Completely different contexts. These are startups with fire at their backs running as fast as they can. They don't have time to be methodical and their brands are completely in flux. They have far fewer stakeholders to please and much quicker reaction time. In short: they are not American Airlines.
An outside contribution at this stage is as valuable as anything the companies themselves have the resources to put together. Meanwhile, we all see different angles to attack these problems while learning about a great designer. Everyone wins, and it sounds like it matters a great deal.
Agreed about the value of outside perspectives to resource-poor startups. The (purposefully provocative) point I was trying to make with American Airlines was simply that in all cases design is applied in service to goals which may not be obvious to an outsider.
Of course, an outsider might see what users want more easily than the product team.
An outside contribution at this stage is as valuable as anything the companies themselves have the resources to put together. Meanwhile, we all see different angles to attack these problems while learning about a great designer. Everyone wins, and it sounds like it matters a great deal.