Apprenticeship project: Equipage app for train crew operations

A 2-year product design journey at SNCF Voyageurs to streamline the digital ecosystem for onboard staff through a unified and intuitive mobile experience.

Role

Product Designer

Industry

Transportation

Duration

2 years

Stage 1. Context & Mission

During my two-year apprenticeship at SNCF Voyageurs, I joined the IT department dedicated to high-speed trains (DSI TGV). My mission: redesign and evolve Equipage, the main mobile tool used by over 15,000 onboard agents across France.

Operating in a technical and operational environment, I was the only Product Designer embedded in a cross-functional agile team. My role was to represent the users’ voices while aligning product decisions with technical constraints and business goals.

Equipage integrates more than 20 internal applications into a unified experience, from passenger information to train configuration. The ambition was not only to enhance usability but also to create a robust, scalable design ecosystem for operational excellence.

Stage 2. Design process

To ensure that Equipage truly served the agents’ day-to-day needs, I initiated and facilitated multiple co-design workshops involving agents from different regions. These sessions allowed me to identify friction points, understand workflows in depth, and collect qualitative insights.

I built personas, defined user journeys, and led UX mapping sessions with internal stakeholders. Based on this, I developed wireframes and interactive Figma prototypes, which were tested iteratively with real users.

These participatory approaches gave agents a sense of ownership, while ensuring that every screen was grounded in their lived reality, not just assumptions.

Stage 3. Agile product collaboration

As part of a multidisciplinary team ( product owner, developers, QA testers ) I worked in 3-week Agile sprints. My role covered everything from sprint planning and daily stand-ups to sprint reviews and retrospectives.

I ensured a continuous dialogue between design and development, translating business and user needs into actionable specifications. My presence also helped advocate for the user perspective in a predominantly technical environment, reinforcing the product’s strategic direction.

Working closely with developers allowed me to adapt UI components to tech constraints without compromising usability or accessibility.

Stage 1. Context & Mission

Stage 2. Design process

These participatory approaches gave agents a sense of ownership, while ensuring that every screen was grounded in their lived reality, not just assumptions.

Stage 3. Agile product collaboration

Working closely with developers allowed me to adapt UI components to tech constraints without compromising usability or accessibility.

Stage 4. Key deliverables & Challenges

Throughout the project, I delivered:

A full seat map redesign, used for train configuration and real-time passenger management
UX flows and prototypes for incident reporting, service announcements, and train management tools
Accessibility guidelines adapted to use in low-light and motion-sensitive environments
Contributions to the internal Design System to ensure consistency across tools

One of the key challenges was to simplify complex technical tasks into intuitive user flows, while maintaining reliability under real-time constraints. Design was not just visual, it was operational.

Stage 5. Impact & Ethical vision

Equipage is now used daily by over 15,000 agents, supporting 20+ core functionalities in a unified, ergonomic interface.

Beyond performance and user comfort, I was also mindful of ecological impacts. We worked to reduce cognitive load and screen time, contributing to energy-efficient usage on long train routes.

My design decisions were guided by a desire to support the human effort behind the machine, making digital tools as respectful, efficient, and empowering as possible for onboard teams who operate under pressure.

Reflections

This project marked a turning point in my journey from UI/UX to holistic Product Design. I learned to navigate complexity, lead co-creation processes, and bring design maturity into an IT environment.

Most of all, it taught me that impactful design happens when you listen carefully, adapt constantly, and never lose sight of the people behind the screens.

Reflections

Most of all, it taught me that impactful design happens when you listen carefully, adapt constantly, and never lose sight of the people behind the screens.

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Gianmaria Corsi

Gianmaria Corsi

Gianmaria Corsi