This project was presented at ACCESSIBILITY 2026. A conference for exchanging research, educational practices and design approaches that advance accessibility and inclusion across diverse contexts.
Find the full paper here: Improving Accessibility in Train Services: SJ
2026
TRAIN SERVICES AND ACCESSIBILITY IN SWEDEN
Using service design and universal design approaches towards improving accessibility of train services in Sweden.
My Role
Designer and Researcher
Collaborators
Elvira Lundin
Juan Jose Ricci
Martino Trinchero
Maryam Khan
Wei-Chen Chiu
Duration
8 Weeks
Course
DM2624 Human Centered Technologies for Disabilities
BACKGROUND
Train Services in Sweden
SJ provides railway service across Sweden, Norway, and the capitals of Scandinavia, with the mission to run passenger traffic on business grounds.
SJ has bookings available for single and round-trip tickets through their website and app. SJ-tickets are also available to buy by calling, at vending machines, at some stations, and at selected retailers. A seat is pre-assigned when booking a ticket.
Access to public transportation is fundamental to social, professional, and personal participation, yet the service still has barriers for people.
CONTEXT
SMFOI and Begripsam
Data from the SMFOI (Begripsam, 2023) highlights the scale of the problem: only 50% of people with disabilities report feeling included in the digital society. This gap has direct consequences for how transport services are accessed and used, as purchasing tickets to travel is the activity with the largest difference when comparing disabled and non-disabled users.
APPROACH
Universal Design and Service Design
These frameworks are highly relevant and operate complementary to each other. In the context of this project, where the aim is to identify and address systemic barriers in SJ's rail services, the combination allows for both understanding existing failures and grounded directions for redesign solutions, which place the responsibility for accessibility on the system, and not on the user.
METHODOLOGY
Participatory Design Research
To ground the project in lived experiences, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 consultants, each with varying functional needs and experience using public transport in Sweden. Consultants involved were from disability and accessibility organisations whose members bring both professional expertise and direct lived experience of navigating services, and were recruited and assigned to us through the course setup.
INSIGHTS
Key insights across different stages of the journey
People wants to feel in control and to avoid mistakes when taking crucial steps
The booking system provides too little information and too few accessible options, forcing people to manage on their own
Inconsistent and poorly trained assistance reduces peoples confidence and control
Insufficient guidance for people to navigate through the station, and no clue about what is around them
INSIGHTS
User Need Statements
Need to understand their surroundings and orientation within the station because limited spatial cues make independent navigation difficult.
Need clear and manageable information because complex interfaces and financial transactions increase anxiety about making mistakes.
Need to easily access appropriate assistance based on their accessibility needs because having to repeatedly request help and explain their situation reduces user confidence and control.
CONCEPT
Final Concept
The concept is an updated version of the SJ service, including new app features as well as service branches to make it more intuitive, less stressful, and more helpful during the journey.
The user can customize their information and needs, which are then saved into their profile, making the booking process faster and less complicated
The payment interface was changed to improve buyer confidence. Incorporating feedback from the second round of consultations, vague icons were removed for better clarity. The “Pay later” option was also removed, as the consultants had confusion around what it entailed.
The navigation system was provided with an additional compass-like interface pointing in the right direction. Users can also add points of interest they want to stop at along the way.
A tool to improve assistants’ work, connected to the user’s preferences and aligned with the
belief that the system needs to adapt to the user, and not vice versa.
CONCLUSION
Universal Design and Service Design
Throughout this project, key insights emerged at each stage, shaping the final design. Consultations with accessibility experts proved far more revealing: interviewees shared a common anxiety of making mistakes during ticket booking, particularly around financial transactions. They also reported inconsistent assistance, insufficient station navigation cues, and a lack of online options for requesting support.
Our proposed concepts addressed different points in the user journey, mainly by redesigning the ticket payment flow to actively build buyer confidence. This means introducing a “Share journey” feature, allowing a trusted person to review a ticket, and a prepaid balance payment option to reduce anxiety. These changes are relatively low-cost, technically feasible, and grounded in directly expressed user needs. Similarly, the profile preferences feature links to other parts of the service and reduces the burden on users of having to enter the same information repeatedly.
Thank you for reading!