Transformed

CHAPTER 49Innovation Story: Trainline

Marty's Note: As you saw earlier, the Trainline product leadership built a very strong product organization, capable of the consistent product innovation they needed. Of all the examples of their skills, this story is my favorite. You can see each of the product model competencies and product model concepts in action as they tackle a very difficult problem, but one that promised real value for their customers, their rail partners, and their company. The level of product innovation described here rivals anything I have seen at the world's most famous tech product companies.

Company Background

After working through the transformation described in part V, Trainline now had capable engineering, product management, and design, along with a strong product vision and product strategy. The company also was starting to see real payoff from its investment in data science.

Trainline had built successful and effective real-time train location, estimated platform departures, personalized disruption alerts, and the ability to find less congested carriages, all of which helped to bring their vision to life.

But one major issue in particular continued to frustrate and concern their customers: pricing.

The Problem to Solve

From an early stage, it was clear that the perceived expense of rail tickets was hindering Trainline's ability to attract more customers. Customers would tell them, over and over, “Tickets are so expensive!”

Conversely, the industry ...