---
title: "Knowstlé"
description: "Knowstlé (Nestlé, 2020/21): A browser plugin turns bookmarks into matches with similar Nestlé projects and experts"
url: "https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/knowstle-2020-21/"
lang: "en"
---

# Knowstlé

**A browser plugin turns bookmarks into matches with similar Nestlé projects and experts**

_A collective intelligence for Nestlé’s organization_

- **Corporate partner:** [Nestlé](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/partners/nestle/) (https://www.nestle.com/randd)
- **Cohort:** [2020/21](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/cohort/2020-21/)
- **Theme:** [Work & organisations](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/themes/work-organisations/)
- **Type:** Platform
- **Projected:** 416 % projected return on investment
- **Universities:** [Hasso Plattner Institute](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/hpi/), [University of São Paulo](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/usp/)
- **Team:** 6 master students
- **Disciplines:** Business Administration, Electrical Engineering, IT Systems Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Production Engineering

## Challenge

Nestlé asked how digital experiences can scale innovation across its global brands. The team narrowed this to better collaboration across the globe during the innovation process.

## What the team learned

Silos mean teams pursue the same ideas without knowing, the most critical pain point. Employees are overwhelmed by tools, dislike manual tagging and worry about confidentiality when sharing.

## What they built

Knowstlé is a recommendation platform linking similar projects, subject experts and articles to a user's projects. A browser plugin, the cube, lets employees bookmark web pages into projects, which sharpens recommendations and enables team research.

How it evolved:

1. An open question forum and project-sharing platform failed: posting openly felt uncomfortable and documenting took too long.
2. Text-embedding similarity grouped items by topic more precisely than term frequency; expert finding was strongly desired.
3. Benchmarking StartupFlow after the InnoHome prototype focused the team on the recommendation system.

## Results

- Tested in one-to-one sessions and workshops with Nestlé employees, including the head of innovation in Brazil.
- Projected: ROI near 416 % with break-even in about three months, assuming 0.01 % less double work.

## Impact

The team called the concept ready once adapted to Nestlé's IT tools, recommending a start with about 60 innovation-focused employees in R&D and IT.

> I would 100% use it. In the project that I am working on right now, we ask ourselves many times if this has already been done before?
>
> – Innovation manager, Nestlé user test

## Full project text

A new system to reduce double work and empower Nestlé’s employees in their daily work.

### Challenge

How might we design a solution that leverages digital (technology) experiences to efficiently scale global innovation and foster a trustworthy development of innovation capabilities adapted to Nestlé Global culture? With hundreds of Nestlé's brands across the globe and on multiple continents, it has become essential to keep the entire group connected on various levels. Therefore, fostering intercontinental and regional collaboration through digital channels has become a critical imperative, and the desire has never been stronger, especially in light of recent global events.

### Solution

Knowstlé is a platform that empowers Nestlé's employees and creates a collective intelligence. The platform is supported by a browser extension that allows employees to add findings easily to their projects and share them with their colleagues. Based on these findings, we can identify similar projects in the company, connect their project members and recommend useful articles. We tested Knowstlé thoroughly and received great feedback for the idea and the smooth user experience.

### Impact

The value of Knowstlé is to save an enormous amount of time for the user. By identifying similarities in projects at an early stage, time and frustration are saved, as there is less double work and therefore less frustration due to the increased transparency. For the user, the most significant value of the platform lies in breaking silos and connecting experts across departments and locations. In addition, saving time through joint research and simultaneous matching with similar projects represent the value proposition for the user.

## Who built it.

- Zoe Hille, Business Administrations (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Sebastian Brito, IT-Systems Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Jan Westphal, IT-Systems Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Lorena Fernandez, Electrical Engineering (University of São Paulo)
- Almir Ribeiro Couto, Production Engineering (University of São Paulo)
- Pedro Luis Bacelar dos Santos, Mechatronics Engineering (University of São Paulo)

## Video

- Knowstlé - Innovation from anyone to anywhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7IV43sR0L4

## Sources

Summarised by the SUGAR editorial team from the team’s project page, final documentation and SUGAR Expo booklet.

Figures marked “Projected” are the team’s own estimates, not measured results.

Open the 2020/21 booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cegdS8kVyRA2k5TB3BwgCZHCIjM0oyZp/view?usp=sharing