Happy New Year! š I am but a humble software developer, so help me to understand where we are in 2026 at the intersection of technology and business. š¼š§š»āš»
AI wonāt whisper what Iām about to say into the ears of executives at Finnair. Iām a UX professional but I donāt work there. I like the operation though. Theyāve enabled plenty of good things for me. Iāve spent my time between Finland and Spain thanks to their convenient flights. I travelled with my dog Mimmi on direct flights to Toronto. More recently, enjoyed business upgrades and Iāve had silver status for a couple years. Soon, I may be in the back of the plane again with a street cat from Granada. Thanks to Finnairās well functioning service, itās all possible.
I have only been moderately successful at software consulting. Itās always felt like a battle advocating for the user experience as we are squeezed ever tighter on productivity. How could I better convince companies that investing in UX is good for business?
Here is a case: I want to order food for my flight from London to Helsinki. I know from experience that the onboard options arenāt great but the pre-order food is really good, for airplane food. They donāt have the full meals that they often do, but the āfresh bowlā (ā¬10.90) looks nice. A poke thing with rainbow trout. WWF says itās an ecological choice, so feeling solid about that.
Thereās other nice options on the list. I donāt normally consider myself a glutton, but I would add a vegetarian sandwich combo (ā¬11.90) just for the coffee, smoothie and dessert. I could imagine that someone else might get a panini and caesar salad. Salad and a pizza even.
In practice, you can only pre-order one item, so I had to leave out the combo. Is this a desired business outcome? Not ideal for me. I would be interested in even more flexible combo options.
I understand complexity grows with business rules. Perhaps thereās a practical limit that can be consumed on a flight, but does it have to be enforced? Wouldnāt a more robust pre-order system facilitate a smooth in-flight service?
From a programming perspective, allowing multiple selections could require some 10-15% more effort in the development process? It wouldnāt be an entirely different project at least.
The feature would have increased sales by 109% here. š Seems like such an obvious win that Iām questioning what kind of freak I am for wanting this if nobody else has noticed a problem. A simple user experience review has taken me into a downward spiral of self-doubt. Apathy sets inā¦ nothing will change. Of course we canāt have exactly what we want. We serve the almighty SAP master, or Amadeus. Whoever the god of our technological life is today.
AI wonāt help solve these problems. So whoās really running the show? Who will take my advice? More importantly, who will take my money for all the yummy food, drinks and chocolates that canāt be purchased separately? š°ššš« Safe travels to all and inspiration! āØ
(Originally published on LinkedIn)