One year ago forwerts and Deutsche Bahn took the 2016 established ICE Portal and looked at it through a prism called User Experience. To increase transparency and accessibility we started to think digital a new, always with the main focus on the customers. This meant conducting usability tests, specific market research and obtaining as much user data as feasible in order to develop the best possible result.

To tackle such a massive endeavour, you need people joining forces for a common goal. So DB and forwerts' UX experts set up a design team that worked in close collaboration with the development. Research phases followed up by Design Sprints and Development Sprints reiterated throughout the year, allowing us to create an outstanding UX and UI.

The team had to develop a modular, flexible design system with which the digital information and entertainment systems could be represented. Thus, an “Atomic Design” was developed as well as a complete makeover of the design language. The biggest challenge was to follow a systematic approach as close to development as possible, but also to deliver a highly modular, coherent design in order to meet the requirements of aesthetics and functionality.