Terra System
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In this week's design entry we will be briefly discussing the design of airplane tray tables. You know, those cool things on the back of seats in airplanes.
First and foremost, why do we need these? Or better yet, why are they useful? Well, these are simple questions with an obvious answer - they're great for our leisure while we fly from destination to destination. They can safely hold cups of liquids and are a good location to place your laptop if you need to get work done while you're flying. So, that settles the question of usability - tray tables are entirely useful and sometimes necessary for certain people. There are also a few safety measures associated with these, such as making sure they're upright before liftoff and landing. But what about the design of these tray tables?
These tables tend to be simplistic in design across all carriers - there is little to no difference among tray tables on Delta, United, American Airlines, and other carriers. They're usually grey in color and have rounded edges so as to prevent clumsy user injury. They also have a small, circular cup-holder that is not particularly deep (mostly due to the overall small thickness of the tray table).
Simple image of a tray table.
So we've implicitly briefly touched upon the positive aspects of the design of airplane tray tables. Now we must ask, are there any bad aspects of the tray table, design or functionality-wise? One bothersome thing to me is just the safety measure of having flight attendants bother you until you put up your tray table. That's a major implementation con, in my opinion, but it's a rather necessary one. Additionally, I think that the tray tables may be a little too thin and too flimsy. A little turbulence shakes it up and could make your laptop or soda fall to the ground. But again, I also find the thickness necessary as well - there's only so much space the designers have to work with.
All in all, I personally love these little buggers. They're convenient, not an eyesore, and get the job done. I just wish I could say the same about their carriers leaving on time.
I'm actually happy you brought the airplane tray table to attention. I agree with what you've said, however, I do have a major complaint about these. I hate it how you can't control your own tray, meaning that if the person in front of you is leaning as far back as possible (most likely the case) good luck keeping the food on your tray table, let alone even eating it. I understand that there's really no other option as to where a tray table can go with the little space that they provide, but I just had to get that off my chest.
ReplyDeleteI was once on a flight and had my laptop open on the tray table, watching some god awful TV show on the complimentary wi-fi. All was well. Then the person in front of me reclined back so suddenly that they snapped my computer closed. Thankfully the screen wasn't damaged, but you can bet I was seething at that person for the duration of the flight. I tried to get back to what I was doing but it was impossible to see the screen because of how far back the chair in front of me was angled.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, tray tables are useful... as long as the person in front of you isn't a jerk.
Yeah, these are very helpful. I wondered though why they don't have them automatically move into a locked up position in an emergency situation, but maybe that is a stretch. I have been on a flight though that had these but they were like an inch thinner than normal. That was scary, my beverage was on the edge of falling onto my lab for 3 hours. I would say that while these are very functional, they seem very lazy to me. It seems like a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" situation. So yes, it isn't by any means broken or inefficient but if an airline revamped it they would be perceived in a much more positive light. Especially since everyone hates airline companies.
ReplyDeleteHonestly my favorite kind of airplane trays are the opens that are inside your arm rests. They add the last element that all airplane tables lack. Aesethic.
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