Reflection Agim Krieger – Mind Mapping

1. Challenge & Selection     I used mind mapping, as one of the key tools of the design thinking process, in my research process of my  master thesis. The thesis was about the business model implications of the autonomous driving technology on a  leading German automotive company. In this context, I applied a qualitative, inductive research method with  the help of semi-structured expert interviews. The challenge was to gain information and, finally, knowledge  from the raw data. Therefore, I needed a tool that can set qualitative data in a context and relation to each  other. Since mind mapping can be used for looking for patterns and insights in a large quantity of data that a  design thinker gathered from the exploration stage “what is”, I applied mind mapping as the initial tool.     2. Application of Mind Mapping     In my explorative mind mapping process, I used an online whiteboard application called “Miro” to map the key  insights from the experts. Firstly, all relevant insights were written on digital sticky notes and got initially  mapped with other statements of experts. This represented the initial data set for the mind mapping process.  The first layer of the mind mapping process was to map the data to the three research questions of my thesis:   •  Does the BMW Group face the typical Innovator’s Dilemma in regard of autonomous driving technology?

•  How could Business Model Innovation help BMW to solve the Innovator’s Dilemma in the future?

•  Which organisational conditions need to be established today to enable this kind of Business Model  Innovation and the development of the autonomous driving technology?

Based on the three categories, the statements in each category were set in context and overall categories were  derived. To support this mind mapping process, theory-based frameworks like the value proposition canvas or  the fishbone diagram were applied. Hence, a multi-layer and iterative mind mapping was applied. The Miro  whiteboard enabled a flexible and shareable approach of mind mapping. Hence, I was able to integrate my  colleague in the iterative mind mapping process. She reviewed my mapping and presented her opinion and  perspective on the raw data.     3. Insights from applying Mind Mapping     Mind mapping clearly helped me to structure my thoughts on the raw data and enabled me to create relevant  categories and insights into the impact of autonomous driving on the company’s business model. If I look on the  design thinking processes, mind mapping helped me to find enough answers to the questions “what is” and  “what if”. Although it is recommendable to do mind mapping in a diverse group, for me, it also worked in a  setting where I was the only design thinker. It is highly valuable for qualitative insights like expert interviews. It  helps to curate and merge the collective knowledge of the heterogeneous expert panel. From my perspective,  mind mapping still needs a framework to derive information and, finally, knowledge from the data. A fishbone  diagram or other theory-based frameworks help to guide the mapping.

4. Lessons Learned    As a result, mind mapping was the perfect tool for my challenge. It helped me to understand, structure and  analyze the data derived from the expert interviews. The choice of the medium for mind mapping is critical from  my perspective. The digital whiteboard was appropriate, since I was able to quickly change categories and  statements. This was important since the character of the research was very explorative and, hence, one new  insight can change the whole knowledge outcome of the mind mapping. I can really recommend the digital  whiteboard as a medium, especially in times of the COVID-19 crisis. However, my mind mapping approach  lacked the multi-perspective aspect of design thinking. It would be recommendable to build up a mind mapping  process that includes third parties like colleagues or other business students to ensure multiple perspectives on  the same case. For ideation processes regarding the questions “what is” and “what if”, mind mapping is a strong  and suitable tool. Also in the context of business model innovation, mind mapping is a critical task to develop  suitable ideas for further development.

