Service Design for a Better Passenger Experience During Disruptions
JR West runs large-scale rail services where trust is built (or lost) in moments of uncertainty—especially during service disruptions. This project focused on redefining the ideal customer experience during disruptions and translating that vision into cross-department actions that improve both passenger communication and internal operations.
JR West’s annual customer satisfaction research consistently showed a high stress point: information provision during transport disruptions. While digital initiatives had already been introduced (devices, new channels, internal digitization), the experience still felt fragmented—information could be duplicated, poorly timed, unclear in priority, and difficult for customers to interpret as “what should I do next?”
On the operational side, separate initiatives across departments increased complexity and created new burdens—making cross-team coordination harder at the exact moment it needs to be fastest.
We started from the customer’s reality on the ground, then designed a future-state experience that departments could align on and execute together.
1) Research to capture real moments of breakdown
We conducted three layers of discovery:
On-site observation at stations (platforms and gates)
Customer interviews about disruption experiences and what information they truly needed
Internal interviews across departments to map how information moves from source to frontline and channels
A key insight from customer research: people don’t only want “delay status.” They want decision-ready information—enough context to choose the best way to reach their destination (alternatives, options, and what’s most reliable).
Key Workshops and Co-Creation
With JR West teams, we facilitated co-creation workshops involving 7 internal departments and 2 group companies (including IT and customer-related units). Together, we aligned on:
the future customer experience vision
concrete ideas to make it real
ownership and collaboration across teams
This work established a shared, organization-wide direction: start from customer trust, then redesign the service system to deliver the right information at the right time—consistently—across channels and frontline teams.
Engagement Type
Service Design / CX Vision / Cross-functional Blueprinting
Outputs
Journey Map · Service Blueprint · Information Flow Mapping · Workshop Facilitation · Roadmap & Actions
Collaboration
UXlicious × CONCENT (Japan)
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