Knowledge Work on Airplanes: Challenges, Workarounds, and Design Implications
Wen Mo, Martin Dechant, Nicolai Marquardt, Amid Ayobi, Aneesha Singh, Catherine Holloway · 2024
Digital technologies provide significant potential to transform people's lived experiences of working in confined spaces. However, our understanding of the challenges and workarounds of digital knowledge work on long-haul flights is not well documented. To address this research gap, we present the findings of a semi-structured interview study with 21 participants investigating the nuances of working on airplanes (WoA). We identify contradictory attitudes towards WoA and challenges that go beyond spatial limitations, such as well-being issues, feelings of surveillance, and logistic hurdles across the entire journey. Based on this understanding, we discuss design implications, from portable and functional digital tools to discreet interaction techniques for improving WoA experiences and the potential to extend them to other confined workspaces.