Innovation is mostly a facilitation problem, not a creativity problem.
A Service Design Jam is a time-boxed, community-run event where cross-functional teams apply design thinking methods — research, ideation, prototyping — to a shared challenge, usually over 48 hours, with no pre-built solution in mind. I got reminded of that this weekend while coaching at Service Design Jam Berlin, where teams tackled healthcare challenges in just 48 hours. Guiding them through user research, ideation, and prototyping is exactly the kind of work that keeps me hooked:
➡ Creativity thrives with structure – When diverse minds come together under the right methods, magic happens.
➡ No "Innovation gatekeeping"– These tools aren't just for designers. Anyone can contribute meaningfully.
➡ The energy is contagious – There's nothing like watching ideas click into place.
Huge kudos to the participants for their curiosity and grit—weekends like this recharge my belief in collaborative problem-solving. ✨
Only thing I'd change? I'd love to see the teams go even further—developing their creative prototypes into real proof of concepts.
(And yes—getting to do this professionally with teams and clients from time to time? Still feels like the best job in the world.)
Read next:
- Diversity of Perspective Drives Better Design — the mindset the Jam embodies
- Do we need to dare more again? — the same courage to just try things
- Stop Wasting Money on Unused Digital Products — what all this facilitation is ultimately for
- Antifragile by Design — how crisis-ready companies turn shocks into innovation fuel
- Starting as Executive Director — what changes (and what doesn't) when you step into leadership
- Innovation Design Coaching — a case study of building innovation muscle inside a publishing house
FAQ
What is a Service Design Jam?
A Service Design Jam is a time-boxed, community-run event where cross-functional teams apply design thinking methods — research, ideation, prototyping — to a shared challenge, usually over 48 hours. The format is global, local chapters work on the same theme at the same time, and there is no pre-built solution in mind. The point is not to ship a finished product but to learn how fast a diverse team can move when given the right methods, a clear problem, and a hard time limit.
What does an innovation facilitator actually do?
An innovation facilitator structures the group process so a diverse team can produce ideas it could not reach alone. That means picking the right methods for each phase, holding the timeline, protecting the team from organisational politics, and asking the awkward questions that move the work forward. The job is not to come up with the ideas — it is to make the conditions in which the team can come up with the ideas itself.
Can non-designers really participate in a Design Jam?
Yes, and that is the whole point. The tools used in a Service Design Jam — user interviews, how-might-we questions, rapid prototyping, storyboards — are not designer-specific skills. They are structured ways of thinking that anyone with curiosity and a willingness to listen can use. The strongest jams are the ones where engineers, doctors, salespeople, and designers sit at the same table, because the diversity of perspective is what produces ideas no single discipline would have reached on its own.
Why facilitate innovation instead of just doing it yourself?
Because innovation that only one person can produce does not scale. Facilitating builds the team's own capacity to run the next jam, pitch the next idea, or question the next process without you in the room. It is the difference between a one-off workshop output and an organisation that can keep reinventing itself. Personally, it is also what keeps the work interesting — the moment you stop learning from the people in the room, the job is done.
What is the most important thing to get right when running an innovation workshop?
The problem framing. A weak problem statement — vague, too broad, or already half-answered — will kill a workshop faster than any bad facilitation. A strong problem statement is specific, user-centred, and open enough that a cross-functional team can attack it from completely different angles. Get that right and even a mediocre method set will produce something interesting. Get it wrong and no amount of post-its will save the day.