Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge    In the air conditioning technical service reports, it has been detected that one of the most  frequent failures in the installation of the equipment by our customers is the required  refrigerant charge. There is a deficiency in the way in which the technical staff of our  customers carries out the loading of the machines, often being an incomplete load or an  inadequate procedure. On the other hand, the correct refrigerant charge is affected by a  wrong piping and accessories installation.  Inquiring more about the origin of this situation, it has been found that sometimes the  system design is not suitable or the design considerations are incomplete. Within the  design, an adequate calculation of the losses in the pipes and fittings is not made, the  pipes distances and diameters that intervene in the system’s losses are not taken into  account. Sometimes the problem occurs when selecting equipment. The equipment is not  correctly selected according to the established design and this result in an inadequate  refrigerant charge for the system. There is misinformation or mishandling of the technical  specifications of the equipment we offer, making mistakes when deciding which  equipment is most suitable for the project. Another situation that influences the amount of  refrigerant required in the system is the chosen position of the condensers, either above or  below the evaporators. This is a design decision, although many times during the  installation there are physical problems that imply a change of positions, affecting the  design and its initial considerations.

Selection    To get a better description of “what is” the current reality, we have selected the Mind  Mapping design tool to easily communicate all this data concerning the refrigerant load  challenge.  With the mind mapping tool, we`ll look for themes and patterns to synthesize  data; we can state the most important concepts that summarize the problem and find the  connections between them.  Mind Mapping will also help us to detect systematic  differences between the knowledge and skills of the people involved in the air  conditioning project.

Application    To apply the Mind Mapping design tool, we have broken down the information by  presenting the most important issues that concern the problem of refrigerant loading in  the systems. We found that the two major themes that impact in this problem are the  DESIGN and INSTALLATION of the systems. Within the Design, we find issues of loss  calculations, equipment selection and equipment positioning. In the Installation, we  found wrong piping route or piping diameters, poor piping and accessories fittings,

incomplete refrigerant load or inadequate procedure for loading the system.  Our Mind  Map will look like this:

Insight    The most important insight gained by applying the Mind Mapping tool was finding the  issues behind the refrigerant loading problem, in which the logical or apparent failures  are around the installation process, but, when digging deep into the matter, we found  design mistakes that affected directly the refrigerant charge.  This leads us to the fact that  there are deficiencies in the knowledge and skills of the design staff and technical  installers of our clients.  With these thoughts in mind, the possible design criteria must  involve people from the beginning (design) to the final (installation) system process.

Approach    For a next time, I would take a different approach by using a different tool, like the  Storytelling design tool, to create a more vivid impact by putting in the center the true  experiences of the designers and technical installers to generate bigger empathy and a  larger purpose of action within our customers.


Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge In the air conditioning technical service reports , it has been detected that one of the most frequent failures in the installation of the equipment by our customers is the required refrigerant charge . There is a deficiency in the way in which the technical staff of our customers carries out the loading of the machines , often being an incomplete load or an inadequate procedure . On the other hand , the correct refrigerant charge is affected by a wrong piping and accessories installation . Inquiring more about the origin of this situation , it has been found that sometimes the system design is not suitable or the design considerations are incomplete . Within the design , an adequate calculation of the losses in the pipes and fittings is not made , the pipes distances and diameters that intervene in the system ’s losses are not taken into account . Sometimes the problem occurs when selecting equipment . The equipment is not correctly selected according to the established design and this result in an inadequate refrigerant charge for the system . There is misinformation or mishandling of the technical specifications of the equipment we offer , making mistakes when deciding which equipment is most suitable for the project . Another situation that influences the amount of refrigerant required in the system is the chosen position of the condensers , either above or below the evaporators . This is a design decision , although many times during the installation there are physical problems that imply a change of positions , affecting the design and its initial considerations . Selection To get a better description of “ what is ” the current reality , we have selected the Mind Mapping design tool to easily communicate all this data concerning the refrigerant load challenge . With the mind mapping tool , we`ll look for themes and patterns to synthesize data ; we can state the most important concepts that summarize the problem and find the connections between them . Mind Mapping will also help us to detect systematic differences between the knowledge and skills of the people involved in the air conditioning project . Application To apply the Mind Mapping design tool , we have broken down the information by presenting the most important issues that concern the problem of refrigerant loading in the systems . We found that the two major themes that impact in this problem are the DESIGN and INSTALLATION of the systems . Within the Design , we find issues of loss calculations , equipment selection and equipment positioning . In the Installation , we found wrong piping route or piping diameters , poor piping and accessories fittings , incomplete refrigerant load or inadequate procedure for loading the system . Our Mind Map will look like this : Insight The most important insight gained by applying the Mind Mapping tool was finding the issues behind the refrigerant loading problem , in which the logical or apparent failures are around the installation process , but , when digging deep into the matter , we found design mistakes that affected directly the refrigerant charge . This leads us to the fact that there are deficiencies in the knowledge and skills of the design staff and technical installers of our clients . With these thoughts in mind , the possible design criteria must involve people from the beginning ( design ) to the final ( installation ) system process . Approach For a next time , I would take a different approach by using a different tool , like the Storytelling design tool , to create a more vivid impact by putting in the center the true experiences of the designers and technical installers to generate bigger empathy and a larger purpose of action within our customers .