Sarai Diaz

1. Challenge

We received a Housing Project in which the local citizens of a community were opposed  because they think it will affect the environment thanks to the corrupted information some  people has spread. The challenge the company presented us was to change the perception  of the Project in that community to have their support when the construction finally started.

2. Selection

I selected visualization because in order to change their perception first I need to  understand the real needs and concerns of the people and identify the messages they have  received from the opposing groups that are currently affecting the image of the Project.

3. Application

First, I needed to enlist all the stakeholders involved because it was not only the immediate  community but while digging I found out there also there were political interest, local  government, schools, and all kind of organizations that needed to be included in the  campaign. Then I needed to know what the people thought about the project in a deeply  perspective, because I couldn’t change what I didn’t know they think. That took me to small  interviews with key actor of the community and the identified groups to better understand  what we were dealing with, to let them express themselves, in these interviews we used  pictures of the project that lead us to emotions, when we showed images of the project  people were: angry, frustrated, sad and some of them tired of hearing about the project.

4. Insight

After that process I realized that the real mission was not to change their perception of the  Project but it was to really inform them of what was going to happen without the alarm,  misconceptions and mistakes the other group had already told them, people were angry,  sad, frustrated about the project. Also, being able to translate “the bad image of the  project” into something more specific like emotions, let me realize we needed an innovative  approach to capture their attention to be able to provide them the information.

5. Approach

Visualization is key before starting any activity to really understand what you are dealing  with and finding the best strategies to tackle it, but the problem is it takes time and your  boss, your client, or the one paying you will ask for immediate actions and immediate  results. So one of the most important things I would do next when I need to use visualization  is first sensibilize of the importance of visualization as a tool, not to guarantee success, but  to understand the challenge, your audience and guide you to a better solution.

