Reflection  -  Visualization

Author: Mihai Jansen  Date: May 1st 2018    Challenge: I’m a coach within the organization. I work together with a team that challenge colleagues throughout  the whole organization to participate in the KPN Value Case Challenge. A Value Case is a conceptual idea to solve a  societal problem. Within the Value Case Challenge the participants need to create a storyline for their pitch in  front of a live audience and jury. The Value Case looks beyond profit and also takes into account people, planet  and purpose. Nicely visual represented in the table below.

I find it challenging to support the participants during the creation process so they can find the right visual support  for their Value Case pitch presentation.

Selection:   I’ve selected the Visualization tool for the fact that I really love to use my imagination. In the ‘What if?’ faze within  the Design Thinking process I love to bring into mind things that are in the present and on that basis hypothesize  on things that could be but have never been. I experience that Visualizations help to broaden the thinking in the  ‘to hypothesize’ stage (What if) which leads to original ideas.   I believe that this is one of the essential elements in the design thinking process. Visualizations help to make a  concept for a solution more tangible, more concrete. To bring it a few steps further than language and words  alone. By means of symbols, diagrams, drawings  new discussions or hunches to new ideas are created.  Visualization helps to make the design concept ‘more real’ and could say more than a thousand words could do.  I’ve come to the understanding that Visualization is an important tool throughout the Design Thinking Process.  Based on the instruction video of Angela Meyer in module 1, I’ve become more aware of the power of  visualizations in different phases. I realize now that Visualization can also be used in the . When I dig into my  memory I have used visualizing at different situations, but now I’m more aware that I’ve done so and can apply it  more natural.  The picture below demonstrates that the Visualization tool is used throughout the whole Design Thinking Process

Application: Describe how applied the tool you selected to your challenge (e.g. what you did and how the tool was  applied effectively or ineffectively

The participants where invited to come up with an Value Case for a particular societal problem. Next the  participants were asked to prepare a pitch presentation and practice their pitch with the other participants, the  Value Case team members and myself. Everybody, myself included gave the presenter after their presentation a  round of constructive feedback to the way the story was told and how the visual support from the slide’s was  perceived. Where we found that there was not a good visual or lacking support in the slides a short plenary  brainstorm was held where we freely associated to that particular subject.  With that information the presenter updated his or her pitch presentation.

Insight;   After applying the Visualization Tool ( in this case a central theme mind map, to come up with more accurate visual  support in their presentation), I see now that I have applied this method not very effectively because for the  majority the suggestions remain verbal and where not drawn out on a blackbord / flipover sheet.  This assignment is actually very good for me to use the material handed out to me the past couple of weeks and  start applying the Design Thinking method. I see now that the Design Thinking process/method is a very  sophisticated way to actually innovate, where to innovate is, to come up with an original idea that has value.  And  what I also have learned is that during the whole Design Thinking process all the team members are engaged  actively including other relevant participants in the Design Thinking fazes (What- is?, if?, wows? and works?)

Approach:

Next time I would definitively start to draw the things said/suggested by the participants after their presentation  on the blackboard or on a flipover sheet so that I can tap into the shared learning of each other and appeal more  to the non-verbal thinking (the right side of the brain).  Also during the whole Value Case creation process for the participants I see a lot of possibilities where Design  Thinking can actually help in creating a Value Case. The Good Kitchen example in the video’s online is an excellent  example of a Value Case.

