In the past week, I’ve spent time in the airports in the following cities:

• Albuquerque NM
• Oakland, CA
• Phoenix, AZ
• Dallas, TX
• Austin, TX

Because of my recent travel schedule, I feel qualified to describe the ideal airport user experience. To that end, here’s what works, and what doesn’t.

Signage

In the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, outside each restroom is signage that tells you how far the next restroom is. This is incredibly useful because it helps a traveler gage whether they should stop at the current restroom (which may have a long line of people) or walk to the next pitstop.

Cleanliness

I have to say that all of the restrooms I’ve used in the last week were incredibly clean and tidy. As a traveler, I appreciate this so much.

Automatic Faucets

I am all for saving water, but there comes a point when it becomes ridiculous. This is apparent in airport restrooms. It takes a minimum amount of water to wash your hands, and each restroom I used cut off the water flow way too soon. On average, I had to move my hands away from the faucet and then back toward the faucet (so the motion detection faucets would start the flow of water) about 4 times to completely clean my hands. This is annoying. And if the restroom’s hand soap dispenser dispenses soap that is liquid and not foam, it takes even more water to get the soap off.

Airports, please let the faucet run a little longer.

Paper towels:

After you wash your hands, you need to wipe the water off. Most airports have paper towel dispensers that either dole out about 6 inches of paper towels, or you can pull one paper towel out of the dispenser at a time. My issue isn’t about the small amount of paper towels that is dispensed; rather, it has to do with the location of  the dispensers. There should be paper towel dispensers to the left of the sinks, to the right of the sinks, and in the middle of the sinks. In one airport restroom, the paper towel dispenser was mounted on the wall at the opposite end from where the bathroom door was located. This is stupid, inefficient design.

Restroom stall size

When people travel, they carry lots of crap with them… whether it’s luggage, backpacks, children’s strollers, pillows, packages, etc. Also, people change clothing in restroom stalls. This means travelers need a restroom stall that is large enough to contain the person and her things. A tiny little restroom stall doesn’t cut it. This should be obvious.

Temporary storage space inside the restroom stall

This is a major pet peeve of mine. When I’m using the restroom, I need a place to store my stuff. Generally, I travel with a backpack that contains my MacBook, iPad, iPhone, magazine, bottle of water, wallet, airline ticket, car keys, Dramamine, and chewing gum. My backpack is heavy and I need a sturdy hanger inside the stall where I can hang my backpack. That’s my most base requirement.

What I would really prefer is one of the following –

1. Two, sturdy prongs inside the restroom stall where I can hang the left and right straps of my backpack.

2. A shelf in the restroom stall where I can place my backpack while I’m using the restroom.

What sucks is when a restroom offers none of these things. I refuse to place my backpack on the restroom floor. That’s just gross.

WiFi

Airports, give travelers free WiFi access. Don’t be selfish jerks and charge people to use the Internet while they are waiting for a plane, or when they are trapped in the airport when a flight is cancelled. Be nice. Be generous.

Electrical outlets and mobile work space

Dear Airports, it’s time for you to create seating areas with lots of electric outlets and chairs that are comfortable to sit in while computing. In every airport I saw travelers sitting on the floor, charging their gadgets because the only electrical outlets were located near the floor, away from the boarding area. This is not acceptable. Get with the program and make airports comfortable for travelers. We want to be productive, even at the airport.