Customer cases

A strategic approach to customer experience development

Starting point

Oilon is a global family-owned energy and environmental technology company based in Lahti, Finland. Improving customer experience is one of Oilon's strategic goals, but it lacked a vision, strategy, roadmap and qualitative customer insight to guide its development.

Solution and results

Futurelab helped Oilon with customer experience development by defining a vision, strategy, roadmap and customer journey as part of a pilot project for industrial heat pumps (ChillHeat). We started by creating a vision linked to the company's values and strategy, followed by a data-driven definition of the customer experience business case. We built customer insight by exploring the customer journey and educating the fundamentals of customer experience to the organization. Based on the results of the pilot project, we decided to launch the new value proposition and up to date business models based on customer insight.

Creating a Customer Experience vision with employees

Starting point

Tallink Silja’s mission is to offer memorable experience and make customers return. As part of the group level strategy, Tallink Silja wanted to develop their customer experience by defining an ambition level and strategy for CX development.

Solution and results

In order to create a CX vision and strategy that inspires and motivates employees, we involved employees in the work from beginning. In co-operatin with Tallink Silja, we designed and built CX rooms, for both cruise ships and supporting functions in the land. Employees from various levels of the organization were invited to take part in the CX rooms and dream what would be the future Customer Experience of Silja Line. After the CX rooms, we took the input from employees and defined a customer experience vision and roadmap with the management.

"Silja Line employees gave very positive feedback on the CX rooms and on the innovative way they were able to participate and give their input in the strategy process. "This process was so much fun and gave us new perspective on customer experience and our role in it.""

Customer experience development in partnership since 2019

Starting point

The city of Helsinki has set an ambitious target to become "the most functional city in the world". Futurelab has been a partner of the City of Helsinki in customer experience development since 2019. Customer experience capabilities and measurement have been systematically developed in close cooperation.

Solution and results

Futurelab has supported the City of Helsinki in developing customer experience targets and measurement models and metrics. New customer experience measurement model and metrics have been developed in cooperation with the City of Helsinki. The design of new measurement model and metrics was started with the definition of key performance metrics that are in line with the strategic targets of the City. In addition, employees and management have been trained in a series of workshops. As a result, customer experience is systematically measured and results are utilised for continuous improvement.

"With the help of Futurelab we have accelerated our customer experience development and increased our competencies and skills in the area. Well prepared workshops and materials have made our joint work successful. "

Increased customer-centricity and NPS

Starting point

Oriola has set strategic targets to improve Customer Experience and customer-centricity. A group-wide CX program covering both Finland and Sweden markets was launched to support Oriola in the strategic targets in 2018.

Solution and results

Futurelab has been supporting Oriola since 2019 as a partner and an outsourced program manager (PMO). During the time of cooperation customer experience has been systematically developed and new processes, metrics and thinking have been piloted and implemented in the organization. As a result of the cooperation a customer experience strategy and vision has been created, customer journeys have been analyzed, measurement model and metrics created and developed, and closing the loop process implemented to improve customer communications. Trainings and employee competence building has been done in cooperation with HR. The program results have been reported to company CEO and management team.

"Systematic efforts in customer experience development shows in our results, through increased NPS and spontaneous feedback from our customers. Customer experience role and development targets have been well understood in our organization and customer-centricity has been overall increasing. "

New competencies in the organization as a result of service design

Starting point

Vaasan Sähkö is an energy company from Vaasa, Finland originating to 1892. Vaasan Sähkö wanted to develop new services for electric cars, based on customer understanding. At the same time, the company wanted to develop its' competencies in service design methods.

Solution and results

Development work started with a formulation of a 5 person team in Vaasan Sähkö. The team participated in service design trainings and started a service design project that lasted for 3 months. During the project, new services were ideated, selected, prototyped and tested. Both customers and employees in Vaasan Sähkö participated in the process in terms of commenting and validating the prototypes. As a result of the project, 2 new services were defined and described.

"Futurelab brought new perspectives and challenged our thinking. The project was very successful - not only in terms of the results but also in terms of increasing our competencies and skills in service design, which we will utilize in future development projects at Vaasan Sähkö. "

Practical tools to lead customer experience

Starting point

The Association for Finnish Work strives to increase appreciation for Finnish work and to ensure the prosperity and success of Finnish work. The Association has collected customer experience systematically from different touch points and interations. Futurelab was selected as a partner to clarify customer care model for different customer groups. In order to accomplish this target, it was important to define which different customer groups the Association has and how these groups differ from each other.

