Visualisation

Challenge & Selection    Last Summer, I worked as an Engineering Intern at Hearst Ventures and was  tasked with the re-design of the External Damage Analysis process of airplanes at  the Engineering HQ in Dubai. At the time, the process involved the pilot and a  mechanic informally walking around the plane prior to take off, checking and  recording dents or other minor damages. However, these paper records were  frequently damaged or misplaced, therefore cosmetic damage that had previously  been assessed would be mistaken for new damages that needed safety checks, or  vice versa. In addition, the record sheets were incredibly badly designed, leading  to incomplete and missing data for many planes, as well as an inability for the  company engineers to process, or even read, the records that the mechanics  produced. This resulted in engineers being woken up at 3AM by confused pilots  worried about damage that had already been cleared for travel, a loss of profit  due to delayed flights and the constant risk of unsafe external damages being  unidentified or ignored.    I soon realised that the issue of damaged/lost records could be easily fixed with  dedicated logs and the digitalisation of data, while the greatest issue to be solved  was the miscommunication between the involved parties (pilots, mechanics and  engineers). As mentioned in the video lectures, Visualisation allows people to  “achieve a sense of agreement and consensus”, which is exactly what was missing  in this case. Therefore, I used active sketching sessions in which I sat down with  different teams to create their “perfect” template, incorporating the data each  team required and the format that suited them, before bringing all of these visual  aids together to produce a final piece that could be used and understood by all.    Application    I assembled with a small group of engineers and armed them with several blank  pieces of paper and pencils, as well as printing out several copies of the old  damage recording sheets and various other data sheet templates for a little added  inspiration. After quickly determining exactly what information was needed on  the sheets, we set to drawing out rough templates of potential designs. I  encouraged the continuous sharing of work, so that we could add to any bright  ideas that emerged. Imagine a wall being built brick by brick and that’s exactly  how the sheets were built, row by row, column by column. This design process  was repeated with two teams of mechanics from different departments.

Finally, I amalgamated the separate drafts into a combined design, with the goal  of balancing the ease of data recording on the ground and the ease of analysis in  the office. This was then passed through more engineers, mechanics and pilots of  varying seniority to add ideas and comments before a final design was created.    Insight & Approach    In the end, two new sheets replaced the old template. One included a more  traditional table with all of the technical data required by the engineers, but laid  out in an intuitive manner for the mechanics to complete. The other was based  around schematics of a plane to make recording new damage locations and  checking previous damage an easier and safer task.    I was stunned at how effectively this method led to an incredibly fast consensus  between groups of people of wildly different backgrounds, experience and  degrees of training. By separating the groups before combining ideas, we  managed to focus on the key aspects each group wanted, without argument or  compromise. Then combining and expanding these elements allowed us to keep  everyone happy and ensure the quality of the process. I also realised how quick  the process was and its vast potential for other projects due to its simplicity. In  my opinion, the flexibility of the Visualisation tool is its greatest feature.    In addition, this course has made me realise that the final design we produced  was a product of three design tools. Journey Mapping elements were used to  ensure that the design fit in smoothly with current operations, Brainstorming was  used to facilitate the creation of new template drafts and Visualisation was the  crucial link between all of the people involved and the ideas that they conjured  up. In the future, additional tools like the Learning Launch could be used to  quickly verify the effectiveness of the solutions that we create.


Visualisation Challenge & Selection Last Summer , I worked as an Engineering Intern at Hearst Ventures and was tasked with the re - design of the External Damage Analysis process of airplanes at the Engineering HQ in Dubai . At the time , the process involved the pilot and a mechanic informally walking around the plane prior to take off , checking and recording dents or other minor damages . However , these paper records were frequently damaged or misplaced , therefore cosmetic damage that had previously been assessed would be mistaken for new damages that needed safety checks , or vice versa . In addition , the record sheets were incredibly badly designed , leading to incomplete and missing data for many planes , as well as an inability for the company engineers to process , or even read , the records that the mechanics produced . This resulted in engineers being woken up at 3AM by confused pilots worried about damage that had already been cleared for travel , a loss of profit due to delayed flights and the constant risk of unsafe external damages being unidentified or ignored . I soon realised that the issue of damaged / lost records could be easily fixed with dedicated logs and the digitalisation of data , while the greatest issue to be solved was the miscommunication between the involved parties ( pilots , mechanics and engineers ) . As mentioned in the video lectures , Visualisation allows people to “ achieve a sense of agreement and consensus ” , which is exactly what was missing in this case . Therefore , I used active sketching sessions in which I sat down with different teams to create their “ perfect ” template , incorporating the data each team required and the format that suited them , before bringing all of these visual aids together to produce a final piece that could be used and understood by all . Application I assembled with a small group of engineers and armed them with several blank pieces of paper and pencils , as well as printing out several copies of the old damage recording sheets and various other data sheet templates for a little added inspiration . After quickly determining exactly what information was needed on the sheets , we set to drawing out rough templates of potential designs . I encouraged the continuous sharing of work , so that we could add to any bright ideas that emerged . Imagine a wall being built brick by brick and that ’s exactly how the sheets were built , row by row , column by column . This design process was repeated with two teams of mechanics from different departments . Finally , I amalgamated the separate drafts into a combined design , with the goal of balancing the ease of data recording on the ground and the ease of analysis in the office . This was then passed through more engineers , mechanics and pilots of varying seniority to add ideas and comments before a final design was created . Insight & Approach In the end , two new sheets replaced the old template . One included a more traditional table with all of the technical data required by the engineers , but laid out in an intuitive manner for the mechanics to complete . The other was based around schematics of a plane to make recording new damage locations and checking previous damage an easier and safer task . I was stunned at how effectively this method led to an incredibly fast consensus between groups of people of wildly different backgrounds , experience and degrees of training . By separating the groups before combining ideas , we managed to focus on the key aspects each group wanted , without argument or compromise . Then combining and expanding these elements allowed us to keep everyone happy and ensure the quality of the process . I also realised how quick the process was and its vast potential for other projects due to its simplicity . In my opinion , the flexibility of the Visualisation tool is its greatest feature . In addition , this course has made me realise that the final design we produced was a product of three design tools . Journey Mapping elements were used to ensure that the design fit in smoothly with current operations , Brainstorming was used to facilitate the creation of new template drafts and Visualisation was the crucial link between all of the people involved and the ideas that they conjured up . In the future , additional tools like the Learning Launch could be used to quickly verify the effectiveness of the solutions that we create .