In 2019, Keolis Orléans launched a project aiming to improve the customer experience of its mobile app, Tao. To rethink this experience, Keolis Orléans turned to Le LAB’O to overhaul and adapt the app to user needs.
The two partners organized a hackathon with Wild Code School, the area school for developers located at the incubator Le LAB’O. The students there are learning and preparing for new careers in digital, and they also have extensive knowledge of the transit network operated by Keolis Orléans, as they are some of its main users. This is precisely what enabled them to propose concrete solutions. “These coding marathons are a great exercise for students at the Wild Code School, teaching them how to take on a big challenge. It is an opportunity for them to use the skills they have learned in class and to demonstrate their creativity and innovation on a subject that is close to their hearts. Guided and accompanied by the members of Keolis Orléans, the students came up with good ideas and had a great experience,” adds Éléonore Bourguignon d'Herbigny, Student Experience Manager at Wild Code School.
Over 48 hours, some 10 teams of 3–4 people got to work with no limits or constraints on a new version of the app, before presenting it to Keolis Orléans managers. Some groups focused on showing transit schedules in real time, while others worked on the application’s style and personalized content. Still others went even further: offering transit tickets on the app or developing games to support sustainability and charity projects like planting trees or building a beehive. Following the hackathon, the event showcased the three best projects.
Since 2020, the marketing, innovation and community teams at Keolis Orléans have dedicated their efforts to the app. Their methodology, which integrates users into the process, was enriched considerably by the hackathon. For example, the new version of the app displays the congestion of different trains using a counting system based on ticket validation.
Pierre Lagarde
Director of Innovation, Projects and Information Systems at Keolis Orléans Métropole
"The hackathon collected a lot of feedback on our application in only 48 hours. In this short period of time, teams of young people were able to propose a ready-to-use application."
Keolis Orléans is now collaborating with the CRIJ (Regional Youth Information Center) and a design thinking company in an effort to gamify transit, one of the avenues brought to light by participants in the hackathon. For this reason, the company will organize workshops with universities and the CRIJ to bring together young volunteers. The goal is to launch several new digital services in 2022.
Éléonore Bourguignon d'Herbigny
Student Experience Manager at Wild Code School
"These coding marathons are a great exercise for students. Guided and accompanied by the members of Keolis Orléans, they came up with good ideas and had a great experience."
