My Reflection – Visualization

Challenge

My company 1-1,5 years ago made a conscious decision to not open a vertical that would have

complemented our customer experience, and would have provided the company with an opportunity to

double its business in 2-3 years. The reason: corporate politics, incompetence and vanity. A couple of

months into my job, I identified the problem: I wanted growth for the business and an improved customer

experience. But how could I move the organization forward? Frankly we were stuck, I however knew if I

could get enough attention from the Board on growth – every department head would be scrambling to

deliver. What ensued could be best described as ‘out of the pan and into the fire’: struggle over what and

how should be done, and of course, by whom. The one question that was raised later on in this face was:

how/what should the customer experience look like?

Selection

I chose the visualization tool, as it seemed the best way to cut-through the noise and start driving focus

towards what really matters, the customer experience. My company is active in the tech/e-commerce

space, therefore talking (and only talking) about customer experience is about as impactful or useful as

an interpretive dance session on Italian cuisine while your kids are waiting for their evening spaghetti.  To

me it was obvious that decisions needed to be made, and that this process needed to be collaborative. I

wanted to use a tool that is inviting and allows all stakeholders to express their ideas creatively, freely and

compare these with those of other stakeholders. The aggression regarding the business question needed

to be diffused and for that this tool seemed well positioned: becoming a part of the planning process

should help let go of ego, personal or departmental fears and uncertainties. What could be more innocent

than drawing a couple of sketches after all? For reference to lecture 1, please see here.

Application

I secured some time at the end of a 2 day management summit to bring up the topic of what the customer

experience of the new vertical should be like. To make the task easier, I went to a large flipchart centered

at the end of the room, and drew 2 mock-ups (essentially 2 scenarios). I used visualization to explain the

differences between the possible solutions and draw up a pro/con score-sheet and go through the

opportunity together with management. These scenarios represented what a customer could experience

as a first step in our application, and I involved all present to express themselves regarding this. I created

a ‘Y’ situation where stakeholders needed to make decisions on what direction we should continue

examining further. Participation brought up a lot of questions, and changes were made to the drawings.

This led us to address the next steps in the customer journey. From a time and resource perspective we

were very efficient – in less than an hour we sorted out a major blocker, silenced politics and agreed on

the way forward. By visually mapping how the customer experience should ideally work, we could all see

what was right and what wasn’t.

Insight

While it was a successful session, I felt that it could have also gone the other way due to managerial ego

(“why should we draw here like children”, “waste of time”, “I know what I want”…etc). It reinforced my

experience that design thinking can only succeed if there is openness to the method and support from

top level executives. What I learned from the session however was that aggression can be diffused by

using the visualization tool. I will continue to use it in situations where emotions seem to govern action –

if something doesn’t make sense on a flow-chart, there is no place to hide; customer experience either

feels right or it doesn’t. To get here I needed the support from top management which encouraged active

responses within the room.

Approach

I honestly was too secretive about my plan and didn’t involve all stakeholders from the start. Perhaps I

should be more open and try to facilitate collaboration from the beginning. I also pitched my first versions

of the 2 possible scenarios without involving others. In the future I will try to address these.

