“Customer-oriented, intensive, passionate” – this is how Björn Kuse (CEO of the HelloFresh from the DACH region) describes the last three days of ENNOstudio-led workshops. He and his team have used these focussed sessions to dream up new ideas and innovations for the future of this already successful cooking box business.
Unlike so many other companies, HelloFresh is emerging from the Covid crisis stronger than ever. In the first quarter alone, HelloFresh was able to increase their turnover by 66% thanks to a million new customers. Which meant that its share value also rose by up to 300% compared to the previous year.
However, Björn knows that you cannot rest on your laurels at moments like these. Now, more than ever, it is especially important to be thinking about how to continue this growth now and into the future. So, the challenge facing Björn is to ensure that these new customers recognise the practical advantages of HelloFresh’s cooking boxes so that they’ll keep on using them in the long term.
But how do you make an already well-positioned company even more futureproof? And how do you succeed in giving voice to employees with all their great ideas and then, make them a reality?
The answer for HelloFresh: the “HelloFresh Hackathon 2020”. An event which we at ENNOstudio organised and ran on behalf of the cooking box pioneer which took place at the beginning of September.
We designed the hackathon format tailoring it to HelloFresh’s goals and resources. Being from outside the business, it made it easier for us to spot weak points, but also, certain opportunities that employees may not have considered before. Now it was up to us to use HelloFresh’s existing potential and to coach team members how to present their ideas expertly but also, how to put them into practice.
Before the hackathon, we conducted three input sessions (which, due to coronavirus, took place remotely). We prepped the participants for some different idea-generating methods: Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping and Speed Pitching. This established the important theoretical basis for the hands-on, in-person activities that would take place during the actual event.
Day 1 | The Ideas Marketplace
On Day 1 of the hackathon, we organised an Ideas Marketplace, using the Open Space concept. Here, all ideas, suggestions, and problems were collected and “offered”. These could then be taken up and supplemented. These broad-ranging ideas were summarised thematically and specific groups were formed according to interests. We formed 14 highly motivated (and slightly competitive) teams which were ready to give their all to implement their ideas in the following two workshop days.
Day 2 | Prototyping & Pitch Preparation
These teams began by formulating the problem statement based on the findings from the previous theoretical input sessions; then by thinking up solutions for the problem and finally, by designing prototypes to visualise their ideas. On this day, the task was to prepare a convincing pitch. During the process, the participants received professional support and coaching from 5 ENNOstudio experts, who were always available to provide advice and assistance.
Day 3 | Competition
On the last day, the hackathon culminated in a grand competition with the individual ideas of the teams being put through their paces and evaluated by a specialist jury. The toughest critics were probably their own long-standing HelloFresh customers who were invited in especially for this event. But even they were thrilled by the inventiveness and originality of the ideas.
Theoretical input & training
Preparation of the participants for the application of various methods, such as Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping and Speed Pitching.
Open Space concept
Prepared ideas are collected, offered and developed further. After topic areas have been formed, interested parties come together as working groups on the respective topics.
Problem definition & creative solutions
Formulating a problem statement and finding creative and suitable solutions for it.
Prototyping
Visualisation of the ideas so that they are easy to understand and as realistic as possible for outsiders.
Pitching
Finding a suitable way to present the idea convincingly and concisely to convince a jury or a superior. If this is successful, work can be done on the realisation and implementation.
In the end, everyone was happy with the outcome of HelloFresh Hackathon 2020. HelloFresh was happy because a collection of realistic ideas were developed, which were not only supported by management level, but also by the employees themselves – who left keen to make ideas reality.
And HelloFresh customers were also happy because they can look forward to an even better customer experience in the future. And we at ENNOstudio, because it makes us happy to be able to connect and support in the right places by applying our know-how.
Keep customers happy and skill-up your employees with our tailor-made workshop and training sessions. Designed to help you generate innovative ideas, breathe new life into existing products and inspire your team with new mindsets, design skills and marketing solutions.
We are a design and innovation studio creating engaging, accessible digital experiences for everyone. Our team of product designers and strategic consultants combine beautiful design and creative strategies to build and promote user interfaces that make a real difference to people’s lives.
Email or call us to pay us a visit at our Berlin office in Kreuzberg.
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