In a two-day pattern recognition and insight analysis workshop we reviewed 16 profiles from our ethnographic interviews with inspection engineers. Thanks to our colleagues and participating clients!

Covering trend extrapolation, explorative future scenarios, normative scenarios, and scenario transfer, our new workshop series introduces concepts and methods of corporate foresight and customer foresight.   Our recent client, the customer journey team of Groupe PSA / Stellantis reports on LinkedIn: "Henning Breuer provided an actionable and highly useful training for our Customer Journey (CX) team at Groupe PSA / Stellantis on Scenario Management and Corporate Foresight including engaging exercises focussing on our service business and highly relevant reference cases from telecommunication and other industries. Thanks a lot for bringing this approach into our company. It will help us to shape our company´s future!"

We just finished an international user study for an American internet company, testing its German, French, and English online offerings for European jobseekers with selected private and professional users. We explored culture-specific user preferences in the different markets, identified numerous usability issues and documented the most critical ones with video, and derived recommendations for a redesign.

For almost two years we collaborated with the lab of tomorrow to review, improve and sum up its process in a recently published manual. The manual provides all information needed to conduct an innovation process designed to turn sustainability-oriented business opportunities in developing countries into profitable businesses. It is co-authored by Prof. Dr. Henning Breuer and Kiril Ivanov of UXBerlin, and Prof. Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund of the ESCP Berlin. The lab of tomorrow project is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its manual has been developed for both project planners and project implementers. It enables stakeholders to conduct their own lab of tomorrow innovation process: it serves as a step-by-step guide on how development partners can identify promising challenges based on shared values and enable entrepreneurial actors to jointly develop SDG-oriented business models using the lab of tomorrow approach. Thus, local development challenges are matched with tailored business solutions.

We are engaging in the European 5G Victori project. Together with our partners from the Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment we are develop a generic procedure and directly support three entrepreneurs in developing sustainability-oriented business models and plans for future 5G services in three vertical industries focussing on mobility, media, and factory of the future.

In this webinar in collaboration with CreativeLabs, Henning introduces the values-based innovation management framework and presents unique facilitation methods. Learn how to generate ethnographic customer insights to drive product and service innovation, how to model values-based business and how to review business policies to drive innovation. Each approach is exemplified with selected cases from UXBerlin consulting projects.

Now online: The webinar on the use of remote games to foster innovation by Sune Gudiksen, Henning Breuer and Kiril Ivanov. "Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow" (William Pollard, 1828-1893). In the last few weeks, this statement has gained additional importance. The current circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic have not only forced numerous businesses to rapidly and effectively adopt a remote mindset, but have also confronted them with accompanying challenges for individuals and teams. How can companies ensure that innovative ideas of its stakeholders can be managed appropriately without face-to-face interaction? How can they rapidly align and constantly renew their portfolio in order to withstand economic pressure during the crisis and in the future?     The webinar gives insights into the opportunities and usage of remote games that foster innovation. It provides guidelines on how to drive innovation through remote games in times of crisis. What can you expect to take away from the webinar?

Scheduling systems are crucial for a satisfactory customer journey. You have to take into account the requirements of different stakeholder groups, in particular the customers organisation and contact persons, the service provider, and the organization of the provider. For a technical inspection organization, we develop an improved disposition system together with inspection engineers and customers.

We started a new project introducing future scenarios to the Customer Journey team of a large vehicle manufacturer. In the first session we reviewed trend exploration and scenario analysis, and developed a raw scenario for future vehicle services. We will follow up with normative scenarios and scenario management and introduce a forward-looking team to managing their way of dealing with uncertain futures.

We delivered an international ethnography with European Jobseekers. Our client is determined to change the careers industry with new online services. We had the chance to closely collaborate with one of their most outstanding teams exploring the job seeking journey in two European countries. Field interviews with 24 job seekers, profile writing, pattern recognition delivered strategic insights how to approach the new markets. We synthesized several relevant issues such as self-management and building up momentum, trading-off ideals against immediate benefits, projecting a big picture strategy and learning to apply different media, and need for tactical support (writing CVs, cover letters and improving interview skills). We are looking forward to continue our cooperation in the new year.