For us, cross innovation describes the collaboration between companies from different sectors (e.g. aviation, construction, logistics, medical technology) and the creative industries. The aim is to develop innovative solutions for specific challenges at high speed through a change of perspective and professional creativity. We are a Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
What is cross innovation?
Dieses Projekt wird durch die Europäische Union und die Stadt Hamburg gefördert.
Professional creativity meets targeted processes and methodology: find out how we create the perfect conditions for innovation work - for innovative and meaningful solutions at high speed.
Innovation rarely happens behind closed doors
Innovation makes companies more resilient, products and services more relevant, jobs more desirable and, in the best-case scenario, this world a little better. Innovations have never been as important for the economy as they are today. But they are rarely created behind closed doors. In order to create something completely new, entrenched structures and ways of thinking need to be questioned and broken down. How? With creative impulses from outside - interdisciplinary with a maximum change of perspective and at high speed. That is cross innovation.
Since 2016, we have been bringing together managers and employees from companies of all sectors and sizes with professional creative experts. In the innovation processes we design, aviation, logistics or the energy industry, for example, meet design, music, theatre, architecture, advertising or games development. Together, we develop innovative solutions for specific challenges - from concept to market launch.
Targeted methodology and process design
We create the necessary framework conditions so that interdisciplinary creativity can realise its full potential: From validated creative methods and defined success factors to open-ended processes - we design the innovation process in such a way that it is not only inspiring, but also solution-orientated and feasible. We combine unconventional approaches and ideas with strategy, enabling the development of concrete, marketable solutions.
Selection of our success factors
Clearly define challenges
Every cross-innovation process begins with the precise identification and definition of the central problems and challenges in order to start the process with a clear design challenge.
Setting the legal framework
Cross innovation requires a safe space that provides legal certainty for all parties involved.
Involve creative experts
Collaboration with curated and visionary creative experts ensures quality, commitment, trust and cross-innovation expertise.
Accompanying at eye level with facilitation
Professional facilitation ensures open, solution-orientated collaboration. It creates the space for productive collaboration and the joint development of innovative solutions.
Develop mindset and motivation
Successful cross innovation requires openness, flexibility and the willingness to deal with ambiguity and try out new approaches. We specifically promote this mindset in all participants.
Designing a solution-orientated process
A well thought-out, customised cross-innovation process ensures that ideas are translated into specific, implementable solutions. At the same time, it is open-ended and geared towards quick and needs-based solutions.
Use customised methods
The innovation process is organised efficiently and purposefully using suitable methods, some of which are inspired by creative minds. Our variety of methods enables creative and productive collaboration.
Process results and create an action plan
At the end of the process, we prepare the results and create an action plan for the next steps so that your concepts can become reality.
Selection of our creative methods
Embodiment
Embodiment is a method from the performing arts such as film and theatre. The aim is to gain deep insights into the behaviour of the target group. Instead of analysing the user perspective from the outside, the team slips into the role of the user and thus gains a complex understanding of challenges, potentials and blind spots. Each team member is assigned a specific persona as a potential user of the new product or service. The task is then to "embody" the respective character over a certain period of time by empathising with the needs and preferences of this person, their knowledge and approaches. The different experiences of the team members provide valuable points of reference for further work with the existing ideas.
The Core
The search for the core originates from the advertising and design industries and can be adapted as a workshop method for a team that has already dealt with the user perspective and is now developing various ideas for innovations. The Core is a method with which participants put their ideas through their paces by focussing on the most important aspect, the core of the idea. This central aspect should stand out from the competition in order to be a success. Basing the development of a product or service on a distinctive and promising idea increases the chances of high demand. This essence is determined and compared with other ideas using a special questioning methodology from large to small.
Conducted Ideation
This method originates from the work of conductors with a symphony orchestra. Brainstorming processes can be challenging: Different perspectives and experiences of team members complement each other, but can also lead to a competition of opinions and ideas. In Conducted Ideation, one team member takes on the role of conductor to build bridges between different approaches or to help others overcome individual hurdles. The conductor is not involved in the ideation, but observes and steers the process. He or she maintains a balance between stimulating interference and leaving enough space for the participants to get involved in the moment and its mood.
Vertical Slice
Vertical sectioning is a method from the games industry that helps to get an idea of the whole and its challenges by working with a section. A team deliberately tests only parts of a complex product, service or process. The method is a counter-concept to the minimum viable product (MVP). With the latter, all parts of a product or service are tested at a point in time when it is only equipped with basic functions. The idea of the vertical slice, on the other hand, is that a single product part is developed as far as possible and thus generates more associative power for the end product than several immature product parts or many vague ideas. A vertical slice thus enables insightful user testing at an early stage of the entire development process, facilitating early adjustments and improvements without major costs.
Search the Odd!
This method stems from creative processes in which the search for the contradictory, strange or grotesque can lead to new aesthetic forms of expression and content. It is an explorative approach to finding the previously unknown and distinctively new and a useful tool to lead to a potential USP. Team members start by pitching existing ideas in detail to the group while everyone else takes notes: What parts of the pitch create tension? What is dissonant yet intriguing? After the pitches, all team members have the task of distorting the dissonant ideas presented based on their notes. Possible approaches could be: amplification, exaggeration or differentiation. In a second round, the team selects the most promising ideas and discusses how the strange can be further removed while retaining the exciting aspects of the distorted idea. The aim is to discover the distinctive new and add value to the existing. This serves as the basis for a re-ideation.
