Codecool is an international network of programming schools with branches in Krakow, Warsaw, Budapest, Miskolc, and Bucharest. It was founded in 2014 by experienced IT company managers who believe that programming can change the workplace and life for the better.
That is why the brand seeks to revolutionize the way people and organizations learn, develop and educate through lifelong learning, career planning, and employee management. The network offers practical programming courses using innovative training methods. Codecool also allows its students to take advantage of the guarantee of employment in the profession thanks to the company’s cooperation with numerous partners in the IT market.
I have already cooperated with Socjomania in 3 companies and on a different project each time. From training and research to consulting, I’ve never been disappointed. Our latest project to improve the student experience of our Codecool programming school was carried out with exceptional care and attention to detail. From the very beginning, not only employees were involved in implementing our assumptions, but also our customers, who also stated that it was a very positive experience for them. Thanks to the research and recommendations of Socjomania, we are currently implementing a long-term Customer Experience project, and its effects are slowly visible in the opinions of customer satisfaction and retention. It was not the first and certainly not the last project we have worked together on.
– Jakub Dzięcielski, Marketing Manager Poland at Codecool & Head of Student Acquisition Poland, Hungary, Romania
1. Common language
As Socjomania, we started by defining customer experience in the organization’s strategy – as understood by all parties (employees, mentors, recruiters, sellers) for the consistency and maximum efficiency of the process.
2. Process selection
We recommended the design thinking process (with the stages of empathizing, defining, creating solutions, prototyping, and testing) and the service design methodology, due to focusing on the needs of the target group and exploring the problem. You can read more about service design here. The project’s goal was to improve the existing services and products of the Codecool business.
3. Problem analysis and exploration
The starting point for us was the analysis of existing data (desk research) in the form of questionnaires, opinions, or discussions on the target group. Then, together with the client, we confronted our data with the result of the method of netnography (ethnographic research in an online environment) that we carried out. For this purpose, we analyzed data from digital channels (including opinions about Codecool, behavior, and needs of the target group, research conducted in the social media environment, online forums).
4. Empathizing with employees and clients
The next step was to get to know employees’ perspectives – we conducted a series of interviews and a Customer Experience Mapping workshop for employees of the Warsaw and Krakow branches.
The result of the meeting was an almost 2-meter vast map of the customer journey map with identified activities, contact points, problems, and benefits of the customer, as well as motivations, and activities of the brand itself. Then we conducted a second workshop with representatives of the target group.
Thanks to this tactic, we were able to put together two versions of the path for the same client type – the one developed entirely by brand employees and then revised by their clients. During both workshops, participants developed a customer map from the moment the customer’s need arose (the stage of building awareness) to the analysis and decision-making stage, decision and recruitment, the step of learning and direct contact with brand representatives, until starting work after the course.
5. Positive side-effects
At the same time, the Codecool team focused on many internal areas (related to the organizational culture and challenges), which turned out to be of significant influence to the experience and service. Such action provided a solid basis for the comprehensive transformation of their business.
Based on the conclusions drawn from the workshops, we prepared a report containing:
Codecool also received a Customer Experience map in a digitized form, which is the starting point for further work on optimizing the customer experience and tools for generating new ideas and consulting support at the implementation stage.
