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A 48-hour Hackathon was organised by Tieto Experience Hub, Fazer Food Services and Aalto University Campus & Real Estate (Aalto CRE) at the Otaniemi campus on 4th and 5th February 2016.

'The purpose of the CXHack Fazer event was to find new ideas and solutions which take advantage of digital services, and which can improve the experience of customers visiting the Amica lunch restaurant,' explained Aleksi Nuuja, Senior Project Manager at Tieto.

The event was open to the public. Out of approximately 50 participants representing 11 different nationalities, around 10 were Aalto students. The other participants were entrepreneurs or others who had an interest in improving the lunch experience of the future.

Digitalization as part of food, service and the restaurant environment

The wining team came up with an idea for a real time client feedback system. The concept allows customers to give feedback at various stages of their visit to the restaurant through smart, wireless buttons. This allows restaurant proprietors to monitor the customer journey in a flexible manner and to find ways of improving the customer experience. The winning team was made up of Rahul Abhisek (Aalto ARTS), Laura Leppälä (Aalto BIZ) and Ann Plough (blogger at Eat Simply, Eat Well), who were awarded a prize of 1,500 euros.

'The digital services that were created by the teams were related to shortening queuing times, making the right nutritional choices, getting takeaway meals, sharing the lunch experience with friends, and choosing a meal, for example. The aim was to create simple and useful everyday services and applications, and the teams definitely succeeded in this,' explained Simon Panelius, Vice President of Operational Development at Fazer Food Services.

'It was nice and interesting to cooperate with students and to see how, in the space of just a couple of days, ideas can evolve from rough concepts to services that are almost ready to be put into action. The presentations were also well prepared,' commented Johanna Koskenkorva-Tapiala, Senior Manager of Client & Guests Insight at Fazer Food Services, who took part in the event as a mentor. She also praised the well-organised event and Aalto University's excellent HUB space, where it was easy for the teams to work in a relaxed and driven manner.

The jury was made up of high-level influencers, including Richard McCormick, who is an innovator of restaurant culture, and serial entrepreneur Taneli Tikka.

Further information:


There was also a lively discussion on Twitter: #cxhackFazer