Offenbach Tests a Direction-Aware Information Cube at Its Train Station

An information cube at Offenbach am Main station displays different departure boards depending on which side a passenger approaches it from: travelers exiting the S-Bahn see the next buses, while those walking toward the S-Bahn see the next trains. The cube grew out of observation of roughly 60 people, conducted by product designer Julian Schwarze as part of a research and innovation project on emotional design.

The timing of that research matters. During rush hour or in the dark winter months, passengers often have only seconds to decide whether a train is the right one and where to continue. A well-placed display board makes that decision without forcing anyone to pull out a smartphone — something that matters most with luggage in hand, in darkness, or under time pressure.

What does the design actually change?

Schwarze's approach pairs functional wayfinding with emotional design. One of his research questions: whether the form, material and context of a bench can change how long waiting feels to the person sitting on it.

The passenger association Pro Bahn backs the practical value of such work. Its position: information should catch the eye immediately upon entering a station or platform, stay readable, and remain unobstructed by other equipment. Weather-protected areas also count toward a pleasant stay — a structural point, not a decorative one.

Why do improvements take so long?

Before designers can fix details, traffic planners first have to check whether an additional stop fits into the operation of a line. Ralf Dammann, structural planner at the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR), puts the build time for a new stop at a minimum of ten years. Ten years — roughly the length of two full federal legislative periods.

Bus stops are usually simpler to realize than tram, light rail or U-Bahn stations. When such facilities are renewed, accessibility and fire protection take priority; the room for extra design depends on the money available.

Which visual details carry safety duties?

EU rules require train doors to contrast sharply with the rest of the vehicle, which rules out a uniformly bright-red train without further effort. Even apparently obstructive components can serve protection: a wall hanging from the ceiling above an escalator is meant to stop smoke from rising through the escalator shaft during a fire and blocking the escape route.

Glass shelters and open architecture avoid dead corners and improve sightlines. But heavily glazed canopies offer little shade, so protection against summer heat has to carry more weight in planning and renovation. Virtual station walkthroughs commissioned by Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt showed how strongly cleanliness shapes the sense of safety. VRR surveys also found that visible staff behind a glass screen is perceived as safety-enhancing.

For Schwarze, these details are a lever for keeping existing passengers and winning new ones: displays placed before staircases, high-contrast doors, clear sightlines and well-maintained stations combine orientation, safety and comfort. In transfer situations, what usually decides the experience is not the quantity of information but its placement and comprehensibility.

Where does this leave future planning?

New stations face tight constraints — operational, structural and legal. Additional stops, accessibility, fire protection and escape routes must be settled before any design details. That explains why everyday improvements look small but require long lead times and substantial investment.

The coming years also hold a built-in trade-off, according to the project's examples: glass waiting areas create sightlines and can strengthen the sense of safety, yet they shield passengers only poorly from summer heat. Good design will have to weigh orientation, accessibility, fire safety, cleanliness, security and climate adaptation together. For passengers, the conclusion is that comfort comes not from one striking element but from the interplay of many unobtrusive decisions — with the Offenbach cube showing how a display aligned to walking routes, not just to walls, can be one of them.