Journey 2, protectWorking draft

The pre-travel journey

Before the trip: reassure, wayfind, bank the value. The customer's four questions (did it work, which platform, which coach, was it worth it) go unanswered on every channel while the window sells taxis and swaps over them. One arc per trip answers all four in order and demotes every sell below the reassurance, with disruption yielding everything to the service layer. The stake is won-trip lifetime value: £115.62 against £22.92 when the trip goes wrong.

44,024Upgrade purchasers entering the pre-travel window, each month
11,449reachable by push and email
18,296reachable by push only
3,356reachable by email only
10,923on no marketing channel

The customer experience

Walk the journey, moment by moment

Today beside what is proposed at every moment, with the trigger, the message, the guardrails and what each moment needs. Filter by phase, by new or changed, and by the channels the customer holds.

Open the walk →
The film of this journey as the customer receives it

Every segment, outcome and channel state, played as the customer meets it.

Open the film ↗

The campaign brief

The working brief

What we are changing, and what each team is being asked to do

THE STAKES
£115.62 vs £22.92
won-trip lifetime value against a trip that goes wrong: what the window protects. On-train is the most negative stage in the voice of customer.*
WHAT THIS JOURNEY MOVES
anxiety contacts down
the primary read is the anxiety-contact rate (1,753 pre-travel anxiety tickets a year) with CSAT beside it; no send in the arc converts on opens or app opens.*
THE HEADLINE TEST
beat the proven send
the day-before reframe’s email leg is A/B’d against the estate’s only proven-incremental creative (+16.9% and +16.3%) on a non-inferiority floor: nothing proven switches off until beaten.*
The problem
The customer paid for reassurance and the estate sells them a taxi

On-train is the most negative stage in the voice of customer, the anxiety starts at purchase, and every proactive morning send today is a sell. The won trip's questions (did it work, which platform, which coach, was it worth it) go unanswered on every channel, while the window carries a 22-month undecided timing test, a duplicate reminder from an unidentified trigger, and a catering email measured on opens.

67.6%of on-train reviews are negative (91.6% of on-train support tickets): the most negative stage in the datasetvoice-of-customer analysis, confirmed£115.62 vs £22.92won-trip lifetime value against a trip that goes wrong: what the morning protectsconfirmed, measurement tree18.0%of winners hold no proactive channel at all: the trip state is their whole journeyconfirmed, contactability audit
The customer’s job to be done

“Did it work? Which platform, which coach, and was it worth it?”

The next behaviour we want: the trip taken calmly on the upgraded seat, the value banked, and no support contact raised, because every question was answered before it was asked.

The matrix spec's per-row evidence; the voice-of-customer and value reads.

Reassurance never sells; the yield order ranks every commercial send below wayfinding; nothing fires on a disrupted trip; no opt-in ask anywhere in the arc; no saving figure renders until substantiated; anchored sends respect the 04:30 floor.

1 · The journey at a glance

ObjectiveProtect the won trip’s value: answer the customer’s four questions (did it work, which platform, which coach, was it worth it) before they are asked, and stop the window selling over them.
The journeyOne arc per trip: the wait email for the long-lead tail, the day-before reassurance (push-primary), the morning wayfinding line with its lock-screen pin, the persistent trip state everything lands on, and the on-board modal that banks the win. The estate’s sells join the yield order below all of it.
Who entersEvery upgrade winner at purchase, on the trip clock. The 18 percent with no proactive channel live on the trip state; disrupted trips leave marketing entirely.
How it exitsDeparture, then trip end (the post-trip journey opens); refund or cancel exits instantly and flips the state; the first-win journey’s episode resumes after travel with its rebook floor.
How we knowThe anxiety-contact rate and CSAT, with the email A/B’s non-inferiority floor as the guardrail; every attributed figure in the window stays labelled attributed until tested against the estate-wide holdout.

