ST Y LE & D ESIGN
PERCEIVED QUALITY
Perceived quality is a difficult factor to address when trying to create the best business class.
However, Style&Design may have a solution with BenchmarQ , a unique decision-making tool
A
strength of the Style&Design
studio is its complementary
core skills of prototyping and
industrial design, combined with strong
expertise in perceived quality. The results
of these combined talents have been
recognised in the automotive industry, and
also became visible in aviation in 2019
when a – presently confidential – five-star
airline launched a business class seat
designed by the studio.
Before getting into the details of the
seat, it might be worth considering the
following definition of perceived quality:
“The user’s opinion about the overall
image of a product related to its purpose
of use and against its alternatives.”
Interestingly, quality is subjective from
a customer point of view, while from the
point of view of Style&Design, it is an
objective understanding of customer feel.
Let’s consider the strategic importance
of seats to airlines. Many business class
seat designs are recognised as being iconic
products, as well as being one of the
greatest vectors for airline branding and
one of the highest contributors to profits.
These seats are installed in an aircraft
cabin – the highest cost per square meter
on the planet – and as they will be in
service for 5 to 10 years, their design had
better be perfect, right from the inception.
The need for higher quality products is
reinforced by the societal shift we can see,
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
088 ANNUAL SHOWCASE 2020
with consumers looking for experiences
rather than products.
So, acknowledging that seats cannot
get flatter that flat, what is the next big
thing in the business class cabin? The
answer, most probably, is perceived
quality, which is why Style&Design, with
its efficient tools and processes inspired
by automotive developments, is a unique
organisation able to support the migration
from use value to experiential value.
1
2. BUSINESS CLASS SEATS FROM
15 INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES HAVE
BEEN ASSESSED TO DATE, WITH THEIR
SCORES AVAILABLE ON AN ONLINE
BENCHMARKING TOOL
2
/aircraftinteriorsinternational.com