VR Radalla
VR Group, a service provider operating in Finland and Sweden, specializes in the travel and logistics sectors. The company manages freight and passenger rail traffic and has a workforce of approximately 6,300 individuals. VR Group’s annual net sales reach approximately one billion euros.
Client
VR Group
Service
Product Design
Industry
Travel
Date
01.01.2025 - 05.09.2025
Challenge
The primary challenge was to address a key pain point negatively impacting the customer journey—traffic disruptions leading to cancellations and delays. Research revealed that such disruptions had the largest negative influence on VR Group's Net Promoter Score (NPS).
To address this, the project focused on enhancing an internal B2B tool used by operational employees to proactively notify customers and employees about disruptions, ensuring seamless continuation of journeys.
Role
As a UX/UI Designer, Robert was instrumental in designing and validating the front-end interface for the application. Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, including other designers, developers, and operational leads, Robert utilized iterative design to ensure the tool met the needs of both employees and customers. His role required balancing the complex requirements of B2B workflows while contributing to scalable and reusable design systems.
Outcome
Through our redesign, we implemented a new communication process that halved the time to first response for customers during disruption events. Passengers began receiving critical updates much faster, helping to reduce uncertainty and improve trust in the service.
Internally, we streamlined the messaging workflow, cutting the median draft-to-send time from around four minutes to just 45 seconds. This five-fold improvement in operational efficiency allowed staff to react and communicate far more effectively in high-pressure situations.
We also improved the visibility and engagement of disruption messages by redesigning the notification hierarchy across public channels. As a result, more passengers were able to see updates within the first two minutes of an incident.
To further support staff under pressure, we introduced predefined templates and automated data pulls from live train data. This significantly reduced manual errors, improved the consistency of outgoing messages, and enabled more automated workflows.
Usability testing with disruption managers and chiefs of transportation showed a clear preference for the new interface. Staff reported greater confidence and less stress when handling disruption communications.
Finally, by enabling one-click publishing across multiple channels including apps, personnel tools, and physical station screens, we ensured passengers received consistent and timely updates. Post-disruption surveys reflected this improvement, showing a measurable increase in the number of passengers who felt well-informed during delays.
The project delivered a fully functional React-based application that empowers operational employees to proactively manage communication around disruptions, ensuring continuity in customer journeys.
The UI was designed in Figma, leveraging design tokens and components that were seamlessly integrated into the React application and consistently maintained in Storybook. These developed components are now set to serve as the foundation for future internal tools at VR Group, reinforcing scalability and design consistency across the organization.
RELATED PROJECTS
