Reflection ­ Mind Mapping

Challenge

I’m a Design Consultant in an organisation. The challenge was to search the opportunities  where the client (A Leading Train Manufacturer) can make the biggest impact in the industry  by innovation using latest technologies. These days, passengers have many options to  commute, which are very easily available, they can call the cab anytime, anywhere.  Nowadays, somehow passenger are not very inclined to choose trains as a daily transport.  How can we make trains smarter and user friendly.

Selection

I chose Mind mapping tool taught by Lisa Garza. Mind mapping tool is a quickest way to  gather more ideas. It can give you more ideas connecting to main central topic. These ideas  and relationships become very effective points can become insights to find the scope. It is  also know as creative, intuitive and innovative design thinking tool.

Application

I found a big hall having the capacity to sit around 10 people with a large whiteboard. I  conducted this session with stakeholders and a group of different passengers. We wanted to  capture the mind of the passengers. I distributed a bold pen and different colors of sticky  notes to the participant.     I started the process by asking a brief introduction about themselves (each participant one  by one), so that everybody knows each other a bit about what they do. Then I re­phrased  the topic in front of them again, although they already had the idea what is the topic and we  are going to do.  Then I wrote the main topic on center of white board. Then I broke down the main topic to  subtopic branches, on the basis of my research and available data and the response coming  from group.    After that, I asked participant to have related ideas around them, and present one by one  his/her sticky notes and paste around the related topic or subtopic. During presentation of  sticky notes participant shared their thought what comes in his/her mind. That gives us a  base to discover new relation between the keywords. In our case ‘Train’ was the main topic,  and subtopics were like customers, technology, baggages etc. Points were coming out  automatically from other points. I give them 30 minutes for each section.

I splitted the whole session in few small sections on the basis of processes. For example  while booking the train, what are points come in their mind, so I wrote again on the board  and ask participant to have ideas around that, write on sticky notes and paste close to the  topic. In the same way, what comes in the mind while you are in train.    From above exercise we got lot of ideas like what happens, if you miss the train, if you don’t  get seats etc.     Then I gave them 10 minutes to review their own sticky notes. Then we grouped the sticky  notes on the basis of similar theme and patterns.     At the end of session I asked them to vote the ideas by just adding dot to sticky notes which  were pasted on whiteboard. It was like the main keyword or outliers. They may serve  inspirations. After that, I synthesized then digitised them and created a report to find the  pattern and theme.

Insights

Well, after conducting this exercise we had a better understanding of ‘what is’, the current  problems and it gave us a solid foundation for next exercise that is ‘what if’. It was a lot of  fun, and everybody enjoyed this session. Now we can sense that why people are moving  away from trains, what are their problems space with train. Like train travel takes a lot of  efforts and has lot of uncertainty, availability of parking, connecting trains, seat availability,  dirty toilets, etc.  We had several outlines to discuss further. We discussed about this complete session again  with stakeholders and find the way to have a big impact on this industry.  I found this tool intuitive to gather lots of ideas very quickly. It was my first project and  learned a lot by having shared understanding with different kind of passenger e.g. techy,  late comers, disables, very busy people etc.  It helped us to identify the insights relating to each keyword. Then translate the insight into  design criteria. Now we can move on to thinking about possible solutions to our design  challenges.

Approach

Next time, I will clearly say that on­one is going to judge any body. I experienced in this  session that if someone giving the idea, another person was stopping and judging. Because  of this problems, some participant were getting defensive about their ideas which resulted  to limited ideas. This problem remained there for a short while after that this session went  well.


Reflection ­ Mind Mapping Challenge I ’m a Design Consultant in an organisation . The challenge was to search the opportunities where the client ( A Leading Train Manufacturer ) can make the biggest impact in the industry by innovation using latest technologies . These days , passengers have many options to commute , which are very easily available , they can call the cab anytime , anywhere . Nowadays , somehow passenger are not very inclined to choose trains as a daily transport . How can we make trains smarter and user friendly . Selection I chose Mind mapping tool taught by Lisa Garza . Mind mapping tool is a quickest way to gather more ideas . It can give you more ideas connecting to main central topic . These ideas and relationships become very effective points can become insights to find the scope . It is also know as creative , intuitive and innovative design thinking tool . Application I found a big hall having the capacity to sit around 10 people with a large whiteboard . I conducted this session with stakeholders and a group of different passengers . We wanted to capture the mind of the passengers . I distributed a bold pen and different colors of sticky notes to the participant . I started the process by asking a brief introduction about themselves ( each participant one by one ) , so that everybody knows each other a bit about what they do . Then I re­phrased the topic in front of them again , although they already had the idea what is the topic and we are going to do . Then I wrote the main topic on center of white board . Then I broke down the main topic to subtopic branches , on the basis of my research and available data and the response coming from group . After that , I asked participant to have related ideas around them , and present one by one his / her sticky notes and paste around the related topic or subtopic . During presentation of sticky notes participant shared their thought what comes in his / her mind . That gives us a base to discover new relation between the keywords . In our case ‘ Train ’ was the main topic , and subtopics were like customers , technology , baggages etc . Points were coming out automatically from other points . I give them 30 minutes for each section . I splitted the whole session in few small sections on the basis of processes . For example while booking the train , what are points come in their mind , so I wrote again on the board and ask participant to have ideas around that , write on sticky notes and paste close to the topic . In the same way , what comes in the mind while you are in train . From above exercise we got lot of ideas like what happens , if you miss the train , if you do n’t get seats etc . Then I gave them 10 minutes to review their own sticky notes . Then we grouped the sticky notes on the basis of similar theme and patterns . At the end of session I asked them to vote the ideas by just adding dot to sticky notes which were pasted on whiteboard . It was like the main keyword or outliers . They may serve inspirations . After that , I synthesized then digitised them and created a report to find the pattern and theme . Insights Well , after conducting this exercise we had a better understanding of ‘ what is ’ , the current problems and it gave us a solid foundation for next exercise that is ‘ what if ’ . It was a lot of fun , and everybody enjoyed this session . Now we can sense that why people are moving away from trains , what are their problems space with train . Like train travel takes a lot of efforts and has lot of uncertainty , availability of parking , connecting trains , seat availability , dirty toilets , etc . We had several outlines to discuss further . We discussed about this complete session again with stakeholders and find the way to have a big impact on this industry . I found this tool intuitive to gather lots of ideas very quickly . It was my first project and learned a lot by having shared understanding with different kind of passenger e.g. techy , late comers , disables , very busy people etc . It helped us to identify the insights relating to each keyword . Then translate the insight into design criteria . Now we can move on to thinking about possible solutions to our design challenges . Approach Next time , I will clearly say that on­one is going to judge any body . I experienced in this session that if someone giving the idea , another person was stopping and judging . Because of this problems , some participant were getting defensive about their ideas which resulted to limited ideas . This problem remained there for a short while after that this session went well .