Showing First Class, not describing it

Nine variations across the results page, the auction detail page, and the moments after winning. Each one is built from the verified feature model — the same claims, rendered differently. Copy is illustrative: LNER 08:33 York → London King's Cross, a Dish-menu weekday service. Every number shown — prices, bid amounts, win rates, savings — is made up for the mockup and has no source behind it.

Results page — three ways to earn the tap

The card has to work in a scroll of ten services. Three approaches: the icon strip (refined from the current concept), a seat diagram that shows the layout instead of naming it, and service-specific chips driven by the exclusion rules.

9:41
Mon 22 Sep, 2 adults
First Class
Standard Premium
First ClassAzuma
08:33 → 10:44LNER
2h 11m · direct
+4
Breakfast to your seat, a quiet coach and lounge at King's Cross
The same seat is £71 at the station
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
A1 · Icon stripThree icons + one generated line. The line is built from the highest-priority surviving feature, so it changes per service.
9:41
Mon 22 Sep, 2 adults
First Class
Standard Premium
08:33 → 10:44LNER
2h 11m · direct
Where you'd sit Standard · 2+2 First · 2+1 you
Breakfast to your seatLounge at King's Cross
The same seat is £71 at the station
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
A2 · Seat diagramNo photo, no adjectives. The 2+2 vs 2+1 layout is drawn, with "you" on the solo seat. Layout is universal, so this never needs an exclusion rule.
9:41
Sat 27 Sep, 1 adult
First Class
09:04 → 10:47GWR
1h 43m · direct · Paddington → Cardiff
Wider seat, 2+1Quieter coachLounge at PaddingtonNo catering on Saturdays
This upgrade is about space and quiet
Bid £9pay only if you win
Buy now £15skip the auction
09:34 → 11:16GWR
1h 42m · direct
Wider seat, 2+1Quieter coachLounge at Paddington
A3 · Service chips, honest variantA GWR Saturday: the exclusion rule has fired, food is gone, and the card says so plainly. Chips reorder so the seat leads.

Auction detail — three ways to make the case

More room, so more ambition. A feature list with the availability footnote, a Standard-versus-First comparison, and a journey timeline that places each benefit at the minute it happens.

9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's CrossMon 22 Sep · 08:33 → 10:44 · LNER
68%OF BIDDERS WIN
412UPGRADED THIS MONTH
£47AVERAGE SAVING
ILLUSTRATIVE FIGURES · NOT REAL DATA
WHAT YOU GET ON THIS TRAIN
Breakfast, brought to youBacon roll or hot sandwich from the Dish menu
A wider seat, nobody's elbow2+1 layout · reclines · your own table
Lounge at King's CrossFree drinks and WiFi before you board
See all 8 features on this train ›
And the seat is yours, whatever you payReserved the moment it's confirmed.
Catering is subject to availability on the day.
B1 · Feature listThe current concept, corrected: tier-aware breakfast line, no "full menu", availability footnote where the operator small print lives.
9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's CrossMon 22 Sep · 08:33 → 10:44 · LNER
YOUR SEAT TODAY VS AFTER THE UPGRADE

Standard · coach D

  • Reserved seat
  • 2+2 seating
  • Shared socket
  • Breakfast served
  • Lounge access
  • Table at every seat

First · coach M

  • Reserved seat
  • 2+1, reclines
  • Plug + USB, yours
  • Breakfast served
  • Lounge access
  • Table at every seat
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
Catering is subject to availability on the day.
B2 · Standard vs FirstThe customer already holds a Standard ticket. Showing what they have beside what they'd get turns the bid into a gap to close, not a purchase.
9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's CrossMon 22 Sep · 08:33 → 10:44 · LNER
HOW THE MORNING GOES IN FIRST
Lounge at YorkCoffee, WiFi and a seat while you wait
Coach M, seat 12 — a solo seatWindow and aisle, table to yourself
Your host takes your orderDish menu · bacon roll, porridge, pastries
Breakfast arrivesTwo hours of quiet to work or read
King's CrossLounge open for an hour if you need it
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
Catering is subject to availability on the day.
B3 · Journey timelineBenefits placed at the minute they happen. Time-of-day rules (breakfast vs lunch, lounge hours) become the narrative rather than caveats.

Beyond copy — showing it without saying it

Three mockups that carry the argument with almost no words: a coach map with your seat on it, a density view of how many people share your carriage, and the actual menu card for the tier this train carries.

9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's Cross08:33 · LNER Azuma

Coach M · First Class 41 seats

12 WC bags
Seat 12, a solo seat — yours2+1 layout
Solo seat, window and aisleTable to yourself, plug and USB at the seat.
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
C1 · Your seat on the mapThe coach plan does the explaining: single seats, the gap where 2+2 would be, one toilet for 41 people. Needs the seat allocation we already hold.
9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's Cross08:33 · LNER Azuma
WHO SHARES YOUR COACH

Standard 88 seats

First 41 seats

Seat takenEmptyYou
Half the people, twice the roomOne coach, one host, one toilet shared with 40 not 90.
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
C2 · Density, not adjectives"Quieter" is a claim; 88 dots beside 41 is a fact. Uses seat counts we know; live load data from the operator would make it stronger still.
9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's Cross08:33 · LNER Azuma
ON THIS TRAIN · DISH MENU

Breakfast

  • Bacon roll, Yorkshire dry-cured hot
  • Porridge with honey hot
  • Croissant, fruit, yoghurt
  • Coffee, Brodies tea, juice unlimited
Coach M
Solo seat, 12s
Breakfast served
King's Cross lounge
Menu changes seasonally · subject to availability on the day.
C3 · The menu and the roomThe actual menu for the tier this train carries (iteration 4 data), and real photos of this fleet's coach, seat and lounge — not a stock couple laughing.

One more — the before/after slider

A single interaction instead of a list: drag between the coach you're booked in and the coach you'd move to. Shown here as a static frame.

9:41
‹
YorkLondon King's Cross08:33 · LNER Azuma
DRAG TO COMPARE
Standard · coach D
First · coach M
Breakfast to your seatSolo seat 12Lounge at King's Cross
Bid £18pay only if you win
Buy now £42skip the auction
D1 · Before/after sliderReal photography of both coaches on the same fleet, one thumb-drag apart. The most persuasive thing we could show is simply the two rooms.
Photos and 10-second video per fleetShot in the actual Azuma, IET, Nova, Aurora. A stock photo of the wrong train (the Avanti headrest on the LNER card) does more harm than no photo.
Occupancy from the operatorLNER and Avanti already show live loading in their apps. Piped into the dots view, "quieter" becomes a number that's true today.
The lounge on a mapWhen the origin has a lounge, a pin and a 90-second walk time from the concourse. Location beats description.
A sound level, not a wordMeasured dB in Standard vs First on a busy service, shown as two bars. Provocative, cheap to gather, and hard to argue with.
Post-win: the boarding cardAfter the win, the seat map with your seat, the coach position on the platform, the lounge directions and the menu. The upgrade keeps paying off before they board.
Post-trip: rate the benefits, not the app"Did breakfast arrive?" one tap. This is the data that replaces the qualitative most-loved list and keeps the exclusion rules honest.