What Experience Engineering does

Experience Engineering, Inc. is a Minneapolis-based boutique consulting firm that designs, delivers, and sustains emotionally engaging customer experiences for Fortune 500 enterprises. Founded by Lou Carbone, the firm operates a Total Experience Management (TEM) methodology structured in three phases — Learn (research and insight), Create (design and strategy), and Do (execution) — supported by a suite of named proprietary frameworks including Clue Scanning, Experience Motif, Experience CluePrint, the Sticktion Study, and Advanced Journey Mapping. Underlying intellectual capital is rooted in cognitive science, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, with Lou Carbone's academic work cited over 5,900 times and his role as Professor of Practice at Michigan State University reinforcing the firm's research credentials.

The product surface comprises sub-productized services within each TEM phase (e.g., Intervention Interview, Observational Analysis, Language Analysis in Learn; Clue Ideation Workshop and Experience Metrics in Create; Optimization Workshop and Employee Role Development in Do), the Clued In Podcast, the Experience Management Reformation movement, and the published book 'Clued In' (Prentice-Hall, 2004). Trademark protection is registered across the core methodology suite.

The business model is primarily professional services: customized TEM consulting engagements sold through direct enterprise outreach (e.g., 'Talk to an Expert' channel), supplemented by fee-based speaking engagements by Lou Carbone at global corporations, conferences, and academic institutions, and book royalty income. The firm claims a cumulative roster of hundreds of Fortune 500 brands and operates with 1-10 employees, indicating a high-ticket, founder-led boutique with selective active engagement volume rather than broad-based delivery.

Name

Experience Engineering

Legal name

Experience Engineering, Inc.

Website

https://experienceengineering.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Experience Engineering is a Minneapolis-based boutique consulting firm that delivers Total Experience Management methodology — Learn, Create, and Do services — to Fortune 500 enterprises seeking emotionally differentiated customer and employee experience design.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Customer Experience Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customer Experience (CX) & Journey Strategy (MPAAAFAI), Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design (BPAFAEAI)

Keywords

• Experience management consulting
• Customer experience design
• Emotional experience research
• Journey mapping services
• Brand loyalty consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Total Experience Management Consulting: End-to-end consulting engagements covering Learn, Create, and Do phases of experience transformation. Professional services delivered through direct client engagement.
2. Speaking Engagements: Fee-based speaking engagements by Lou Carbone at global organizations, conferences, and academic institutions.
3. Book Royalties: Revenue from published book 'Clued In - How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again' (Prentice-Hall, 2004).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Experience Engineering provides Total Experience Management (TEM) consulting services that help large enterprises design, deliver, and sustain emotionally engaging customer and employee experiences. Engagements span three phases — Learn (uncovering unconscious emotional drivers via proprietary research methods), Create (translating insights into intentional sensory, behavioral, and symbolic signals), and Do (embedding the design into systems, processes, and employee behavior). The firm also offers fee-based speaking engagements by founder Lou Carbone.

Product overview

Experience Engineering offers Total Experience Management (TEM), a unified consulting and methodology platform consisting of three integrated phases: Learn (research and insight services), Create (design and strategy services), and Do (execution services). The Learn phase includes Clue Scanning, Experience Reflection Interview, Intervention Interview, Observational Analysis, Experience Effectiveness Evaluation, and Language Analysis. The Create phase features Experience Motif, Experience CluePrint, Clue Ideation Workshop, Advanced Journey Mapping, and Experience Metrics. The Do phase encompasses Optimization Workshop, Employee Role Development, Project Management & Integration, and the proprietary Sticktion Study method. The company also offers The Clued In Podcast and leads the Experience Management Reformation initiative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Total Experience Management (TEM) Consulting End-to-end experience management consulting methodology for enterprise clients, delivered in three integrated phases: Learn (research and insight services such as Clue Scanning, Experience Reflection Interview, Intervention Interview, Observational Analysis, Experience Effectiveness Evaluation, and Language Analysis), Create (design and strategy services including Experience Motif, Experience CluePrint, Clue Ideation Workshop, Advanced Journey Mapping, and Experience Metrics), and Do (execution services such as Optimization Workshop, Employee Role Development, Project Management & Integration, and Sticktion Study). Designed for Fortune 500 enterprises seeking measurable ROI through emotionally differentiated customer experiences.
• Speaking Engagements Fee-based keynote and speaking engagements delivered by founder Lou Carbone at Fortune 500 companies, industry conferences, and academic institutions (Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Michigan State, World Government Summit). Used as a thought-leadership channel and entry point into enterprise consulting engagements.
• Clued In (Book) Published book 'Clued In - How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again' authored by Lou Carbone, generating royalty revenue and reinforcing thought leadership.

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature14 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Walker Information: Walker is an experience research and advisory firm with deep CX measurement and customer loyalty expertise. It is a direct peer due to its longstanding focus on CX benchmarking, loyalty analytics, and enterprise advisory.
• Heart of the Customer: Heart of the Customer is a B2B CX consultancy that builds customer journey mapping, VoC, and experience transformation programs. It is a direct peer because it sells comparable methodology-led CX engagements to mid-market and enterprise buyers.
• Beyond Philosophy: Beyond Philosophy is a CX consulting firm specializing in emotional and behavioral experience design for large enterprises. It is a direct peer due to its nearly identical focus on neuroscience- and psychology-grounded experience strategy.
• Strativity Group: Strativity Group is a customer experience strategy and training consultancy serving global enterprises. It is a direct peer because it competes for the same Fortune 500 CX transformation budgets with proprietary methodology-led engagements.
• The CX Company: The CX Company is a European-headquartered CX strategy and design consultancy working with global enterprises. It is a direct peer given its end-to-end experience design, research, and journey mapping services targeting similar buyer profiles.

Broad incumbents

• Medallia: Medallia is an enterprise experience management software platform with professional services for CX transformation. It is a broad incumbent because it competes for the same experience management budget but delivers primarily through a SaaS model.
• Bain & Company (Customer Strategy practice): Bain's Customer Strategy & Marketing practice delivers NPS, loyalty, and CX transformation work for global enterprises. It is a broad incumbent that competes for the same executive buyer at the same strategic engagements but as part of a broader portfolio.
• InMoment: InMoment is an integrated CX platform combining VoC, analytics, and professional services for enterprise experience programs. It is a broad incumbent because it sells overlapping outcomes to the same CX buyer but through a software-led model.
• McKinsey & Company (Customer Experience practice): McKinsey operates a global Customer Experience practice serving the same Fortune 500 buyer as Experience Engineering. It is a broad incumbent because it offers CX as part of a much larger strategy portfolio with significantly greater bench capacity.
• Qualtrics (CX practice): Qualtrics offers enterprise CX research, journey analytics, and experience management software. It is a broad incumbent as a larger, technology-enabled competitor addressing the same enterprise experience management category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/groups/16527023
• Xx.com/expeng

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Experience Engineering