FAQ
- What is cross innovation?
- How does a cross innovation process work?
Our cross innovation process is based on the principles of Design Thinking and the Double Diamond design principle proposed by the British Design Council. Design thinking is a proven innovation methodology that combines creative, interdisciplinary energy and structure. We follow a clear process in four phases:
Setting: In the preparation phase, we clarify the objectives, framework conditions and identify the appropriate participants.
Preject: In this phase, we lay the foundations for the process, define the central challenge and create the context for the collaboration. Increasingly, we also take a strategic look into the future at this point (foresight).
Project: Together we develop new ideas, condense them into concepts and make them tangible through rapid prototypes. Iterative work helps to optimise solutions flexibly.
Eject: Finally, we support companies in implementing the solutions - with implementation plans, networking and regular updates.
The iterative and solution-orientated work brings everyone involved to new, convincing solutions with creative energy and a clear goal in mind. User-centredness, rapid prototyping and the freedom to try out new ways of thinking make this approach particularly successful.
- Our company has no experience with creative methods. Is that a problem?
No! Our targeted methodology and process design as well as experienced facilitation make it easy to participate productively in the innovation process, even without prior knowledge. We ensure that every step is transparent and realisable.
- What will your service cost me?
The costs depend on the type and scope of the project and the size of the company. Basically, we are a project of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft, a wholly owned subsidiary of the City of Hamburg. We are co-financed with funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). We can therefore offer our services at attractive conditions. We are also happy to provide you with a customised offer based on your needs and also offer cost-effective package solutions. Talk to us!
- I have already developed innovative concepts internally. Do you also support the implementation?
Yes, we not only support the development of ideas, but also their realisation. Our approach helps to create prototypes, refine concepts and accompany their implementation in practice. We work with you to get innovative ideas ready for the market and develop the right processes for implementation. Feel free to contact us.
- What preparatory work do I need to do?
For a successful cross-innovation partnership, it is important that you bring a project to the process, i.e. a question based on a problem that we translate with you into a clearly defined challenge (design challenge). We help you to focus on the right topics.
- How long does a cross innovation format take?
The duration depends on the project and the complexity of your challenge. Our formats range from half-day workshops to innovation processes lasting several months, in which your company only has to participate on selected days. We design the processes to be as resource-efficient as possible and tailor the process to your needs.
- How many and which employees from my company should take part in a format?
We will be happy to advise you on which groups of people from your company will benefit most from a cross-innovation process and which people make sense for the specific project. As a rule, at least one decision-maker is required and the core group should not exceed five people.
- Do all formats take place in Hamburg or can I also participate remotely?
Most of our formats take place centrally in Hamburg, as we are convinced that personal exchange on site delivers the best results. Creative spaces, direct interactions and working together promote the dynamism and success of our processes. Remote participation is still possible if circumstances require it, but we recommend a physical presence in order to utilise the full potential of cross innovation.
- What concrete results can I expect?
That depends on your plans and commitment. At the end of a project, you will receive tangible results: innovative prototypes, concepts for new products or services, optimised processes or strategies for a creative work culture or ideas for new business areas and models. We also draw up an action plan for the next steps. If you wish, we can accompany you all the way to market launch.
Contact persons
- Dr Susanne Eigenmann
- Knowledge Manager Cross Innovation Hub
- 040 2372435-54 Kurzbiografie
As knowledge manager at the Cross Innovation Hub, Susanne is responsible for all questions relating to the theory of innovation, cross-industry collaboration, creativity, futurology, trends and much more. She develops topics, provides background information and decision-making aids, organises discussions and communication events on all issues relating to cross innovation and is always interested in learning and exchanging ideas.
Before joining Kreativ Gesellschaft, Susanne worked as a research assistant at the University of Hamburg and as a personal assistant to the theatre director at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus. In her work as a freelancer with creative people from various sectors, such as cultural professionals and artists, she has always marvelled at how naturally, quickly and enthusiastically they create new things and move openly in new terrain. It was therefore also a wonderful development for her when she was able to help develop the Cross Innovation Hub at Kreativ Gesellschaft and be part of it, opening up the strengths of the creative industries to other sectors of the economy.
- Bruno Marks
- Partner Manager Cross Innovation Hub
- 040 2372435-85 Kurzbiografie
Nicole Wittek is responsible for cooperation and partner management at the Cross Innovation Hub and is the point of contact for all companies and organisations that want to find out more about the potential of cross innovation with creative experts and are interested in working together.
She studied Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Business Administration at the University of Regensburg. There she played a key role in the development and management of the inner-city creative centre and helped to establish the area of cultural and creative industries promotion. Most recently, she worked in an interdisciplinary office for urban development, where she designed co-creative formats and implemented them in projects for city centre development and mobility.
Nicole has been voluntarily organising projects at the interface of culture, (creative) economy and urban development for over ten years and is a founding and board member of the association obenstadt e.V., which promotes multifunctional roof uses, and is co-initiator of the Hamburg Roof Days.
