Reﬂection - Visualization

Challenge

I work in the Creative Services department for a large aerospace engineering company,  and we are often asked to lead design-thinking workshops to solve complicated yet  critical problems for the company, spanning internal communications, marketing, and  operations. For this project, our client represented a large internal organization that was  wanting a new visual identity to help rally their troops around a recent reorganization.  But as we conducted research with their employees, we found that many of them were  confused about the changes, disoriented with the new direction of the organization, and  unclear on their new roles in the company. We saw an opportunity to do more than a  simple visual rebrand. We needed to create a new experience for the employees as  they engaged with the future of the organization. And we needed to show the need for  that experiential change to the new leaders.

Selection

Our team selected the Visualization tool, as described in Module 1 by Angela Meyer,  because it presented a way to put ourselves in the shoes of the employees, and use  visual examples to “see” and “feel” what these employees would experience on their  journey from the old way of doing things to the new. It also allowed us to use this  immersive method help the leaders to not only see the “what” behind the changes we  were proposing, but also the “why.” Leveraging empathy for their employees, the  Visualization tool took us beyond a list of recommendations to an actual experience,  compel change, and discover new opportunities.

Application

We conducted an all-day workshop, which included other tools including research,  empathy mapping, and brainstorming, and invited employees and representatives from  the organization to join our designers in mapping out the journey.

Once we knew our recommendations, we began the Visualization section by laying out  a table and using cardboard to mark each step of the transformation process from the  old way to the new. Then for each section, we “created” the new employee experience.  We took a stack of magazines, and cut out pictures that we felt captured the emotions  employees would feel at each stage. For example, in the beginning, employees were  confused and disoriented, so we cut out pictures of people running through obstacle  courses, covered in mud. Then we progressed to the next step, and so on, adding  photographs for each - a team meeting together, a leader giving a presentation, or an  employee getting excited about new opportunities. Each stage was accompanied by the  speciﬁc recommendations we had for evolving to the next.

Then we had the employees put on baseball caps of different colors, and “experience”  each step, with different colored caps for different roles, such as manager, HR rep, and  employee. We had them act out the Journey, rehearsing what each role would be  seeing, doing and feeling at each step, and making adjustments as necessary.

Finally, we invited the leaders into the room, and we had them go through the journey  themselves. Rather than a PowerPoint presenting a list of recommendations, they  experienced it for themselves, and how to implement them. Through Visualization, our  ideas pitched themselves, and the leadership was on board before the workshop ended.

Insight

Through this exercise, our team saw the power of Visualization at work in the faces of  the employees, and the leaders. Most of the day had been spent staring at sheets of  paper and talking about technical challenges. But when we created the journey and  used pictures, colors and hats to map the experience, the dialogue changed. As the  Module 1 video showed, we all started seeing the same shape in our heads, because it  was all on the table (literally). And perhaps most valuable was our presentation to the  leaders. We were going beyond their initial request, and Visualization was able to put  them in the audience’s shoes, and see why such a shift in thinking was so critical. It  broadened my view of design thinking by seeing it more than simply a way of getting  thoughts on paper, but rather a way to experience the pains and gains of your client,  and reﬂect it back to them.

Approach

Our team would use this tool again because it showed the map of the journey from  getting from Point A to Point B, and all the steps in between. We have used this tool a  few times since, always with great success. One potential improvement would be to  create the experience before the workshop, and use it as an intro to map the current  journey and identity pain points before beginning brainstorming. Then at the end, we  could use it again to apply our new ideas and see if we hit the mark. This duality could  bring an extra beneﬁt to the Visualization, and guide the course of discussion around  new ideas.

