Otava LearningCreating a customer experience strategy for 2025-2028
Otava Learning | A unified, measurable, and customer-centric operating model
The project combined business strategy, service design, customer understanding, foresight, technology, and organizational culture development, focusing on long-term customer value growth.
- Customer experience
- Research & insights
- Digital transformation
Otava Learning aimed to create a systematic and strategy-driven model for developing customer experience that spans the entire organization. The transformation project covered the whole organisation: internal processes, communication, customer service, technology utilization (e.g., artificial intelligence), and the renewal of customer relationship management.
Building a future-ready customer experiencein the education sector
The need to face digital transformation head on
Otava Learning is part of the 130-year-old Otava Publishing Company. This Finnish family business understands the everyday life of schools and produces high-quality learning content and services in collaboration with about 300 textbook authors. Otava Learning's printed and digital materials are based on the curriculum and cover the learning path from preschool to adult education. Otava produces content in Finnish and Swedish, and they also export content abroad.
However, the operating environment is changing rapidly, with challenges such as the rapid development of artificial intelligence and societal changes in Finland.
Driving long-term customer value
Digitalist collaborated with Otava Learning to design a customer experience strategy aimed at creating a unified, measurable, and customer-centric operating model to enhance the entire customer journey. The project combined business strategy, service design, customer understanding, foresight, technology, and organizational culture development, focusing on long-term customer value growth.
Collaboration with Digitalist was very smooth and inspiring. They were able to combine customer understanding, strategic thinking, and service design practically. The work was transparent, exciting, and efficient. Together, we created a strategic tool that guides the entire organization to develop customer experience sustainably.
Uncovering the gaps in Otava Learning's customer experience
Digitalist conducted a current state analysis as the basis for strategy work, and it revealed several areas for development. The biggest challenge was integrating customer-centric thinking into the everyday operations of a long-established publishing house.
Other challenges included the fragmentation of current media culture and communication, as well as the difficulty of reaching customers through various channels. Customers' demands for digital services are also increasing. At the same time, Otava Learning already has a strong brand, high-quality learning materials, local expertise, and the opportunity to differentiate from competitors with a customer-centric approach.
The new customer experience strategy addresses the needs of a changing operating environment, such as caring for customers throughout the entire customer journey from awareness to the end of the relationship, utilizing artificial intelligence, and promoting digital well-being.
The importance of future and foresight work
We co-developed the 2028 vision with the Otava Learning staff. As part of creating the customer experience vision, we gathered signals of change in the operating environment with Otava Learning's staff: where the world of customers is heading by 2028. We also utilized knowledge from discussions with customers, as well as research and statistical data.
We created a future scenario of Finland in 2028 and a shared vision story—how customers and Otava Learning work together when the customer experience strategy takes place in daily operations.
When the shared vision is clear, everything else falls into place.Our approach
The team
The project involved Digitalist's strategic service designers Auri Antinranta and Mikko Koivisto, and CEO Jussi Hermunen. From Otava Learning, the project was led by Customer Experience Director Päivi Koskela and Customer Experience Manager Minna Tuorila, working in collaboration with the management team and staff. The project covered not only the organization's own operations but also key customer groups—teachers, principals, and municipal decision-makers.
The project
Digitalist conducted the work in Spring 2025, with its effects extending to 2028. We used our Digitalist strategy design process, supported by a set of metrics and a roadmap.
In a vision workshop, over a hundred ideas were co-developed on how to improve Otava Learning's customer experience. Together with Otava Learning, Digitalist analyzed the steps between today and the future, defined strategic development areas, and selected metrics to quantify the implementation and impact of the customer experience strategy.
Methods & tools
- Current state analysis
- Co-creation workshops
- Future foresight & scenario planning
- Gap analysis & roadmap
- Metrics & measurement framework
Related services
Otava understands that CX strategy is not an isolated exercise
Since the strategy is new, concrete results are still underway. However the metrics guide semi-annual monitoring, documentation, and adjustment based on feedback to track the progress of the customer experience strategy's actions. This way, Otava Learning can verify the strategy's impact, and it does not remain an isolated exercise on paper.
Related services
Customer Experience Consulting
Transformation Consulting
