Rail Data Marketplace

Client / Sector: UK rail / transport data ecosystem (multi-organisation)
My role: Lead User Research (with hands-on prototyping support)
Phase: Alpha (supported through successful GDS Alpha Assessment)

Problem

The rail industry needed a digital marketplace to enable data sharing and purchasing across organisations (small to large), improving findability and unlocking innovation across rail and wider transport in the UK.

What I did

  • Led user research for the Rail Data Marketplace, a multi-organisation platform supporting data sharing across the rail industry.
  • Planned and delivered research aligned to GDS standards and service assessment criteria.
  • Conducted research with stakeholder groups including National Rail, train operating companies, and third-party data consumers.
  • Worked closely with service designers and engineers to translate findings into prototype development and iteration.
  • Supported usability testing of prototypes to validate flows, content, and platform concepts.
  • Focused research and design support on tagging and categorisation approaches to improve dataset findability for both:
    • data providers (publishing/maintaining datasets), and
    • data consumers (discovering, comparing, and accessing data).

Key findings / decisions

  • Marketplace success depended on robust findability, not just availability of data.
  • Tagging and categorisation needed to work for both sides of the platform (provider mental models vs consumer search behaviour).
  • Prototype iterations were guided by evidence to ensure platform structures supported discovery and reduced ambiguity.

Outputs

  • Research plan and evidence aligned to GDS assessment expectations
  • Synthesised insights and clear recommendations the team could act on
  • Iterated prototypes shaped by research learnings
  • Prototype usability testing outputs (issues, themes, prioritised improvements)
  • Inputs into a tagging/categorisation model to support discovery and navigation

Outcome

Research and iterative prototyping/testing contributed to shaping usable platform structures—particularly around dataset discovery—and supported the service through a successful GDS Alpha Assessment.

Methods / Tools

Stakeholder research; synthesis; collaborative prototyping; prototype usability testing; information architecture principles for tag