Visualization

Visualization refers to any activity that takes information beyond text and numbers and into images,  maps, and stories. Visualizing our ideas makes them look and feel vivid and real to our audience and  us. At its simplest level, visualization is about creating physical images and pictures and stepping  away from our reliance as managers on numbers and text. At a deeper level, it is about seeing with  our mind’s eye: conjuring up mental images, vivid depictions of our ideas and insights about  customers and their experiences, in a way that makes them human and compelling. Visualization  isn’t about only drawing and photographing; it’s also about imagining. Consider the famous saying “a  picture is worth a thousand words.” Images help us grasp things much more quickly and effectively  than words alone. They can capture complex systems on a single page, convey meaning in an  instant, and tap into powerful emotions. Images make ideas tangible and concrete, and they allow  people to share and develop ideas together. Visualization brings a different part of our brain into  play: It’s a different way of knowing. We have all heard about the differences between the “left  brain” and the “right brain.” The left brain, we’re told, is analytical and logical—it’s the “business”  brain. It likes numbers and language. The right brain contributes much of what makes us human:  emotion and intuition. Visualization is a right-brain tool. Current brain science tells us that it is not  quite that simple, but “right brain/left brain” is still a useful metaphor. Part of our brain (the right  part, according to the metaphor) is an expert at syntheses, thus tapping into it helps us see  connections and make sense of all the data we will -3- UVA-IV-8322 collect in our exploration  process. Recent brain science studies have taken us a step further in understanding why visualizing  ideas and activities is so important by demonstrating the existence of mirror neurons. Only humans  and orangutans are known to have these neurons (hence, “monkey see, monkey do”), which  rehearse the physical steps of an activity we observe without sending the execute command to our  muscles. Therefore, if you are watching someone hitting a baseball, you are actually practicing your  batting swing in your head. You are working all the neurological connections you need to actually  stand up and swing. Consequently, we learn to make something real by seeing it. Seeing can be as  important as doing. Visualization approaches need not be complicated or sophisticated. Just working  together to capture images on a board is a way to think together and get different disciplines on the  same page. Why we use visualization Making your work visible reduces project risk substantially  (and is especially important for effective cross-disciplinary collaboration) because words are much  more open to interpretation than pictures. When you explain an idea using words, the rest of us will  form our own mental pictures, usually informed by our training. When you say, “We need a new  growth platform,” the IT specialist sees servers and code and exchange rules, the marketing guru  sees an advertising campaign, and the manufacturing manager sees new tooling. And we all think,  “I’m sure he means what it means to me, and that sounds good. We’ll sort out the details later.”  And, of course, that’s what kills us: We each go off and do our own thing, based on what your words  meant to us. Later, you may well say, “That’s not what I was talking about!” If instead you present  your idea to us by drawing a picture of it, you reduce the possibility of unmatched mental models.  This is no guarantee that we will all agree with your idea, but now at least we will know what we are  disagreeing about. When we use it Visualization is the “mother of all design tools”—the common  denominator across all stages of design thinking. It is a core element of many of the other tools  presented in this note, such as journey mapping, prototyping, co-creation, and storytelling. How we  do it One of the great things about most of the design tools we’ll discuss (including visualization) is  that they require very modest capital investment: a whiteboard and markers. Flip charts, Sharpies,

and Post-it Notes are also extremely useful. More sophisticated aids, such as PowerPoint software,  digital cameras, and camcorders, can be handy as well. Designers use a more sophisticated set of  software tools, such as Illustrator and Photoshop, but mastering these isn’t necessary to reap the  extraordinary benefits of visual thinking (though a trained designer is an absolutely invaluable  addition to the team!). -4- UVA-IV-8322 Here are some basics to get you started: 1. Keep it simple.  Make your visual representations as simple as possible; basic stick figures can often do the trick. Use  color in a meaningful way. Keep clip art simple and avoid the clutter of multiple fonts and other  fancy effects. Remember: This is not about displaying your artistic ability; it’s about using your  imagination. Rudimentary can be better. Creating visuals that are too polished can backfire when  your goal is to solicit feedback. 2. Start by breaking your problem down into components. In his  bestseller on visual thinking for managers,1 Dan Roam argues that you need to consider only these  components: who, what, how much, where, when, how, and why? 3. Learn to think in metaphors  and analogies. Can you come up with an image for every key point? 4. Use photographs.  Photographs can be enormously helpful for both capturing data and communicating to others. Think  of a bullet point in a PowerPoint presentation from a financial services organization that reads, “Our  clients have an average of more than five different accounts.” Now think of a photograph of a man’s  wallet stuffed with credit cards and another one of his desk littered with bank statements. What is  the difference in impact between the line of text and the photographs? How can you marry words  and pictures for maximum communication impact? 5. Get comfortable working with personas.  Personas are fictional characters that you can create to exemplify certain customer attributes. They  help you visualize your customers. Because personas make the potentially abstract concept of  “customer” very personal and human, they enhance your ability to build the empathic  understanding of customers that is at the heart of design thinking. In Tool #2, we’ll talk in more  detail about building and using personas. For now, just think of creating a set of characters and then  using photographs and descriptions to bring them to life. The basic data you are communicating may  not change; but the way you communicate those data does.