Solution and results

Futurelab designed and delivered customer interviews and an analysis of customer insight. With this insight customer groups were defined and touch point maps created, which acted as a starting point for developing customer experience metrics and ways of working. In addition Futurelab designed a new customer segmentation and customer care model in cooperation with the Association. As a result of the project, customer journey maps and touch point insight is actively in use in CX development. Customer care model and ways of working have been clarified and improved.

"The cooperation has lasted for multiple years and has been very beneficial. We have worked closely together in small and big projects and it has been a pleasure to work with Futurelab. Our competencies have truly increased a result of our cooperation. "

CX day to increase customer understanding

Starting point

Fazer Services produces supporting services for Fazer group. In 2019 Fazer carried out multiple acquisitions that resulted in a need for Fazer Services to engage its' key personnel in customer experience and employee experience development, as part of strategic development.

Solution and results


Futurelab designed and facilitated a CX day in which the above themes were discussed from various angles. Prior to the workshop, a customer experience 360 analysis was carried out to define existing strengths and weaknesses in Fazer Services' customer experience. In addition, Futurelab created two videos that were utilized as a training material prior to the event. Futurelab suunnitteli ja toteutti workshop-päivän, jossa edellä mainittuja teemoja käytiin yhdessä läpi. As a result of the CX day, participants concluded their understanding of customer and employee experience was increased, and concrete exercises helped to take the learnings to practical level.

"The best workshop of the year! "

Tools to support strategy

Starting point

Tampere Sähkölaitos is a leading energy company in the Pirkanmaa region. Customer experience and a better customer understanding through customer insight and measurement was set as a strategic target. In the starting point, open construction sites were identified as one of the key pain points for Tampere habitants, as these obstructed the transportation in the city.

Solution and results

Futurelab started the work with a current state analysis, utilizing Futurelab's 360 model to capture existing strengths and weaknesses in the organization, and analyzed the existing voice of the customer. In cooperation with Tampere Sähkölaitos a customer experience roadmap and action plan was created and a measurement model introduced. One of the key targets for the measurement model was to be able to constantly analyze customer feedback and key trends, so Futurelab introduced an online dashboard for the purpose.

"With the support of Futurelab, we were able to reach our targets and improve our customer understanding. The cooperation was very smooth! "

CX development contributed to a new company strategy

Starting point

Saarioinen is a privately owned Finnish Food Industry Company. Saarioinen requested Futurelab's support in the definition of customer experience targets both for B2B and B2C businesses.

Solution and results

The development work was carried out with a series of workshops that included definition of the customer journeys and customer promises. The work itself contributed to a new strategy for Saarioinen, in which the role of customer experience was in the core. The work also resulted in definition of new roles and responsibilities in customer experience.

Unified ways of working after a merger

Starting point

Finpro and Tekes merged in 2018 and a new organization called Business Finland was born. Business Finland vuonna 2018 ja uusi organisaatio sai nimekseen Business Finland. Business Finland is a Finnish government organization for innovation funding and trade, travel and investment. As a result of the new company, two organizations' ways of working needed to be unified and customer experience required specific attention.

Solution and results

Futurelab supported Business Finland in creating a customer strategy, segmentation model and customer promises. In addition, a new, holistic customer experience measurement model was designed. The cooperation included engagement of key individuals in different functions of Business Finland. This enabled better deep-dives to the current state and development potential by function.

"The cooperation was kicked off successfully! We gained new thinking and concrete practices that can be implemented. "

Customer emotions captured with interviews and analysis

Starting point

Kastelli is a leading manufacturer of houses and wishes to continuously develop their customer centricity and customer experience. Kastelli wanted to increase the current capabilities in listening and understanding customer needs and developing pain points. In addition, a visual customer journey map was needed to illustrate a typical customer journey and touch points.

Solution and results

Futurelab interviewed Kastelli's customers collecting and analyzing insight from the process of planning and building a house. The deep-dive interviews captured customer expectations and experiences, but also emotions that evolved throughout the customer journey. Customer insight supported Kastelli's customer experience development and a visual output of a customer journey map, together with Futurelab's recommendations on where to focus in development, acted as a tool to lead change in the organization.

"Futurelab's deep-dives to customer experience supported us in better understanding our customer expectations and emotions. We have actively utilized the findings in improving e.g. our customer communications. "