Example: Mind Mapping

Elements:

1. Challenge: We have been into service industry and now launched and commercialized a few

products. About 18 months ago we hired a consultant who introduced us to agile methodologies  and we purchased Jira licenses, coached someone for the Scrum Master role and started  implementing the processes. However, since we have not always been a product company, our  challenges are fundamental – how the management thinks the products are built using agile.  While we have learned a few processes, we missed on other few.

It is in organization’s DNA to learn with time, do more with less, and be really fast.

Now, this is a tricky situation. Teams think they are under pressure to deliver things at lightning  speed. Engineering and product teams would try to pick up a lot of tasks. And because they’re  always kind of short of time, they think they don’t have to waste time in doing meetings to  unleash their creative self. Hence, they sometimes build features that can be much stronger if  they do more brainstorming and customer empathy sessions. The reality is, management is not  aware what are the other best practices to follow – such as Mind Mapping. If they are convinced  that there are global best practices, there wouldn’t be a problem in buying more time for building  great products.

So while I was doing the course, I started interviewing people for the new product I had  launched internally to a focus group of 50 people in our 5000 people company. But that resulted  in a lot of information. To find real meaning from a lot of data, I think mind mapping is the next  right step for the organization to solve the overall problems of building great products.

2. Selection:

Hence, I selected mind mapping tool as each interviewee provided a lot of information (a proper  product management user interview tool was used). Mind mapping helped build the right  connections between various types of information from multiple users (feels like I am the FBI  agent who tracks an elusive criminal J ). As the IDEO CEO says that if he has to do something  analytics, he creates a list, but he has to do something more creative, he creates a mind-map.

3. Application:

So I gathered my product manager (who also had conducted interviews) and a group of 4  people from the engineering team who are working on the product. We projected the info in  excel format, gathered from the interviews on a projector, and broke it down to small features or  bugs on sticky notes and later categorized them. The first meeting wasn’t as great and we got  back to this course for reference and the next session was better (I think that will improve  further with more such sessions). We also made an announcement that we’d be doing such  meetings more often.

4. Insight:

The insights were eye-opening. It helped us understand the top 2 reasons why the users would  stop using the product and what is that they currently love about it. We could see their real  objections, and hear the unsaid through the key statements during the interviews. We also  mapped each of these pointers with the impact they have. It ultimately helped us write thought  through stories and effective prioritization.

5. Approach:

The next time, I think we’d need to sharpen our skills of brainstorming sessions in which we do  mind-mapping together with the team. This will help us save on time (which is a very important  aspect for our organization culture). Also, we would go back to the management with 4-5  successful mind-mapping meetings that generate some result to get their buy-in that will make it  a part of our agile forever.


Example : Mind Mapping Elements : 1 . Challenge : We have been into service industry and now launched and commercialized a few products . About 18 months ago we hired a consultant who introduced us to agile methodologies and we purchased Jira licenses , coached someone for the Scrum Master role and started implementing the processes . However , since we have not always been a product company , our challenges are fundamental – how the management thinks the products are built using agile . While we have learned a few processes , we missed on other few . It is in organization ’s DNA to learn with time , do more with less , and be really fast . Now , this is a tricky situation . Teams think they are under pressure to deliver things at lightning speed . Engineering and product teams would try to pick up a lot of tasks . And because they ’re always kind of short of time , they think they do n’t have to waste time in doing meetings to unleash their creative self . Hence , they sometimes build features that can be much stronger if they do more brainstorming and customer empathy sessions . The reality is , management is not aware what are the other best practices to follow – such as Mind Mapping . If they are convinced that there are global best practices , there would n’t be a problem in buying more time for building great products . So while I was doing the course , I started interviewing people for the new product I had launched internally to a focus group of 50 people in our 5000 people company . But that resulted in a lot of information . To find real meaning from a lot of data , I think mind mapping is the next right step for the organization to solve the overall problems of building great products . 2 . Selection : Hence , I selected mind mapping tool as each interviewee provided a lot of information ( a proper product management user interview tool was used ) . Mind mapping helped build the right connections between various types of information from multiple users ( feels like I am the FBI agent who tracks an elusive criminal J ) . As the IDEO CEO says that if he has to do something analytics , he creates a list , but he has to do something more creative , he creates a mind - map . 3 . Application : So I gathered my product manager ( who also had conducted interviews ) and a group of 4 people from the engineering team who are working on the product . We projected the info in excel format , gathered from the interviews on a projector , and broke it down to small features or bugs on sticky notes and later categorized them . The first meeting was n’t as great and we got back to this course for reference and the next session was better ( I think that will improve further with more such sessions ) . We also made an announcement that we ’d be doing such meetings more often . 4 . Insight : The insights were eye - opening . It helped us understand the top 2 reasons why the users would stop using the product and what is that they currently love about it . We could see their real objections , and hear the unsaid through the key statements during the interviews . We also mapped each of these pointers with the impact they have . It ultimately helped us write thought through stories and effective prioritization . 5 . Approach : The next time , I think we ’d need to sharpen our skills of brainstorming sessions in which we do mind - mapping together with the team . This will help us save on time ( which is a very important aspect for our organization culture ) . Also , we would go back to the management with 4 - 5 successful mind - mapping meetings that generate some result to get their buy - in that will make it a part of our agile forever .