Challenge    I work in a digital marketing department for a learn to ride program. One of our biggest  challenges recently has been preparing students who are taking a learn to ride class and  ensuring that they feel confident and ready. To solve this challenge, we needed to be able to  put ourselves in the shoes of the rider, identify occurring gaps in the process, and brainstorm  solutions to solve those gaps.    Selection    I recommended that we use a tool of design thinking called mind mapping to help solve this  challenge. Mind mapping would help us link gaps to solutions by allowing myself and my team  members to think creatively without boundaries. This would result in us coming up with unique  ideas to solve the problems of our program, ideally. Mind mapping as a tool helps bridge  together the what is to the what if stages, which is exactly what we were looking to do. We  wanted to establish what is, and then move to how we could change that through what if. This  would give us the design criteria we needed in order to move forward and improve our process.    Application    In order to prepare my team for our mind mapping exercise, we needed to do some prep work.  This involved talking with upcoming, current, and past students who have taken our company’s  learn to ride class. We recorded their feelings and interactions with the course, both negatively  and positively. We also listened to them describe their experience, and where they felt like it  lacked or succeeded. Additionally, we recorded ideas they had on how to improve the  experience, and any additional feedback they had. We have also had many members of our  team take the course themselves, so we had them document the same sentiments. This  preparation work allowed us to go into mind mapping with clear themes that expressed the  gaps seen in our program.    From there, we scheduled a half-day session with our team. For this session, we wrote each  theme down on a giant piece of paper and hung them around a room. We allowed the group  one hour to walk around from theme to theme and jotting ideas on post-it notes. Team  members were allowed to write down thoughts, solutions, questions, or any other idea on the  post-it notes, and stick it to one of the corresponding themes. We reminded participants to  write down every single idea, no matter if they thought it was bad, not technically possible, or  something that the company would never support doing. At the end of the hour, we had pieces  of paper filled up with post-it notes.    From there, we broke up into teams, and each team organized the post-it notes into groups of  similar ideas or ideas that went together. Each group spent time discussing the groups of ideas  and prioritizing them. From there, we spent the remaining of the time presenting back to the  larger group. Each smaller group would present back the groups of ideas for each larger theme,  and where they had prioritized them and why. Other groups were able to comment back and

provide feedback. This allowed everyone to be involved in each area. At the end of the day we  had a set of prioritized ideas and solutions for how to improve our class that we could take  forward. From the group’s perspective, this tool was applied effectively, as we came out of the  exercise with many insights and ideas. We did have a few people in the group who struggled  with thinking outside of the box or not bringing “what ifs” into the equation, so it’s possible we  might have been able to compile more information had they been able to efficiently  participate.    Insight & Approach    Both myself and our team learned a great deal from this exercise. Had we not utilized mind  mapping, it’s very possible that we would have missed important solutions and ideas that  missed the point of view of our end consumers. This exercise helped us build design criteria  that would help inform how we should make changes to our program in the future. Using mind  mapping really helped establish how successful design thinking can be. Without it, we would  have been stuck in the same rut of recommending the same solutions over and over. This  approach would not have been successful without doing the prep work of working with  students who have taken our classes before. That was definitely a very important way to set us  up for success. There is a big difference between thinking you know what the issues are, and  actually knowing what the issues are. If we were to do mind mapping again, we would not leave  this step up or think that the themes we would come up with on our own would be enough.


Challenge I work in a digital marketing department for a learn to ride program . One of our biggest challenges recently has been preparing students who are taking a learn to ride class and ensuring that they feel confident and ready . To solve this challenge , we needed to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of the rider , identify occurring gaps in the process , and brainstorm solutions to solve those gaps . Selection I recommended that we use a tool of design thinking called mind mapping to help solve this challenge . Mind mapping would help us link gaps to solutions by allowing myself and my team members to think creatively without boundaries . This would result in us coming up with unique ideas to solve the problems of our program , ideally . Mind mapping as a tool helps bridge together the what is to the what if stages , which is exactly what we were looking to do . We wanted to establish what is , and then move to how we could change that through what if . This would give us the design criteria we needed in order to move forward and improve our process . Application In order to prepare my team for our mind mapping exercise , we needed to do some prep work . This involved talking with upcoming , current , and past students who have taken our company ’s learn to ride class . We recorded their feelings and interactions with the course , both negatively and positively . We also listened to them describe their experience , and where they felt like it lacked or succeeded . Additionally , we recorded ideas they had on how to improve the experience , and any additional feedback they had . We have also had many members of our team take the course themselves , so we had them document the same sentiments . This preparation work allowed us to go into mind mapping with clear themes that expressed the gaps seen in our program . From there , we scheduled a half - day session with our team . For this session , we wrote each theme down on a giant piece of paper and hung them around a room . We allowed the group one hour to walk around from theme to theme and jotting ideas on post - it notes . Team members were allowed to write down thoughts , solutions , questions , or any other idea on the post - it notes , and stick it to one of the corresponding themes . We reminded participants to write down every single idea , no matter if they thought it was bad , not technically possible , or something that the company would never support doing . At the end of the hour , we had pieces of paper filled up with post - it notes . From there , we broke up into teams , and each team organized the post - it notes into groups of similar ideas or ideas that went together . Each group spent time discussing the groups of ideas and prioritizing them . From there , we spent the remaining of the time presenting back to the larger group . Each smaller group would present back the groups of ideas for each larger theme , and where they had prioritized them and why . Other groups were able to comment back and provide feedback . This allowed everyone to be involved in each area . At the end of the day we had a set of prioritized ideas and solutions for how to improve our class that we could take forward . From the group ’s perspective , this tool was applied effectively , as we came out of the exercise with many insights and ideas . We did have a few people in the group who struggled with thinking outside of the box or not bringing “ what ifs ” into the equation , so it ’s possible we might have been able to compile more information had they been able to efficiently participate . Insight & Approach Both myself and our team learned a great deal from this exercise . Had we not utilized mind mapping , it ’s very possible that we would have missed important solutions and ideas that missed the point of view of our end consumers . This exercise helped us build design criteria that would help inform how we should make changes to our program in the future . Using mind mapping really helped establish how successful design thinking can be . Without it , we would have been stuck in the same rut of recommending the same solutions over and over . This approach would not have been successful without doing the prep work of working with students who have taken our classes before . That was definitely a very important way to set us up for success . There is a big difference between thinking you know what the issues are , and actually knowing what the issues are . If we were to do mind mapping again , we would not leave this step up or think that the themes we would come up with on our own would be enough .