Exploring strategies to drive rail customer loyalty
How we conducted research to support Great British Railways to decide whether to invest in a new workstream.
Context & Objectives
Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) is a government body tasked with delivering rail industry reform. Over a span of three months, our team at Hellon engaged in a project aimed at synthesizing evidence to inform GBRTT’s considerations regarding a potential investment in a new workstream. Our objectives included reviewing industry benchmarks and academic literature, consulting with stakeholders, and facilitating alignment within the working group on the way forward.
Role
I worked in a team with a senior and a mid-weight service designer. We collaborated closely with a client working group.
My role consisted of:
- Leading a desktop study of industry benchmarks and reports and academic articles
- Co-writing interview guides and co-leading interviews with industry experts and internal stakeholders
- Co-planning and assisting in facilitating a client workshop
- Co-analysing research data and co-writing project reports
Approach
A. I began by conducting a desktop study and reviewing benchmarks, industry reports and academic articles relating to the project. I then planned and co-led interviews with project stakeholders and industry experts to gather their opinions.
B. I co-wrote a research report to highlight the topics under consideration and to showcase where there was common thought or differences in opinion amongst the project stakeholders.
C. I planned and assisted in facilitating a discussion workshop with the project stakeholders. This involved bringing in external speakers, playing back key insights from the research report and supporting the participants to decide on whether to continue with the workstream, as well as the objectives, format and resourcing of the workstream.
E. Finally, I co-wrote the final report which documented the decisions made and the proposed steps forward.
Outputs
The outputs were two reports which detailed the evidence considered and the decisions made by the working group.
Impact
As a politically sensitive organization tasked with transforming the UK rail industry, GBRTT benefitted from our project’s contributions in aligning internal stakeholders and demonstrating due diligence in evidence review. Our efforts aided in charting a clear path forward amid complex decision-making processes.
Reflections
While our research phase was conducted to a high standard, limitations in accessing current industry post-holders hindered our ability to analyze the most up-to-date data. Moving forward, enhancing stakeholder engagement to include current industry perspectives could further bolster the depth and relevance of our insights.
If you are interested in any of my work, feel free to get in touch with me at peter77waters@gmail.com or connect on LinkedIn.
