DFW Airport Innovation
Design Research
-Interviews
-Data Synthesis
-Prototyping
Art Direction & Design
-Presentation Decks
-Case Study Book
-Prototype materials
In partnership with DFW International Airport and SMU MADI, my team was tasked with tackling the problem of “How might we unlock the power of innovation within DFW Airport employees?”
Below is a brief overview of the design process, for a full and detailed version feel free to access our Case Study PDF.
— Understand
Gaining context
During the initial client briefing, we heard about the progress of the innovation mindset within DFW Airport culture, the power of incremental innovation, limited cross-functional collaboration, and the overall structure and hierarchy of the DFW Airport organization. It was also mentioned that 10%-15% of the company was retiring, making it an opportune time for transformation. This lead my team to explore several different avenues including organizational behavior and structure, incremental innovation, cross-functional collaboration, employee engagement, emotional well being and environments in the workplace.
— Research
Starting with facts
Given the context, my team delved into articles and theoretical frameworks that centered around the themes of environment, well-being, and cross-functional collaboration to bolster the engagement culture at DFW Airport. Through this research, we recognized the importance of these factors and hypothesized that by creating an environment that encourages cross-functional collaboration and improving employees’ well-being at the workplace, the employees’ experience at the workplace would lead to a more engaged culture at DFW Airport, ultimately breaking down barriers and disrupting the status quo. This hypothesis served as a foundation throughout all of our interviews from both internal DFW Airport employees and external expert resources, where we were able to better shape our understanding of what a successful prototype could be.
— Prototype
Brain Dates at DFW
Gleaning from our research, we ultimately designed an experience to bring the themes to life where employees were matched in small groups across varying roles and departments to connect and collaborate in knowledge-sharing sessions, aptly named Brain Dates. By doing so, it encouraged movement to different communal spaces across the organization, promoted cross-cultural collaboration by forming new relationships, and fostered connections among employees through building trust and a shared sense of purpose within guided conversations.
— Results
Success indicators
Data collected from both an in-person debrief immediately after the session as well as an online followup survey, gave us several success indicators from our prototype. A few of those metrics include, 100% of participants met someone new, notably that two participants who have worked together for ten years and shared that they “had learned more about each other in 30 minutes than they had working together for ten years”; and that 87% of survey respondents would be willing to facilitate and champion Brain Dates in the future. Proving that employees want to be involved and are willing to dedicate their time and effort to facilitate future sessions.
— Design Principles
Our three recommendations for the future of Brain Dates at DFW International Airport:
— Art direction
Another key responsibility I held was to take on the role of lead designer on the team, creating pieces that ranged from our presentation decks to the materials used on the day of the prototype as well as setting the brand identity (fonts, colors, logos, etc) for the scope of the project.
The menu used to facilitate relatable conversations
Our intro presentation slide
The team modeling our shirts after a successful prototype at the DFW Headquarters
The invitation sent out to DFW employees
Our case study document cover
The shirts we coordinated for our prototype