Design Thinking Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge

Within my organization, my team is responsible for managing a daily blog publication to inform  employees about everything they need to know to do their jobs and remain engaged in ongoing  organizational activities. This information includes upcoming system deployments, policy and/or  procedure updates, and details about available training courses. Some of the information  published is critical to an employee’s ability to comply with regulatory requirements or to  successfully process transactions for our consumers. However, we also publish a lot of  information that is optional or simply informational. Our “readers” can expect to have between  two and five blog posts to read per business day. Although, every employee is required to read  the blog daily, the amount of time the employee has available to consume all the new  information varies greatly based on his or her work schedule and the busyness of the branch.  Employees are faced with the decision of determining which blogs posts they have time to read  and comprehend, if they get to at all. My team needs a solution to this challenge.

Selection

The design tool of “mind mapping” was selected because it allows the group to focus on the  mind or experience and needs of the customer in a creative format. The solution to the challenge  the employees face about prioritizing information posted on the blog is one that required a  creative solution versus a solution solely based on logic or analytics. The team had no budget or  approval to explore new software that can be used to disseminate information internally, building  in “reading time” to the schedules of the branch employees, or any other logistical modifications.  Therefore, creative solutions that could be applied using the existing materials for the blog was  required. Mind mapping allowed the group to creatively draw connections and possibilities with  our existing data and resources.

Application

To complete the mind mapping exercise the group occupied a large conference room and  blocked the space off for two hours. The exercise was held on a Friday when everyone is  permitted to dress down, and we had snacks and beverages available in the room. The intention  was to establish an environment where the team was comfortable and relaxed to relieve pressure  and inspire participation. Large sticky sheets were placed on the walls and lots of markers in  different colors were on the table. We also laid out quotes and survey results obtained from our  readers about their needs and wants. We had printouts and labels of the images and titles that are  used for the blog post. Everyone was encouraged to dive in and pick out the user feedback and  design elements that were highly represented or stood our positively for some reason. Placing  these items on the sticky sheets and writing in or drawing other visuals and phrases on the sheets,  the team began making connections and drilling down to central elements or design criteria that  would become the “what if” that was needed to solve the challenge our readers were  experiencing.

Insight

A key takeaway from the mind mapping experience is how much more each member of the team  was engaged and participatory. Although we were focused on capturing the minds of our readers,  each member of our team was given an equal stake in the brainstorming and planning process.  Many other projects or initiatives are managed autonomously, or individuals may present  solutions to challenges having already completed the assessment of “what is” individually.  Laying out the user feedback and available resources tangibly on the table, helped to keep our  “customer” in the forefront. Designing with the actual customer in mind is an ongoing challenge,  and a mind mapping exercise helped make that an external act versus just formulating a customer  benefit statement after something has been created based solely on data or business objectives.

Approach

An alternative design tool that I would have liked to have used is a “learning launch.” The mind  mapping exercise was a great tool for gathering our existing data and formulating design criteria  with the customer in mind. However, a learning launch would present the opportunity to test one  or more prototypes among a small population of our readers. We were unable to use this option  without impacting our entire customer base because the blog is a digital publication to the  companies’ intranet site and there is no way to restrict a prototype to a specific audience. We  also didn’t have the funding to deploy an additional application that would allow a smaller group  to test and provide feedback for a prototype. In the future, I would like to utilize both mind  mapping and a learning launch to meet challenges. Completing the mind mapping exercise will  ensure we have good design criteria and the learning launch will allow us to explore and test the  design assumptions.

