Taking the Customer Experience to New Heights with Dr. Rachelle Ornan, Director of Cabin Research and Passenger Experience at Boeing Commercial Airplanes

This episode features an interview with Dr. Rachelle Ornan,
Director of Cabin Research and Passenger Experience and Associate
Technical Fellow for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, specializing in
the experience and design of commercial aircraft interiors. 
Before planes, she worked on spacecraft as a Human Factors
Engineer and Industrial Designer for NASA.  We talk with
Rachelle about idealized design, balancing art and science, and
what it takes to create a peaceful space to house the stress of
travel.


3 Takeaways:


Customer experience includes elements that reach the
end-user  on a subconscious or emotional level.

Consider all potential users when designing a customer
experience.

Customers may have generational differences in what they
expect from the experience.  Up-and-coming generations are
often looking to be treated to an aspirational experience they
don’t get anywhere else.



Key Quotes:


“There is a transformation that happens when people feel part
of something – when they actually feel moved by the experience.
That's the kind of research that we invest in and those are the
kinds of insights and design nuggets that come from a really
deep-seated place, an emotional place, a human place. When we
translate that into the built environment, you've got a lot of
people nodding their heads and getting on board.”

“I think that's kind of aspirational – to get treated
experientially...being treated to a beautiful interior that’s
nice, clean, bright, well lit and people are smiling and happy to
be going somewhere. I think that makes everybody feel good.”

“I really believe that travel helps economies. It connects us
to each other. It pulls people out of poverty...This is the big
stuff that I think Boeing connects the world to.”



Bio:


Dr. Rachelle N. Ornan, is an Associate Technical Fellow for
Boeing Commercial Airplanes specializing in the experience and
design of commercial aircraft interiors. Her background includes
lighting and concept interior development for the CST-100
Starliner capsule, visual perception research, space hotel
concepts for NASA, feature willingness-to-pay, and a
comprehensive ethnographic study of interiors. Currently, she
directs passenger experience research and bridges communication
between sales and marketing, engineering and airlines to ensure a
commercially viable, preferred product which maximizes revenue.
Rachelle holds a PhD in experimental psychology, and a master’s
in Industrial Design from North Carolina State University. She is
a dog-mom, an avid skier, backpacker, competitive synchronized
swimmer and currently pursuing her boat captain’s license.


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