Mash-Ups
Mash-Ups is an ideation technique from the IDEO.org Design Kit that borrows a quality from a well-known brand or service in another field and applies it to your own design challenge. The team names the quality it wants, lists organisations known for it, and then asks what the version of that organisation would look like in its own context. One of the Design Kit's examples is asking what the farmers' market version of a school cafeteria would be.
Facilitation script
- 1
Restate the challenge and agree on the quality the solution should have. Post it on the wall.
5 min - 2
Collect brands, businesses and services known for that quality. Everyone writes in silence, then posts. Pick the two or three that most people know from personal use.
7 min - 3
For the first reference, list together what it actually does that creates the quality. Then write the mash-up question on the board.
5 min - 4
Brainstorm answers to the first mash-up question, one idea per note, read aloud while posting.
10 min - 5
Switch to the second reference and repeat the brainstorm with a new mash-up question.
10 min - 6
Cluster the ideas, name the clusters and mark the ideas the group wants to sketch or prototype next.
8 min
Tips
The step that makes the method work is taking the reference apart: ask what the brand actually does, such as how it queues people, prices, greets or guarantees, and transfer those mechanisms.
Choose references every participant has used personally, because a brand known only by reputation yields clichés.
Run at least two different mash-ups so the group does not fall in love with the first analogy.
Common pitfalls
Copying the surface of the reference brand, such as its look or tone, without asking which mechanisms create the quality, which produces a costume instead of a concept
Choosing a quality that is too broad, such as better or innovative, so that any brand fits and the question gives no direction
Using references that only part of the group knows, which leaves the others unable to contribute
Stopping after one mash-up, so the whole session is anchored on a single analogy
Importing a commercial model into a setting with different constraints, for example a public service, without checking what cannot transfer
Variations
Split a larger group into teams of three or four, give each team a different reference brand for the same quality and compare results. As a quick warm-up, prepare the mash-up questions in advance and let pairs answer one each in five minutes. Remote teams can run it on a shared whiteboard with one frame per mash-up question. This method is different from Mash-Up Innovation, the exercise that combines lists of technologies, human needs and existing services; the two can be run back to back.
Where it fits
When to use it
A brainstorm keeps producing ideas that look like what competitors in the same sector already do
The team has agreed on a quality the solution needs, such as trust or speed, and cannot say what that means in practice
You are in the ideation phase after research and have a framed challenge to work on
The group includes people who find open brainstorming hard and respond better to a concrete reference
When not to use it
The challenge has not been framed yet; write How Might We questions first, or the mash-ups will solve the wrong problem
Participants come from very different countries or backgrounds and share few brand references; use Analogous Inspiration with settings you can observe together
You need to improve an existing product step by step; SCAMPER gives a more systematic sweep
The team needs to choose between existing ideas; move to a convergence method such as dot voting or an Impact & Effort Matrix
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Mash-Ups?▾
Mash-Ups is a brainstorming technique from the IDEO.org Design Kit. The team picks a quality it wants in its solution, finds a brand or service from another field that is known for that quality, and asks what a version of it would look like for its own challenge. The unusual combination produces ideas the team would not reach from inside its own sector.
How do you write a good mash-up question?▾
Name a specific, well-known organisation and your specific context in one question about what the version of the first would be in the second. The Design Kit gives examples such as the farmers' market version of a cafeteria for healthier school lunches. A good question makes people picture concrete features straight away.
How long does a Mash-Ups session take?▾
The Design Kit suggests 30 to 45 minutes. That covers choosing the quality, collecting references and two rounds of brainstorming. Add time if you want to cluster and select ideas in the same session.
How many people can take part?▾
The method is written for a design team, which in practice means three to eight people. Larger groups work when split into teams that each take a different reference brand and then share their ideas.
What is the difference between Mash-Ups and Mash-Up Innovation?▾
Mash-Ups overlays one quality from a known brand onto your challenge. Mash-Up Innovation has the group brainstorm lists of technologies, human needs and existing services and then combine items from the lists into new concepts. The first works by analogy, the second by combination.
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Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from IDEO.org Design Kit.