2 · Insight and evidence

What the numbers say
  • On-train: 67.6 percent negative reviews, 91.6 percent negative support tickets; disruption 64.2 percent negative.
  • 4,776 value-failure tickets a year say the morning matters.
  • 85 percent of upgrades are bought within 24 hours of departure: the arc is short and dense.
What fires today
  • Every proactive morning send is a sell; nothing wayfinds.
  • A 22-month timing test still running; a duplicate reminder with no known caller.
  • The one proven send reaches a narrow email slice; the catering email measures success as an open.

3 · What is changing

The arc's beats: reassure, then wayfind, then bank the value
The reassurance beats: the wait email and the day-before reframe
Today
Long-lead winners hear nothing until the day before, and the one proven-incremental send in the estate reaches only First Class upgraders who never bought a ticket and are email opted in.
Proposed
A silence becomes an owned beat: one expectation-setting email for the long-lead tail, per-operator inclusions, tested against a holdout with a stated go and no-go.
Proposed message
The wait email owns the long-lead silence (per-operator inclusions, tested with a go and no-go). The day-before beat goes push-primary for the armed, and its email leg is an A/B against the proven control on a non-inferiority floor: nothing proven switches off until beaten. The headline test.
The change type
NEWCHANGENEEDS A NEW DATA FEED
Who has to do something
The Braze developer builds both; Analytics sizes the floor, the reach and the long-lead slice; Design writes the three copy registers.
The arc's beats: reassure, then wayfind, then bank the value
The morning: wayfinding takes the top slot
Today
Every proactive morning send is a sell, and the highest-stakes silence (platform and coach) has no owner.
Proposed
A wayfinding push that does not exist today becomes the centre of the morning, with one cap-exempt correction, gated honestly on the data path that makes it real.
Proposed message
A wayfinding push at the later of T-3h and 04:30 (one cap-exempt correction on a material change), honestly gated on the platform-and-coach data path. On iOS the live pin replaces the push where it starts: one wayfinding answer, never two.
The change type
NEWNEEDS A NEW DATA FEEDNEW SURFACE
Who has to do something
Engineering confirms the interim data source (it decides the phase); App Engineering scopes the pin; the Braze developer wires the clamp.
The arc's beats: reassure, then wayfind, then bank the value
The value moment, and the state everything lands on
Today
Nothing marks the moment the product's value is physically felt, and the one consent-free surface is a static confirmation that answers none of the day's questions.
Proposed
A new consent-free modal at the one moment the product's value is physically felt, shipped without a fabricated figure.
Proposed message
The confirmation view becomes a persistent, live trip state every send deep-links to, serving the 18 percent with no proactive channel. On board, a single-job modal banks the win: the realised saving and this operator's inclusions, with no figure rendered until the amount is substantiated.
The change type
NEW SURFACENEEDS A NEW DATA FEED
Who has to do something
Product rules the surface (reskin or net-new); App Engineering builds; Analytics substantiates the saved amount.
The estate in the window: keep, decide, retire
The estate in the window: decided, governed, or retired
Today
A 22-month timing test still running, a duplicate swap reminder from an unidentified trigger, an arrival sell that fires into disruption anger, and a catering email whose success metric is an email open.
Proposed
The test ends with a decision; one arm survives; the survivor takes its place in the order instead of owning the morning.
Proposed message
The timing test gets decided and its losing arms retire; every commercial send joins the morning yield order (operational, then reassurance and wayfinding, then commercial) and suppresses on disruption; the zombie's caller is identified and the send retired; the catering email earns a real conversion definition or folds into the inclusions block.
The change type
CHANGE
Who has to do something
Analytics decides the test and defines the conversions; Lisa finds the zombie's caller; the Braze developer builds the order; Sheran rules the catering call.
Suppressed by design
Disruption yields, and broadcasts stand down
Today
Taxi adverts land on customers staring at cancelled trains, and broadcasts stack on the arc.
Proposed
Suppression is the treatment: the arc yields entirely, and the unauthored service comm is named as the gap it leaves.
Proposed message
On live disruption the whole arc yields to the service layer: nothing for sale. The service comm itself is unauthored and named as the window's top experience gap. The episode flag stands every broadcast down inside the arc.
The change type
CHANGE
Who has to do something
The service track authors the disruption comm this quarter; Engineering confirms the fire-time disruption flag; the seasonal campaign carries its half of the exclusion.

