Visualization

Challenge & Selection

The first tool I used was the tool of Visualization, or Visual Thinking, to achieve a shared understanding  of a problem space among a diverse group of my friends before attempting to identify and define  possible solutions to the problem. I use this approach often with farmers, working to apply new  agricultural technology innovations to modernize their mission or the delivery of their services to their  customer. I have used the technique of visualization of a problem domain with a set of questions or  prompts for discussion to allow a diverse group of farmers to learn from each other in the process of  defining the scope, boundaries, key elements, and relationships between elements to consider when  identifying pain points and opportunities for improvements or solutions.

Application

I start the process by creating a straw man graphic of the problem domain. To develop the straw man  graphic, I will draw from any existing material available to understand the environment. The existing  material may be operational or procedural documents, training materials, marketing materials or other  materials. If materials are not available, then I conduct informal interviews with one-three of the  farmers who serve as my main points of contact on the initiative.

The front-stage/back-stage approach helps to reinforce the notion that every service – even an internal  service – has customers with whom the service provider interacts and internal processes that enable the  organization to provide the service. The template I often start with also has a column on the left to  identify Partners and Value Chain Providers and a column on the right to identify Oversight  Organizations, such as NGO’s, Govt. organizations, labor unions, and other entities that may add  constraints to how the organization operates. The straw man graphic is simple, using simple shapes and  icons available in Vision or on the Internet. If the front-stage/back-stage view doesn’t work, then I will  create a different type of visual, either based on a high-level process flow with swim lanes for different  farmers, or another format.

For the activity, I will divide the farmers into groups of 3-4 participants each representing a different  organization or area of interest. Each group receives a poster-size copy of the straw man graphic that  they can write on directly, or use sticky notes to make comments. I give them two-three questions to  answer, such as: 1) What key elements are missing from the graphic? 2) What would you change about  the graphic to make it more accurately reflect your problem space? 3) What key insights do you have  about the relationships between the entities in your problem space? I give them approximately 30  minutes to discuss the questions and mark up the graphic. Then I have each group report out on their  answers to those three questions while pointing to the mark-ups on their poster. As each group reports  out, I record commonalities in the insights of each group, and then additional insights that come from  the group discussion on an additional copy of the graphic. After the session, I digitize each group’s  poster as an artifact, create a view that combines the shared and new insights from the group  discussion, and then create a revised graphic that incorporates their feedback and proposed changes  that they agreed to as a group.

Insight & Approach

What I have learned from conducting this exercise with several groups is that while the graphic –  especially the revised graphic that incorporates their feedback – is important for reinforcing their  understanding of the problem they are working to solve, the more valuable aspect of the activity is the  shared insights and shared learning that occurs while they are working to define their problem space.  The graphic gives the diverse group of farmers a focal point for discussion that allows them to share  their perspectives and develop insights into potential root causes of their problems. While they could  create the graphic from a blank slate in a collaborative manner, starting with a straw man jump starts  the conversation for them. They can quickly identify where they are in the graphic – or if they are  missing – and can more quickly gain new insights about relationships between key entities instead of  taking time to identify them. They can also identify variables in the problem space – that is, it helps  them to identify what they don’t know, in what areas they need to obtain information or data to provide  the values for the variables.

Since I discovered that the most valuable aspect is the shared insights and learning, next time I would  use the visualization activity as a starting point for a series of design thinking activities. Then the revised  graphic that incorporates their combined feedback can serve as a reference tool throughout the  remainder of their work.

