Auckland Airport

THE CHALLENGE Auckland Airport’s staff needed a consolidated, logical way of logging IT requests and reporting on issues that removed pressure from telephone support and introduced an online solution that could integrate with their existing intranet. The goal was to cater to all the diversity of Airport employees, with an intuitive interface that would allow for new and existing hardware, software and system access requests, as well as reporting on incidents of different magnitudes of importance. I partnered with Airport staff and the teams at Datacom and Activate, through my company, Heroic, to design a simple solution, and the relevant accompanying training and awareness materials, that would contribute to a significant shift in the way of working for the Business Technology Helpdesk at Auckland Airport. THE SOLUTION First, I interviewed a cross-section of airport staff to understand their current experience, and produced a report which uncovered common themes and outlined a series of design principles which would guide the design and development effort. A simple prototype was created, and a round of usability testing interviews executed, after which a further, more granular report was generated to shed light on what the ideal solution might look like. The prototype was then modified in line with the findings. Concurrently, I built up a basic digital brand guideline for the BT Helpdesk, and produced the visual design for all the necessary system screens. I then coordinated with Datacom and Activate to assist in the front end development effort and ensure the designs were correctly represented in the browser. Finally, I produced 8 support videos, and their corresponding PDF guides, to aid staff in navigating the basic functions of the new helpdesk. With the intention of raising internal awareness around the new helpdesk, I also produced 4 different posters at 2 sizes, and managed the print process. THE RESULT Staff at Auckland Airport are now able to log requests, download software and report on issues in a timely manner, and be informed and updated on timings for delivery. Pressure on helpdesk staff has been significantly alleviated, due to requests and issues now being catalogued and ordered in terms of importance.