Tool details

Mash-up

Mash-up two existing brand or concepts to explore new ideas.

Tool category:

Ideation
Generate

Tool thumbnail

When to use

When you want to isolate the exact qualities you're looking to design into your solution, using real-world examples as inspiration.

Why you should

An exercise to pose bold, even unreasonable questions to speed your thinking along.

What you get

A collection of new ideas and concepts.

Steps to take

1

The first, and hardest, part of Mash-Ups is to isolate the quality that you’re looking to add to your solution. Is it efficiency, speed, cleanliness, glamour? Write it down on a Post-it and put it on the wall.

2

Now that you’ve got the quality you’re after, brainstorm real-world examples of businesses, brands, and services that embody that quality.

3

Now, layer that brand on top of your challenge and ask your Mash-Up question.

4

Take your Mash-Up question and Brainstorm what it would look like in the context in which you’re designing. Capture all your ideas on Post-its and put them up on the wall.

Further reading

If you’re trying to design a healthful school lunch, you might ask, “What’s the farmer’s market version of a cafeteria?” Or if you want to determine how to make financial services more social, you might ask “What’s the Facebook version of a savings account?” The trick is to layer a real-world example of whatever quality you seek onto what you’re designing.