I fly each week between FLL and IND (via ATL). The Clear Program is up and running at IND. Being prescreened my ID and BIO (iris or fingerprints) are verified and i move past the entire security queue right up to the mangetometers. This is an incredible advancement for business travelers! Its free the first year if you’re diamond with Hyatt otherwise its $99 how can you beat that!?!
As Clear moves into airports like JFK & EWR they’re being co-sponsored by airlines like Virgin. Why isn’t DL doing more to get it at airports like FLL? You have lots of commuters that go thru there every week. With Cruise season starting (FLL is the Cruise Capitol of the USA). All the tourists start coming and bog up the security queues.
I’ve written to DL, Broward County Aviation Dept and the TSA. Everyone says everyone else has to take the initiatitve!
Come on Delta! Step up to the plate and help make this a reality for your regular business travelers! You have alot of them at FLL!