Challenge & Selection

I have used the tool of Visualization, or Visual Thinking, here to achieve a shared  understanding of a problem faced among a diverse group of people before  attempting to identify and define possible solutions to the problem.

I have used this approach with our customers, who are people with concentration,  anxiety and depression issues.

I have used the process of using a straw man visualization of the problem domain  with a set of questions or prompts for discussion to allow a diverse group of  stakeholders to learn about each individual self. This even allows them to learn  from each other in the process of defining the scope, boundaries, key elements, and  relationships between limits to consider when identifying pain points and  opportunities for improvements and then finally solutions.

Application

I started the process by creating a straw man graphic of the problem domain. To  develop this straw man graphic, I have drawn from different kinds of existing  material (data) available to understand the environment. The existing material from  which observations were done, were operational or procedural documents, training  materials, emotional health materials, EQ reports and other such reports.

When these materials were not available, I conducted informal interviews with  one-three of the people who would then serve as my main points of contact on the  initiative. During appropriate situations, I have borrowed the concept to “front- stage/back-stage” from previous research material. The front-stage/back-stage  approach helped me to reinforce the notion that every mind – no matter how  unique– has its individual way of understanding itself and its environment and that  they have their own ways to cope up with anxiety and depression. The informal  questionnaire sessions helped me understand how to create a routine mental health  setup, where I could understand that every person needs a unique way of approach,  to healing them.

The template I started with even has a column on the right to identify depression  related problems and anxiety related problems and there is a column on the left to  identify the people who are having problems due to stress and so on, such as

concentration problems, or understanding or stress related problems, and other  entities that may add constraints to what degree these people are facing these  problems. The straw man graphic is simple, I did it using simple shapes and icons  available in on the Internet.

If the front-stage/back-stage view didn’t work, then I created a different type of  visual, either based on a high-level process flow with swim lanes for different  problems, or another format.

For the activity section, I divided the people into groups of 5-6 participants each  representing a different problem or area of interest. Each group received a task  copy of the straw man graphic such that they can write on it directly, or use sticky  notes to make their own comments. I gave them two-three questions to answer,  such as:

1) Think about your favorite fruit for 20 seconds, if you thought of other things  during that time, write them down?

2) Do you feel stressed thinking about your test results even though you completed  the test without any problems?

3) Are you able to list the problems with your homework before the positive points  come to your mind?

I give them approximately 15 minutes to discuss the questions and mark up the  graphic. Then I make each group report out on their answers to those three  questions while pointing to the mark-ups copy. As each group reports out, I record  differences in the insights of each group, and then finally, the 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 with different colored  pointers, create a view that combines the shared and new insights from the group  discussion, and then create a revised graphic that incorporates a solution that has  listed their differences and commonalities, then proceeding to point out each  person’s unique quality and positive points.

Insight & Approach

I learned from conducting this exercise with several groups of people that while the  graphic – especially the revised graphic that incorporates their feedback – is  important for reinforcing their understanding of the problem that they are currently  working to solve, the more valuable aspect of this activity is the shared insights  and shared learning that occurs while they are working to define their problem  space, while also finding out their unique individual perks.

The graphic gives the diverse group of people a focal point for discussion that  allows them to share their points of view and develop insights into the potential  root causes of their problems. While they could have created the graphic from a  blank slate in a collaborative manner, starting with a straw man gives a jump start  to the conversation for them.

This way they end up quickly identifying where they are in the graphic – or if they  are missing – and are more quickly able to gain new insights about relationships  between key entities (like overthinking, or workload) instead of taking time to  identify them. They are even able to identify variables in the problem space – that  helps them to identify what they don’t know or knew already but were  overlooking, in what areas they need to obtain insight and finally start their mental  health improvement journey.

I discovered that the most valuable aspect is the shared insights and learning in this  process, therefore, next time I would use the visualization activity as a starting  point for a series of design thinking activities. Then the revised graphic that has  been incorporated with their combined feedback can serve as a reference tool  throughout the remainder of their mental health improvement journey.

