Mash-ups is an ideation technique that generates new design concepts by forcibly combining two or more existing products, services, or concepts that would not normally be associated. By asking 'What if we combined the experience of A with the model of B?' the method produces hybrids that inherit strengths from multiple domains and sometimes reveal entirely new value propositions. It is a structured form of analogous thinking that produces ideas with a clear conceptual lineage rather than ideas that feel arbitrary.
What It Is
A mash-up session starts with a list of products, services, or concepts from adjacent and non-adjacent domains. Participants combine pairs of items and describe what the hybrid product or service would look, feel, and work like. The most interesting mash-ups are not merely features from one added to another, but genuinely new propositions that emerge from the combination. The technique was popularised by IDEO and has been used extensively in service design and digital product innovation.
How to Run It
- Prepare a deck of cards, each bearing the name of a product, service, or concept from your domain and adjacent ones.
- Pair cards randomly — use actual random drawing rather than deliberate selection to avoid familiar combinations.
- For each pair, give teams five minutes to describe the mash-up: what would a combination of these two things be? What problem would it solve? Who would use it?
- Capture mash-up descriptions on sticky notes and post them on a shared wall.
- Vote on the most interesting or promising mash-up concepts.
- Develop the top-voted concepts into more detailed concept sketches for evaluation.
When to Use It
Mash-ups are most effective during the ideation phase when the team needs to break free of conventional product category thinking and explore genuinely novel propositions. They are particularly powerful in innovation strategy sessions where the goal is to identify opportunities at the intersection of industries, and in hackathons and design sprints where speed and creative volume are priorities.
Tips for Success
- Include items from outside the immediate product category in your card deck — the most generative combinations are often the most unexpected ones.
- Set a strict time limit per mash-up to prevent over-elaboration: the goal is concept seeds, not complete designs.
- Look beyond feature combination: the most valuable mash-ups often involve combining business models, distribution mechanisms, or service delivery approaches rather than product features.
- Use mash-up outputs as inputs for further ideation rather than as finished concepts: the combination often reveals the direction, not the destination.
