Welcome to our Parisian sister company, MakeThink /  by Pierre Tilhou

MakeThink is a Marketing and Design lab that focuses on Customer Experience Design, based out of Paris.

Building tomorrow's customer experience is a journey, from insights to branding to the actual design of the physical and digital experience. This integration is key to deliver the brand idea consistently and with integrity.

MakeThink taps into its founders' experience, Antoine Phelouzat and Pierre Tilhou, who worked together on projects ranging from designing the New Relay stores in Toronto Airport as well as airport lounges, aircraft interiors, furniture, to facilitating co-creation sessions with clients to develop innovative travel retail concepts.

In addition, extensive use of immersive 3D technologies creates a new possibility: the visualization of the customer experience throughout all steps of the project enables engaging more stakeholders in a fluid and tangible conversation, something that wouldn't happen through written briefs and powerpoint presentations.

Want to know more? E-mail Antoine (antoine@makething.design).

About Antoine Phelouzat: www.antoinephelouzat.com

Hello, Asia. /  by Pierre Tilhou

After a successful trial period, we have decided to solidify our presence in Asia with a permanent office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We will offer the same services as everywhere, from Customer Experience Design to Visioning for Large Projects, with a specific focus on market analysis.

Want to know more? E-mail Hugo (hugo@stringtheory-nyc.com).

Congratulations to AREP, HUBS & CONNEXIONS, and EGIS /  by Pierre Tilhou

French Agency for Development (AFD), along with Sri Lankan authorities, recently selected a consortium led by AREP to carry out a detailed feasibility study for Pettah Multimodal Hub in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

String Theory supported the consortium's efforts in defining the response strategy and assembling the offer. Additionally, String Theory will work along international technical experts and local market research specialists to facilitate the production of hi-level scenarios for the hub.

We have developed specific methodologies to facilitate fruitful conversation between technical experts to imagine options that will address the needs and concerns of various stakeholders. This work is meant to inform future political decisions, maximizing benefits for the communities and mitigating the risks of losses for those negatively affected by the project.

Congrats to Keolis in Boston! /  by Pierre Tilhou

We are very happy here to learn that Keolis won the bid to operate Boston's commuter rail system.

They are a great team, and it's been a pleasure working with them on market research and insights, as well as service-ideas generation.

On our side, we have learned a lot on how to leverage technology (especially mobile and social networks) to quickly improve the customer experience without occurring massive investments.

We wish the best to Keolis in Boston!

What can we learn from this? /  by Pierre Tilhou

Could we learn from this data-based, flexible, experimental approach when it comes to longer-distance transport?

This could militate for more incremental improvements, in order to validate each investment with a new source of revenue. But two problems still exist:

- Governance: Too often, the absence of a unified government body limits the possibilities to move quickly and (relatively) cheaply

- Time: this incremental approach may take too much time before it provides the market with a competitive service. In emerging economies, the result could be the unstoppable growth of a new motorized class, rich and large enough to influence politics and potentially create disastrous unbalances in terms of transit planning, urban development, energy independence, and of course environment.