Tickets + value stream analysis

1 minutes estimated reading time

I was at Mobile Monday Hong Kong earlier this week listening to a mix of start-ups and travel industry insiders talk about how mobile is affecting tickets in international travel.

There was an in-depth discussion on how general ticket related  apps (like Apple’s Passbook) were better than using an airline’s application (like Cathay Pacific’s app).

Now Cathay Pacific’s application does need a lot of work. And so do the apps of other airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa and Korean Air. The agency who built the Cathay Pacific mobile app squeezed the website down to a mobile form factor but didn’t take account the fact that mobile users won’t be happy having to keep logging into the application. Particularly when you have the pressures of checking bags in and using an electronic ticket getting airside in a typical airport.

In contrast to this was an app that was the equivalent for tickets of J.R.R Tolkein’s One Ring. The idea being that consumers, airlines or channel partners like travel agents would be happy to have Sauron (sorry for the LoTR references) looking after everything from concert tickets to flight tickets.

Firstly different kind of tickets don’t need the same kind of security policies. I would expect a lower security policy on tickets allowing entrance to a bloggers meet up than a trip involving long haul air travel.

Unfortunately, consumers don’t make rational decision-makers. They think about tickets in terms of context (travel, concerts) rather than a category (tickets). That’s the reason why the like branded applications. One quote struck me as summing this all up:

If only everybody understood the value stream analysis; there wouldn’t be any airline applications, just ours

Consumers aren’t rational, they aren’t interested in consuming the least overall resources in a given process. They are interested in how it fits into their life. More web of no web related content can be found here.