Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge & Selection

As a data scientist, it is very essential to decipher the complexity of the relationships between

the variables in the data as the discovery of insights is one of the most significant tasks in

data science to generate values for businesses. The collaborative nature of the development of

data science solutions necessitate the aligned thinking of a group of data scientists in which

combined creativity of the data scientists are required to uncover the insights in large and

highly complex data. However, the absence of an creativity driven structured approach to

integrate the creativity of a group of data scientist impede the discovery of meaningful

analysis outcomes as the traditional collaboration technique is time inefficient. Therefore,

mind mapping tool is selected to innovate the collaborations between data scientists in

analysing large volume of data as it is one of the most power tools in the design thinker’s

toolbox which is expected to drive creativity in designing customer-centric data solutions.

Application

The founder of IDEO, David Kelley said that make a list when doing something analytical

and make a mind map when doing something creative. Therefore, to induce creativity in the

analytical process in data science, I start by transforming the hierarchical analytical

procedures into a flatter mind map to develop a common ground and initiate creativity for the

data science team. An elementary mind map comprises the analysis objectives and

procedures is created using stick notes on the whiteboard to facilitate the data science team in

integrating and synergize the essential analytical components to generate creative data

solutions. For the data science team, the mind map acts as a tree with empty branches in

which they are invited to combine their efforts to decorate the ‘tree’ with their creative and

customer-centric thoughts.

A set of stationery such as scissors, sticky notes and markers with different colours are

provided to motivate the team to creatively express their ideas by leveraging different

visualizations to express their ideas in addition to textual contributions. In addition, I posted a

question on the white board to encourage the participation of the team by asking the team

what they would do if anything is possible. Consequently, a very colourful ‘tree’ is developed

in which the data science team is motivated to freely express their thoughts. The mind map

empowers the data science team to incorporate creativity into the traditional analytical

processes as the resources which includes mind map and stationery are provided to initiate

the creativity thinking of the team.

Insights

The designing of the data science solutions is often time inefficient due to the absence of an

appropriate design thinking tool to generate the integrated creativity of many talented data

scientists in the team despite the existence of many structured analytical procedures.

However, the implementation of the mind map improves the process of designing data

science solutions as it organizes and integrates the individual inputs in the team. The

implementation of the mind map technique empowers the induction of creativity in the

traditional data science workflow as it facilitates the team to communicate through

visualization in addition to the textual communication. The mind map motivates the team to

creatively express the essence of their ideas though visualization instead of a full-length

report to explain the ideas. The mind map successfully stimulates high participation rate as

the ‘tree’ belongs to the team instead of a particular individual. Therefore, the data science

team perceived the mind map as a collaborative effort which encouraged them to participate

in the process of developing the mind map. In addition, the mind map technique triggers the

expression of many novel ideas in analysing large volume of data to produce business values

as the technique eliminates the burden of generating strictly applicable strategies.

Approach

The generation of novel data driven solutions is significant in pushing the limits of innovation

in solving real-life problems with data science. However, it is equally significant to examine

the practicability of the novel ideas prior to the execution of the ideas in business

environment involving huge investments. The mind map technique empowers the data

science team to answer 2 of the 4 important questions in design thinking, namely ‘what if’

and ‘what wows’. However, it is essential to combine mind map and learning launch tools to

facilitate the induction of creativity in data science workflow and determine which novel idea

works. Therefore, I would combine mind map and learning launches approaches in the next

creativity generation exercise to answer the last significant question in the big 4 questions of

design thinking, namely ‘what works’ as this facilitates the determination of which novel idea

to implement and scale up in the business environment.

