Sunday 5 July 2015

Simple Solutions

On airlines, business class customers can often eat at the time of their choosing. Not so in economy class, where customers are usually at the mercy of the meal trolley. On long haul overnight flights this can be an acute problem. Customers are often asleep at mealtime and flight attendants face the choice of waking up a potentially grumpy customer or skipping a sleeping one only to have to deal with meal requests at later inconvenient times.

Etihad Airways has devised an elegant solution, grounded in simplicity. The sleeping mask now supplied to economy customers is reversible, printed with "Do not disturb" on one side and "Wake me up for meals" on the other. Problem solved. Great usability at low cost.


Sometimes innovation is right in front of you. The solution to a problem can be easy, it's just that no-one has thought of it before.