Case study – TRAVEL – Great Western Railway
Putting people at the heart of travel for GWR
Great Western Railway (GWR) had a clear ambition: to improve the experience of travelling through its stations. Understanding what was driving customer satisfaction, and what was holding it back, required a different kind of research.
The challenge: Moving beyond the obvious to find the real story
Previous research had relied on passengers recalling their journeys after the fact, which validated the expected pain points, but not the underlying emotional experience. GWR needed insight captured in the moment, not based on hindsight.
What we did: We saw the station through passengers’ eyes
Using wearable camera glasses and eye-tracking technology, we captured what passengers actually saw and experienced in real time. What began as a wayfinding project, establishing where signage should be placed to help people navigate, became something richer: an opportunity to tell a powerful human story about how station environments make people feel.
What we found: Every functional moment has an emotional consequence
Moments of confusion created anxiety, and poor signage led to frustration. Efficient wayfinding, when it worked, delivered genuine relief and confidence. By translating each practical observation into its emotional impact, we built a picture of the passenger journey that went beyond signage to alleviate genuine traveller pain points.
The impact: A team that now thinks in human terms
The research shifted how GWR’s internal teams approached their work. Teams that had previously focused on functional wayfinding began actively measuring the human impact of their decisions and embedding emotional insight into their strategies.
“Working with Magenta has been a true partnership. The commitment, energy and straight-talking of the Magenta team brings fresh perspectives to how we think about and approach research.”
Head of Customer Research, Great Western Railway
If you want to understand the emotional experience behind your customer journey, let’s talk.