Streaming platforms are part of our daily lives. Housing everything from movies and series to music and podcasts, they’re intuitive to use, easy to navigate and serve recommendations based on your preferences. So why should it be any different when you sit on board an aircraft?

That’s exactly the question our inflight entertainment team has answered. Using historical viewing and listening data, they’ve created a new inflight experience that allows passengers to navigate the system as seamlessly as they would their favourite streaming platforms on the ground. We’re progressively rolling out this upgraded interface, starting with our Airbus 350 aircraft. On board an upgraded Cathay Pacific plane? Simply tap the screen and begin to discover our entertainment content.

The project involved a complete overhaul of the flight entertainment system. “We tried to make it simple and straightforward while bringing in new elements,” says Mavis Keung, Customer Experience Manager, Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity Development. Updating a design that people have become accustomed to came with its own obstacles, too: “How do we ensure that passengers will be able to easily adapt to this new design, and be able to self-learn all these new features?”

User experience was central to the process. Keung and her team ran workshops with Cathay customers, interviewing them about their inflight habits, their expectations during the journey, and how digital touchpoints can enhance the flying experience. After the first designs were complete, the team hosted a panel, showed the demo and watched how participants interacted with the screen. The team used these findings to make further enhancements, and after numerous iterations, our new interface took shape.