For more than two years, Columbia Road has been supporting VR in enhancing digital sales through their web channel. Our dedicated UX/UI design team has supported VR in framing and resolving VR's customer needs.

Customer-centric design process ensures seamless experiences

Achieving joint success has only been possible by engagement and working together from start to finish throughout the entire design process. We have crafted each new feature by surrounding ourselves with a changing and dynamic team of specialists, including channel lead, service and business designers, business owners, back-end specialists, front-end specialists, copywriters, analysts, and quality assurance specialists. Delivering a seamless experience requires collaborative teamwork.

Before diving deep into the design of a new feature, we collaborate with business designers who have analysed the feature from a customer's perspective and form a comprehensive vision to guide the UX/UI design process forward. We also work with other channels' UX/UI designers to learn from their experiences and learnings from implementing similar features. We map out processes, examining how the logic of the feature influences both past and future features to ensure a seamless and continuous user experience.

Designing for a diverse range
of customers

Introducing a new feature poses unique challenges, whether it involves redefining behaviours or enhancing existing experiences. For VR, one of the key focuses with their new services has been accessibility, as their services are used by such a broad range of customers. Our goal is to provide all users with good service, regardless of the device they use, taking into account screen readers and keyboard-assisted navigation.

When designing these features, we must consider the entire customer journey, encompassing stages such as getting to the station, purchasing train tickets, after-purchase edits, delivery or service use in the physical environment. In the context of VR, serving a diverse range of customers' needs across various channels introduces an added layer of complexity. Ensuring that the new features align with the overall VR channel look and feel while being specifically tailored to the web users is a crucial aspect of the process.