Every row’s full logic lives on the Decisioning matrix: one home per fact.

4 · The ask, team by team

TeamThe whole ask in one line
Sheran, at Gate 1Ratify the post-win slot assumption and the deleted recovery send; rule the catering call; direct the timing-test decision.
AnalyticsDecide the timing test, size the non-inferiority floor and the long-lead slice, define the deflection baseline, and substantiate the saved amount.
The Braze developerThe arc, the yield order, the clamp, the episode flag and the stand-down.
EngineeringThe interim platform-and-coach source (it decides the wayfinding phase), the refund and cancel path, the fire-time disruption flag, and the zombie’s caller.
ProductThe trip-state surface ruling, the on-board modal, the pin’s re-scope, and the swap-defect date.
DesignSix assets on the Design brief tab: three reassurance beats, three value surfaces.
The service trackAuthor the disruption service comm: the window’s top experience gap.

*Sources. Value and contact reads: the measurement tree and support analysis, confirmed. The voice-of-customer percentages: the confirmed analysis. The proven-incremental reads: the estate revenue audit, April to June 2026, applying to the family’s narrow eligibility (the reach sizing states its true coverage). Attributed figures are labelled attributed, never incremental.

The team briefs

the comms changes for CRM and the agency; the build for Engineering. Design's asks are under Working detail

What ships when

7 of 12 treatments ship in Phase 1 with no engineering; 5 wait for it

Phase 1 · ships on Braze and Analytics

  • The wait email
  • The day before
  • The day-before email family, kept as the control
  • Ride cross-sell to the station
  • Ride cross-sell from the station
  • The train-swap reminder
  • The catering email

Phase 2 · waits for engineering

  • The morning needs new event
  • The live pin on the lock screen needs new surface
  • On board needs new surface
  • The persistent trip state needs new surface
  • The legacy swap push needs engineering work on the board

Launch gates, Phase 1

  • The morning re-ranks on the same release the wayfinding lands
  • The episode flag and broadcast stand-down are wired before the first send
  • The disruption flag is readable at fire time
  • Consent capture at the win is live
  • The timing test is decided before the survivor re-ranks

Phase is derived from each row, never authored: engineering work that is a new event, feed or surface is Phase 2; new wording, a deletion, an Analytics trait or Braze wiring is Phase 1. The deck walks Phase 1 in situ.

