Airports may look like simple transportation hubs, but almost every aspect of their design is carefully planned. From the moment you enter the terminal until you board your flight, subtle choices involving lighting, layout, signage, flooring, and even artwork are influencing how you move, how you feel, and yes—how much money you’re likely to spend.
Unless you’re in “the business,” you probably don’t put much thought into why certain places are designed the way they are.
- Restaurant logos use a lot of red, orange, and yellow because those colors have an effect as appetite stimulants.
- The restrooms in Disney parks around the world are designed to make the flow of traffic go faster.
- Modern-day hotel lobbies often have the restaurants/bars in the open (or at least nearby) to entice you to buy there, and to make it easier for staff, who sometimes work double duty.
- We’re admittedly still not sure what this hotel designer had in mind when (s)he made this decision?!?!?
But sometimes building designs go way beyond the obvious and focus on the subconscious things that help us make decisions. Airports are a prime example. For example:
How Airport Design Influences Your Experience
Airport walkways are often designed to do more than simply move passengers from Point A to Point B. They guide traffic, reduce confusion, keep people moving toward gates and, yes, expose travelers to shops and restaurants along the way.
That doesn’t mean every airport is laid out the same way. But passenger flow is a major part of airport planning, and retail areas are increasingly treated as integral to the airport experience, not just an afterthought.
The Psychology Behind Airport Shopping
“The golden hour” is that magical time when you’ve gotten through security but still have time until you board your plane. Airports purposely place certain stores (read: the most expensive stores), at the beginning of your path between security and the gate because you’ve got time to spend—so why not go shopping, right?
That’s why Duty Free tends to be right there, as soon as you’ve exited security. And to add insult to injury, they make sure the most expensive items with the highest profit margins are what you see first.
Why Airports Love Natural Light
People generally respond well to natural light. It can make a large terminal feel calmer, more open and less stressful. And if passengers feel less stressed, they’re more likely to linger, eat, shop or simply feel better about the airport experience. That’s good for travelers and good for airports. 😉
Airport Design: More Than Just Shopping
Fortunately, airport design is not JUST about getting you to buy more.
-
- They also make conscious decisions with their signage—where check-in, security, and the planes are (and how they sway people to naturally go in those directions)—and why Departures tends to be above Arrivals.
- They know that people enjoy using their cell phones to do things, so airports have embraced the technological advances (plus, if things are done automatically, they get to pay fewer people to do the work – this time saving money instead of you spending it).
- Airports have also changed their designs over the years to improve visibility and security, making it easier for staff to monitor public areas and respond when something goes wrong.
- Certain areas of airports are carpeted (or not), and are made specific colors to help sway people subconsciously.
- Even the art chosen for the airport is selected with specific intentions, such as reflecting what the city is about or serving as a meeting point (read: “You’re at Tampa? Meet me under the giant flamingo!”)
- Airports even choose how they queue people to help them feel less anxious about, well, being in a queue.
Want to Learn More?
This video goes into a lot more detail about all of these. Take a look:
I had no idea about a bunch of those; how about you?
Anyway, the next time you’re walking through an airport, take a closer look at what’s around you. The route to your gate, the placement of shops, the lighting overhead, the artwork on the walls, and even the way people are lined up have all been carefully considered by designers, architects, psychologists, and marketers. Some of those choices are intended to make your journey smoother and less stressful. Others are designed to encourage you to spend a little more money. Either way, airports are far more engineered than most of us realize—and now you’ll probably never look at one quite the same way again.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
