Design Thinking Assignment- Reflection on Mind maps as a design tool

Challenge:

As an administrative member of a private school, one of the challenges I face is students leaving the institution after  a few years. While most of these are due to relocation to other cities as parents change their careers there are some  moves which are not sufficiently explained. I decided to investigate this further and find ways to reduce this  movement. An initial analysis of the exit interviews was not very insightful. Our main questions were how can we  help our customers further? What will help retain them and have brand loyalty? As there was no direct answer to  these questions, we as a team decided to use the design thinking process to understand the problem better and  come up with creative solutions.

Selection:

I selected the mind mapping tool as this is one of the best ways to gather different perspectives. Since the exit  interviews were not effective in helping us understand the problem areas, mind mapping will further help as explore  the “what is” stage. The big idea was to bring all stakeholders points of view- administrators, teachers, students and  parents. And the best way to do that was using the mind mapping technique. Mind mapping allows us to look for  patterns and themes in data. It helps us better understand the minds of our customers. As professor Michelle Anderson  explains in her video, the tool is used to help establish criteria just before the what if stage. We were not yet ready  to look at the solutions, we wanted to better understand the problem itself from various points of view. Hence this  was the perfect tool for our purpose.

Application:

We initially did secondary research on what made parents change schools, what were some big factors that  compelled them to stay in a particular school etc. through published studies. Next, we conducted interviews of our  existing customers, administrators and teachers as well as people who had left our organization. We personally  interviewed, collected data through surveys, visual charts and diary entries. All the gathered information was posted  on an intranet page where we invited our internal team and stakeholders to have a virtual gallery walk. Once they  had viewed the collected data, they were encouraged to write in their comments using an online mindmap tool (  mindmup). The process was very visual though we had to do it online ( as we are under lock down during the  pandemic).

Once the mind mapping was over, our team stood back to review the outcome and color-coded similar  ideas/responses. We started seeing patterns in what our different groups of stakeholders value the most. We could  identify what fits and doesn’t. We were also able look at the outliers objectively, for example one parent felt a more  structured curriculum was important to her, while most others valued the flexibility we offered. And this gave us  some direction in to establishing criteria for the what if stage. This was an excellent exercise as it not only gave us  different points of view, but also helped us see what we needed to keep in mind while creating solutions.

Insights:

In the past, I have used mind maps in an extremely limited way, the course helped me in using this tool much more  effectively. While Initially I was only using it for simple brainstorming of solutions, after the course I know that the  goal of mind mapping is to look for patterns and themes in your data and establish criteria.

The biggest insight for me and my team was how generalizations do not work. Initially when we approached the  problem, we had brainstormed about possible weak areas of our organization and infrastructure was big on our list.  What emerged was that our stakeholders did not put as much emphasis on infrastructure as my team did. In-fact it  was lowest on their list. There were other intangible things that they valued more, like ease of interaction with the  organization, implementation of their suggestions etc.  I am glad we involved a larger group of people and did not  limit it to just a few of us within the organization as this completely changed the way we looked at our problem. I  understand that when doing design thinking it is imperative to not close our minds or fixate on one thing we may  think is the problem. Keeping an open mind and letting a heterogenous group work collaboratively are critical to  understanding the problem accurately.

Approach:

We are still working on possible solutions, but our approach will include our stakeholders and allowing them to have  a voice so that the solutions we arrive at are more effective. Going forward I will continue to use the mind mapping  tool as it is a great way to capture the ideas of many people and lets us “see” the minds of our customers. It is visual,  engaging and can be used effectively with large groups of stakeholders, even in an online platform. Another  important advantage of using this tool is that all stakeholders feel they are part of creating a solution and are more  involved.  It allows for a heterogenous group to come together and captures outliers which in some cases can be  important when we brainstorm for solutions.


Design Thinking Assignment- Reflection on Mind maps as a design tool Challenge : As an administrative member of a private school , one of the challenges I face is students leaving the institution after a few years . While most of these are due to relocation to other cities as parents change their careers there are some moves which are not sufficiently explained . I decided to investigate this further and find ways to reduce this movement . An initial analysis of the exit interviews was not very insightful . Our main questions were how can we help our customers further ? What will help retain them and have brand loyalty ? As there was no direct answer to these questions , we as a team decided to use the design thinking process to understand the problem better and come up with creative solutions . Selection : I selected the mind mapping tool as this is one of the best ways to gather different perspectives . Since the exit interviews were not effective in helping us understand the problem areas , mind mapping will further help as explore the “ what is ” stage . The big idea was to bring all stakeholders points of view- administrators , teachers , students and parents . And the best way to do that was using the mind mapping technique . Mind mapping allows us to look for patterns and themes in data . It helps us better understand the minds of our customers . As professor Michelle Anderson explains in her video , the tool is used to help establish criteria just before the what if stage . We were not yet ready to look at the solutions , we wanted to better understand the problem itself from various points of view . Hence this was the perfect tool for our purpose . Application : We initially did secondary research on what made parents change schools , what were some big factors that compelled them to stay in a particular school etc . through published studies . Next , we conducted interviews of our existing customers , administrators and teachers as well as people who had left our organization . We personally interviewed , collected data through surveys , visual charts and diary entries . All the gathered information was posted on an intranet page where we invited our internal team and stakeholders to have a virtual gallery walk . Once they had viewed the collected data , they were encouraged to write in their comments using an online mindmap tool ( mindmup ) . The process was very visual though we had to do it online ( as we are under lock down during the pandemic ) . Once the mind mapping was over , our team stood back to review the outcome and color - coded similar ideas / responses . We started seeing patterns in what our different groups of stakeholders value the most . We could identify what fits and does n’t . We were also able look at the outliers objectively , for example one parent felt a more structured curriculum was important to her , while most others valued the flexibility we offered . And this gave us some direction in to establishing criteria for the what if stage . This was an excellent exercise as it not only gave us different points of view , but also helped us see what we needed to keep in mind while creating solutions . Insights : In the past , I have used mind maps in an extremely limited way , the course helped me in using this tool much more effectively . While Initially I was only using it for simple brainstorming of solutions , after the course I know that the goal of mind mapping is to look for patterns and themes in your data and establish criteria . The biggest insight for me and my team was how generalizations do not work . Initially when we approached the problem , we had brainstormed about possible weak areas of our organization and infrastructure was big on our list . What emerged was that our stakeholders did not put as much emphasis on infrastructure as my team did . In - fact it was lowest on their list . There were other intangible things that they valued more , like ease of interaction with the organization , implementation of their suggestions etc . I am glad we involved a larger group of people and did not limit it to just a few of us within the organization as this completely changed the way we looked at our problem . I understand that when doing design thinking it is imperative to not close our minds or fixate on one thing we may think is the problem . Keeping an open mind and letting a heterogenous group work collaboratively are critical to understanding the problem accurately . Approach : We are still working on possible solutions , but our approach will include our stakeholders and allowing them to have a voice so that the solutions we arrive at are more effective . Going forward I will continue to use the mind mapping tool as it is a great way to capture the ideas of many people and lets us “ see ” the minds of our customers . It is visual , engaging and can be used effectively with large groups of stakeholders , even in an online platform . Another important advantage of using this tool is that all stakeholders feel they are part of creating a solution and are more involved . It allows for a heterogenous group to come together and captures outliers which in some cases can be important when we brainstorm for solutions .