Who gets each treatment, and what stops it

the targeting, the caps and the suppression on every treatment, as the decisioning matrix holds them
Open the table (12 treatments)
The treatmentWho gets itWhat stops it: caps and suppressionWhen nothing is sent
The wait emailWinners whose trip is seven or more days outMarketing layer, inside the arc's once-per-trip-per-send rule.
Suppression Refund or cancel exits the arc; live disruption yields the whole arc to the service layer.
For short-lead winners the answer is do nothing: the day-before beat is hours away. This email exists only where the wait is long enough for doubt.
The day beforeEvery reachable winner at T-22hReassurance class within the arc; once per trip.
Suppression Refund or cancel exits; disruption yields; the episode flag stands broadcasts down.
The beat is reassurance. A customer whose trip is tomorrow does not need a cross-sell; the arbitration order enforces that downstream.
The morningPush-armed winners on travel morningReassurance class; the single correction re-issue is cap-exempt by ruling.
Suppression Disruption yields the arc: a disrupted trip gets service comms, not a cheerful platform line.
Where the payload is unavailable at fire time the push does not send a vague fallback: the trip state carries the journey and the push stays silent. A wayfinding push without wayfinding is a sell slot in disguise.
The live pin on the lock screeniOS winners from T-2hNot a send once started; the start event sits in the reassurance class.
Suppression Disruption flips the pin's content to the service state, not a marketing message.
Where the pin starts, the push suppresses: one wayfinding answer per customer, never two.
On boardWinners on a non-disrupted trip, once on boardOne render per trip.
Suppression Disruption hard-suppresses; refund or cancel exits.
On a disrupted trip the honest action is silence from marketing: the service layer owns the customer.
The persistent trip stateEvery winner, the whole windowNot a send.
Suppression None: it is never consent-gated and never suppressed; its content changes state instead.
The state is the do-nothing answer done properly: solving the need in the product beats adding a message, and most of this journey's sends are alerts pointing at it.
The day-before email family, kept as the controlIts current narrow eligibility, unchangedAs today.
Suppression As today, plus the arc's episode exclusions as they land.
Do nothing, deliberately: this row's treatment is the absence of change.
Ride cross-sell to the stationWinners whose trip starts in the ride partner's coverage citiesCommercial class within the arc's order.
Suppression Suppressed on disrupted trips; loses same-window collisions to wayfinding and logs the loss.
The sell is legitimate; its rank is not. Below operational and reassurance, always.
Ride cross-sell from the stationWinners arriving at one of the 78 Veezu-covered stations (console-confirmed filter), personalised on their home stationCommercial class.
Suppression Disrupted trips suppress: a delayed arrival is exactly when this push currently fires into anger.
At arrival the reassurance job is done; a relevant sell is acceptable if it ranks correctly and shuts up during disruption.
The train-swap reminderTicket buyers on swap-capable operators; upgrade winners only when the same customer also bought the ticketCommercial class; re-entry after 2 days with no exit criteria is reviewed as part of the same pass.
Suppression Disruption yields; loses same-window collisions to wayfinding.
For a customer holding a won upgrade on the same trip, the honest question is whether a swap sell belongs in their morning at all; the kill threshold answers it with data.
The legacy swap pushUnknown: whatever cohort its unidentified trigger still selectsOutside every rule until its caller is known.
Suppression None known.
A send nobody can explain does not get to keep firing at customers because switching it off takes effort.
The catering emailSame-day purchasers on one operator's services, email opted inCommercial class; joins the order.
Suppression Disruption yields.
If the reassurance beats already carry per-operator inclusions, a separate catering email may be the estate answering a question the journey already answers.

What needs deciding

DecisionOwnerWhere it stands
How the journey is measured: the holdout, the baseline and the readMichael, with CACIOn the Test and Learn record

The asks of Analytics

the definitions and sizing this journey waits on, raised on the board and referenced here
The Analytics brief

The formal ask, from this pack

Five asks, all pre-build. The board is the system of record; these rows are raised there and referenced here.
#The askHand backStart here
1Decide the 22-month timing test on the read you hold: which arm wins, or does it close without a winner? One decision retires two arms.The decision.The ride pick-up row on the matrix.
2Size the non-inferiority floor for the day-before email A/B on the proven family’s baseline, and state the family’s true coverage.The floor and the reach sizing.The measurement position on the Campaign brief.
3Define the deflection baseline: does the trip state, made prominent, already deflect most of the 1,753 anxiety tickets? The wayfinding push’s marginal case depends on it.The baseline.The wayfinding row.
4Size the long-lead slice (won seven or more days out): go or no-go on the wait email’s test power.Go or no-go.The wait-email row.
5Substantiate the saved amount (the walk-up anchor is unconfirmed) and build the persona register trait, nightly.The figure and the trait.The on-board modal row.

Conversion is behaviour, never opens: the catering email’s open-based success is the standing instrument fault, and every canvas converts on purchase or behaviour from day one.

Working detail
Leave feedbackThis pack is at Gate 1: the strategy review. The timing-test decision, the post-win slot ratification, the deleted recovery send and the catering call are the open decisions. Say what is wrong with the strategy, or what it is missing.
Pack version: 4 Sep 2026, 00:45 (London)