Visualization technique - embracing a user-centric approach to  problem-solving

Challenge    I am a product designer. I work on products that are used in the manufacturing domain. I am  going to illustrate an example where we wanted to quickly come up with the MVP requirement  for a new product. We wanted to design an Admin Section for a family of products. Admin  Section would be an independent website or an embedded module within the products. We had  not decided on the approach then. All 3 products were quite popular. They had many users who  were already using the admin sections in the respective products. These products were once  'acquired' and thus had different navigation workflows. It was challenging to come up with  coherent experience for the Common Admin Section that suited the requirements of all 3  products.

Besides, many senior stakeholders (PO, PM, Technical Architects) were working on them for a  long time. They had their perspectives and different working styles. Meetings between the  teams were discussions with a lot of conflicting views. People from different product teams  found it very difficult to understand each other's perspectives. As there were many  interconnected workflows within the products, teams found it challenging to imagine and move  in the right direction. We had already wasted a lot of time and there was frustration building up  within the teams.    Selection    As I come from an art background, I was never scared to draw. Instead, that was the most  obvious choice for me rather than using words. I chose the visualization technique and decided  to put the product workflows in front of people so that things became more tangible. Designers  use visualization all the time. I thought that this would be the best approach as it would be easy  to 'show' than 'talk'.   Keeping users in mind I started capturing the workflows that were going to be affected by our  new change. I did it for all the 3 products. All the screenshots were put in one place for teams to  review.     Application    Once we had all the screenshots in front of us, we immediately started seeing the discrepancies  and dependencies. Discussions became more productive as we started adding requirements for  the desired workflows as comments. Queries got resolved as the subject matter experts were  able to view and could reply back. With all the information that we had gathered from the  comments and feedback that we received on the screenshots, we decided to come up with the  first draft of high-level workflows for the Admin settings.

As the stakeholders were familiar with the technique by now, they immediately started sharing  their thoughts and feedback on the rough high-level workflows. Soon we got so much feedback  that in a couple of iterations we were able to come up with a rough set of requirements for the  new product.     Insight    I gained a lot of value in this overall exercise. We had wasted 2 full months just discussing all  the requirements and documenting those under wiki. But that was not working as the  stakeholders were clinging to their products' priorities rather than seeing it as a new product  requirement from a bigger team. Visualization shifted the focus and allowed understanding  other's perspectives. It reduced the time drastically and we soon moved to the next step.  The engagement was high and people saw their thoughts shaping up more constructively.  Concepts that were in people's minds became more tangible.   This activity reduced the number of untimely meetings for team members as we were all located  in different timezones. Everyone contributed to the artifacts and we learned from each other’s  thoughts.    Approach    With this technique, people were able to put their thoughts together and understand each  other's perspectives. It reduced conflicts and helped us focus on the problem that we were  solving. In business, it is sometimes difficult to convince the value of design thinking techniques.  I think if I was able to do this exercise all over again, I would have tried using journey mapping.  Journey mapping is a user-centric approach where we get insights into not only the functional  but also the emotional needs of the users. These are often unarticulated needs that sometimes  need to be satisfied. This technique would have helped the stakeholders to empathize and  understand our users better. We could have got even better insights into the customer pain  points and discovered opportunities to make the product more efficient and user friendly.


Visualization technique - embracing a user - centric approach to problem - solving Challenge I am a product designer . I work on products that are used in the manufacturing domain . I am going to illustrate an example where we wanted to quickly come up with the MVP requirement for a new product . We wanted to design an Admin Section for a family of products . Admin Section would be an independent website or an embedded module within the products . We had not decided on the approach then . All 3 products were quite popular . They had many users who were already using the admin sections in the respective products . These products were once ' acquired ' and thus had different navigation workflows . It was challenging to come up with coherent experience for the Common Admin Section that suited the requirements of all 3 products . Besides , many senior stakeholders ( PO , PM , Technical Architects ) were working on them for a long time . They had their perspectives and different working styles . Meetings between the teams were discussions with a lot of conflicting views . People from different product teams found it very difficult to understand each other 's perspectives . As there were many interconnected workflows within the products , teams found it challenging to imagine and move in the right direction . We had already wasted a lot of time and there was frustration building up within the teams . Selection As I come from an art background , I was never scared to draw . Instead , that was the most obvious choice for me rather than using words . I chose the visualization technique and decided to put the product workflows in front of people so that things became more tangible . Designers use visualization all the time . I thought that this would be the best approach as it would be easy to ' show ' than ' talk ' . Keeping users in mind I started capturing the workflows that were going to be affected by our new change . I did it for all the 3 products . All the screenshots were put in one place for teams to review . Application Once we had all the screenshots in front of us , we immediately started seeing the discrepancies and dependencies . Discussions became more productive as we started adding requirements for the desired workflows as comments . Queries got resolved as the subject matter experts were able to view and could reply back . With all the information that we had gathered from the comments and feedback that we received on the screenshots , we decided to come up with the first draft of high - level workflows for the Admin settings . As the stakeholders were familiar with the technique by now , they immediately started sharing their thoughts and feedback on the rough high - level workflows . Soon we got so much feedback that in a couple of iterations we were able to come up with a rough set of requirements for the new product . Insight I gained a lot of value in this overall exercise . We had wasted 2 full months just discussing all the requirements and documenting those under wiki . But that was not working as the stakeholders were clinging to their products ' priorities rather than seeing it as a new product requirement from a bigger team . Visualization shifted the focus and allowed understanding other 's perspectives . It reduced the time drastically and we soon moved to the next step . The engagement was high and people saw their thoughts shaping up more constructively . Concepts that were in people 's minds became more tangible . This activity reduced the number of untimely meetings for team members as we were all located in different timezones . Everyone contributed to the artifacts and we learned from each other ’s thoughts . Approach With this technique , people were able to put their thoughts together and understand each other 's perspectives . It reduced conflicts and helped us focus on the problem that we were solving . In business , it is sometimes difficult to convince the value of design thinking techniques . I think if I was able to do this exercise all over again , I would have tried using journey mapping . Journey mapping is a user - centric approach where we get insights into not only the functional but also the emotional needs of the users . These are often unarticulated needs that sometimes need to be satisfied . This technique would have helped the stakeholders to empathize and understand our users better . We could have got even better insights into the customer pain points and discovered opportunities to make the product more efficient and user friendly .