24 November 2025 - 25 November 2025, O2 Universum, Prague, Czech Republic

Designing train travel for the human mind

25 November 2025 11:45 - 12:15

This session will share practical frameworks to ensure that interior environments deliver not just short-term compliance, but also long-term competitive advantage in a changing transport landscape. Expectations in transport design are strongly shaped by wider business trends – the experiences people have with shops, online retailers, banks, utilities, and entertainment providers all play a role. These trends shift over time, so how can we design interiors that will see decades of future service?

While trends shift over time, the behavioural science biases that shape human decision-making are relatively everlasting. For example people want to feel safe, be comfortable, and have simple options - plus much more as we'll discuss. Trends don’t emerge randomly; they gain traction when new solutions better align with these everlasting biases. Operators have a responsibility to develop a deep understanding of both users and non-users. This means recognising the trends they respond to – and, more importantly, understanding the everlasting behavioural biases driving those responses.

Rather than guessing future trends, with this insight and using practical frameworks - the rail industry can design with empathy, not only meeting current trends - but also everlasting human needs.

John Davidson, Group Head of Customer Experience, Trenitalia UK