Sncf

Discovery

Four days. That’s all we had to reinvent an application used by millions of travelers. Our goal was clear: transform SNCF Connect into a super-app for urban mobility. Over a strong coffee, our team began decoding user expectations. To ground our ideas, we  conducted a collaborative brainstorming session, ensuring every team member contributed to digesting the brief and opening our minds to creative possibilities.

Benchmark

Citymapper, Google Maps, Moovit: we studied these pioneering apps. Their strength? Smooth navigation, intuitive interactive maps, and comprehensive coverage of multimodal needs, including walking. By comparison, SNCF Connect lacks personalization and could benefit from a redesign to better meet daily mobility needs. The potential? Enormous, provided the interface is completely rethought.

Hypotheses

1. The lack of emphasis on the daily itinerary search function on the current homepage may contribute to the app’s low adoption rate.
   • 5-second test
2. The absence of an integrated map deprives users of a 360-degree experience that accompanies them throughout their journey, forcing them to turn to competing apps like Google Maps (for short, occasional trips).
   • Map utility: How useful is it for you?
   • What features should an integrated map have?
   • If you imagine a perfect mobility app experience, what would it be like?
3. The current app wording does not highlight the importance of daily commutes, potentially leading to a limited perception of its utility for regular users.
   • 5-second test
4. A more personalized user experience could be a pathway to improving the app, addressing individual user needs more precisely and enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.
   • Have you ever personalized an app in your daily life?
   • Do you use personalization features in your mobility app?
   • Which ones? Why? How does it improve your experience? How could it be even more personalized? How important is this to you?
5. The itinerary search function is primarily designed for long-distance travel, resulting in an interface and information display that are not suited to daily commute needs.
   • Daily user journey test
6. The travel information available in the app is not optimized to meet the specific needs of daily trips.
   • Daily user journey test

Survey

Through a Google Form, we surveyed over 70 users. The results were clear:

• 77.94% believe the app is not optimized for daily commutes.
• 89.71% associate the app primarily with planning and purchasing TER/TGV tickets.
• User priorities: step-by-step guidance, real-time information access, and a personalized tool.

Consult the survey here

User Interviews

To test our hypotheses, we conducted two types of tests: exploratory interviews and usability testing.

1. Exploratory Interviews:This phase aimed to deeply understand user needs, frustrations, and expectations. We used open-ended questions from our interview guide, such as "What essential features do you look for in a mobility app?" and "What is your experience with daily commutes on SNCF Connect?" These discussions validated hypotheses about personalization and the lack of emphasis on daily trips.
2. Directed Usability Tests:We asked users to perform specific tasks, such as searching for an itinerary or analyzing the homepage within 15 seconds. The goal was to verify whether key elements (daily trips, navigation) were visible and accessible. These tests also explored user feedback on contextual navigation and map usage.

Feedback from Axel and Shiness was invaluable. Axel, a multimodal commuter, emphasized the importance of a map that centralizes all transport options. Shiness, an occasional user, highlighted the need for contextual and precise information to avoid unforeseen issues. Other users corroborated these needs, stressing the importance of intuitive navigation and better visibility of daily trips.

Conclusion

This combination of exploratory interviews and usability testing confirmed our hypotheses while offering concrete insights for improving the user experience. It allowed us to uncover critical insights about user needs and expectations, confirming the importance of addressing personalization, intuitive navigation, and daily mobility features. These findings shaped the core of our proposed solution, ensuring it directly aligns with user priorities.

Solution

To reposition SNCF Connect, we proposed Line by SNCF, an app designed to meet the daily mobility needs of urban users. At the heart of this solution:

• An interactive multimodal map aggregating all urban transport options in real-time.
• Personalized suggestions for fast, ecological, or economical itineraries.
• A simplified user experience that anticipates needs and supports journeys with notifications and tailored suggestions.

In short, Line by SNCF redefines urban mobility by making it more seamless and intuitive.

Conception

Before diving into the design phase, we conducted a Crazy 8 session to rapidly generate ideas. Each team member sketched their vision for the interface, sparking a lively discussion about the best approaches. After presenting our concepts, we collectively voted on the most promising direction, which served as the foundation for our high-fidelity prototype.

The design was structured around three pillars:

1. Simplicity: A clear interface with essential options accessible in one click.
2. Personalization: A homepage tailored to user habits.
3. Immersion: A design that integrates the interactive map as a central element, with an eco-designed dark mode respecting SNCF’s visual identity.

We created a high-fidelity prototype to concretely illustrate our vision. This prototype was built upon a design direction selected through team voting and aligned with the SNCF Connect design system. It includes key user journeys and an interface that faithfully represents the proposed solution, although the lack of time did not allow us to conduct user testing for validation.

What I've learned

The stakeholder expressed their desire for our team to approach the project as a blank canvas and start from scratch. Excited, we began with an intense brainstorming session to define the ideal mobile interface. However, we quickly realized we were spending too much time discussing visual concepts without concrete data to support our design decisions. This caused initial delays, but we took a step back to refocus our efforts on understanding who we were building for.

This process taught us valuable lessons:

• The power of user insights: Returning to concrete user feedback guided us in aligning our design with their real needs, validating our strategic choices.
• Adapting to time constraints: In a four-day sprint, we learned to prioritize recommendations over visual deliverables to maximize impact.
• The importance of storytelling: Structuring and communicating our vision clearly was key to engaging the stakeholder and justifying our decisions.

In conclusion, this UX adventure was marked by constant adjustments and a collaboration centered on user value. With Line by SNCF, we proposed a bold vision to transform daily mobility.