5 questions for Céline Marescaux, Customer Experience Manager at Paradigm

By analysing the voices of customers and users, she helps to develop Paradigm's digital solutions and services so that they are more closely aligned with the real needs of the various stakeholders in Brussels. At the crossroads of IT and human issues, her work aims to increase satisfaction, trust and adoption of public digital services.

1. What made you want to work in customer experience and, more specifically, in the field of public digital services?

What made me want to work in the field of customer experience stems from an obvious fact: we are all customers. Every day, our interactions with products and services influence how we perceive an organisation, trust it and evaluate its quality. Some experiences are smooth and positive, others could be improved.

In the IT sector, customer satisfaction is a major challenge in an environment where not everything can be anticipated and not all expectations can be fully met. Digital services rely on complex technical ecosystems made up of applications, infrastructure, interconnections and data. A change or incident in one link can have knock-on effects that are difficult to anticipate. In this context, listening, understanding and taking targeted action allows us to intervene where the impact on customers is truly significant.

My interest in public digital services follows the same logic. Today, public digital services are a matter of general interest: uses are evolving rapidly and expectations are growing, particularly in terms of simplicity, accessibility and sustainability. Contributing to this digital transformation while ensuring a high-quality, inclusive and user-centred experience gives meaning to my work.

2. What training and experience led you to your current role at Paradigm?

After studying management sciences with a specialisation in marketing, I began my career as a market research analyst. I worked for 10 years for research and polling institutes, first in an SME, then in an international group.

I then moved into the banking sector, contributing to several digital innovation and customer satisfaction measurement and monitoring projects. These different experiences have enabled me to develop a strategic and operational approach based on a detailed understanding of customer needs and strong project management skills.

Joining Paradigm was a natural step in my career. Living in Brussels, it was an opportunity for me to get involved in my city by putting my skills to work in the digital transformation of the Region, for the benefit of Brussels' administrations, businesses and citizens.

3. What does your role as Customer Experience Manager involve in practical terms?

My role is to listen to and share the voices of our customers. In concrete terms, I collect and analyse opinions, thoughts and testimonials. Based on this data, I identify areas for improvement, which I then translate into concrete actions. I then share these with the teams as part of a continuous improvement process.

I also coordinate cross-functional projects and sessions called Users Clubs and Citizen Clubs, in collaboration with various internal teams. These initiatives enable us to better understand the needs on the ground, prioritise improvements to our solutions and steer our IT processes and developments in the right direction.

4. What aspects of your job motivate you the most and make you the proudest?

The human dimension in all its complexity is the aspect I like the most. Even in a technological environment, everything starts with listening to the customers: understanding their expectations, frustrations, what works well and what doesn't. Actively listening to our various beneficiaries allows us to gather valuable insights and co-create solutions that make their daily lives easier.

I am proud to contribute to projects that serve the public interest and have a positive impact on the community. It is extremely rewarding and motivating to see digital solutions such as IRISbox, FixMyStreet and MyPermit evolve and be adopted by officials and citizens.

5. How do you see customer experience-related professions evolving in the public sector?

I am convinced that customer experience-related professions are set to play an increasingly central role, as is already the case in the private sector. Public administrations are also moving towards an approach that is more focused on user experience and satisfaction.

Since 2025, a structured approach has been implemented in the Brussels Region through the inter-administrative PROXIris – Voice of Users project, to which I contribute. This project supports administrations in structuring and utilising the voice of users to develop their service offering.

The priority in the coming years will be to strengthen collaboration between business experts, technical teams and end users, with the same goal in mind: to improve the customer experience by making public services even more accessible, sustainable and efficient.

Thank you to Céline for this inspiring conversation. Her career shows that the success of public digital initiatives depends as much on technology as on understanding human needs, enabling the creation of public services that are truly useful, sustainable and accessible to all in the Brussels Region.