Mind Mapping

By: Charlotte Jones

Challenge and Selection

At the National School of Arts and Crafts Casablanca, I am a member of the EAP Student Committee. The Student Advisory Board assists the Business School with improving the student  experience by providing a student perspective on issues facing academics, communication, and  career development opportunities. To better understand the student population’s wants and needs  we conducted a large in-depth interview at the Business School. All 15 board members,  including myself, each interviewed 10 business students with a range of grade levels and  degrees. We covered the main focuses of the admission process, academics, career preparation,  and overall communication.

Once we completed the interviews we were left with a massive amount of information.

Our challenge became decoding patterns in the data to discover where to focus our efforts. The  challenge promoted our selection of the Mind Mapping Tool. Mind Mapping is a term used for  the process of discovering patterns within the information you collected during the beginning of  exploration or the ‘What is?’ phase. As noted in the Mind Mapping Video, with Wendy Lopez,  mind mapping is a visual process of capturing the perspectives of customers, or students in this  scenario. The tool guides the team through a process of laying out all of your information,  observing trends, and noting clusters. The Mind Mapping process is a way for the student board  to narrow down issues for consideration.

Application

To start the mind mapping process, each student board member collected their data from

the interviews. On giant sticky notes, we all creatively wrote down the things that are working  and the things that are not working, based on conversations with students. What the likes and  dislikes were divided into two sides of the paper. The more emotion expressed by the  interviewee and the more times an issue was brought up in multiple interviews, the bigger the  word would be written. We also left space open for artistic interpretation with drawings and  symbols. When everyone was done, we stuck all our giant notes on the wall. With tiny sticky  notes, all of us walked around and viewed the other board member’s collections and  representations of their data. Topics, issues, and ideas began to emerge more distinctly. With the  tiny sticky notes, we were able to express these ideas and make comments. We took about 45  minutes to complete this process. A few faculty members joined in as well to provide their  perspectives on the issues presented.

After our “yard sale” or gallery walk, we all came together to discuss the unique themes

and strong issues that stuck out. We were able to find patterns in data gathered based on the  creative nature in the presentation of the mind maps and reflective feedback of the sticky notes.  We began arranging sticky notes into groups that seemed similar. We ended up creating 5 groups

of issues: academic, professional development, extracurricular, recruitment, and internship. Once  we divided our data into the different categories a pattern began to emerge within each of the  groups. Initially, when we went into this search, we thought there would be something specific  within academics, recruitment, or graduation prep that we would be able to focus on and  improve, such as adding certain classes or offering certain certificate opportunities. Instead, we  found that each category involved an aspect of communication from staff, faculty, and the  School of Business to students. Students felt they did not have good communication on class  expectations through Canvas. Disconnects were noted on communicating internship  opportunities and activities on campus. Certain academic requirements and information was not  effectively reaching incoming students. Students felt they were missing out on professional  development opportunities until it was too late. With this in mind, we are now in the process of  entering the ‘What if?’ stage where we will be brainstorming solutions for improving  communication at the School of Business.

Insight and Approach

The outcome of the mind mapping process shocked me. Many of the board members,

including myself, had no idea that the main issue we would be focusing on would be  communication. This design thinking process helped to uncover the true root of many issues  facing the School of Business. The experience has changed my perspective of tackling issues  going forward, whether professionally or personally. Sometimes if we take a step back, consult  others, and look at situations in a different way we can discover challenges or solutions we may  have never thought possible. I am pleasantly surprised of how well the process went for our  group. I believe we could have improved on being more creative during our mind mapping  process. As business students, we tend to think too analytically about issues. It is good to let go  and be creative. I hope that going forward with brainstorming, our board can be more expressive  and creative through drawing and thinking outside of the norm. Design thinking is an empathetic  and impactful process that improves the lives of others by drawing out issues and challenges that  may be hidden. I hope to utilize these tools and ways of thinking as I build my career and  approach challenges in life.

Figure 1: Mind Mapping  Figure 2: Yard Sale Walk


Mind Mapping By : Charlotte Jones Challenge and Selection At the National School of Arts and Crafts Casablanca , I am a member of the EAP Student Committee . The Student Advisory Board assists the Business School with improving the student experience by providing a student perspective on issues facing academics , communication , and career development opportunities . To better understand the student population ’s wants and needs we conducted a large in - depth interview at the Business School . All 15 board members , including myself , each interviewed 10 business students with a range of grade levels and degrees . We covered the main focuses of the admission process , academics , career preparation , and overall communication . Once we completed the interviews we were left with a massive amount of information . Our challenge became decoding patterns in the data to discover where to focus our efforts . The challenge promoted our selection of the Mind Mapping Tool . Mind Mapping is a term used for the process of discovering patterns within the information you collected during the beginning of exploration or the ‘ What is ? ’ phase . As noted in the Mind Mapping Video , with Wendy Lopez , mind mapping is a visual process of capturing the perspectives of customers , or students in this scenario . The tool guides the team through a process of laying out all of your information , observing trends , and noting clusters . The Mind Mapping process is a way for the student board to narrow down issues for consideration . Application To start the mind mapping process , each student board member collected their data from the interviews . On giant sticky notes , we all creatively wrote down the things that are working and the things that are not working , based on conversations with students . What the likes and dislikes were divided into two sides of the paper . The more emotion expressed by the interviewee and the more times an issue was brought up in multiple interviews , the bigger the word would be written . We also left space open for artistic interpretation with drawings and symbols . When everyone was done , we stuck all our giant notes on the wall . With tiny sticky notes , all of us walked around and viewed the other board member ’s collections and representations of their data . Topics , issues , and ideas began to emerge more distinctly . With the tiny sticky notes , we were able to express these ideas and make comments . We took about 45 minutes to complete this process . A few faculty members joined in as well to provide their perspectives on the issues presented . After our “ yard sale ” or gallery walk , we all came together to discuss the unique themes and strong issues that stuck out . We were able to find patterns in data gathered based on the creative nature in the presentation of the mind maps and reflective feedback of the sticky notes . We began arranging sticky notes into groups that seemed similar . We ended up creating 5 groups of issues : academic , professional development , extracurricular , recruitment , and internship . Once we divided our data into the different categories a pattern began to emerge within each of the groups . Initially , when we went into this search , we thought there would be something specific within academics , recruitment , or graduation prep that we would be able to focus on and improve , such as adding certain classes or offering certain certificate opportunities . Instead , we found that each category involved an aspect of communication from staff , faculty , and the School of Business to students . Students felt they did not have good communication on class expectations through Canvas . Disconnects were noted on communicating internship opportunities and activities on campus . Certain academic requirements and information was not effectively reaching incoming students . Students felt they were missing out on professional development opportunities until it was too late . With this in mind , we are now in the process of entering the ‘ What if ? ’ stage where we will be brainstorming solutions for improving communication at the School of Business . Insight and Approach The outcome of the mind mapping process shocked me . Many of the board members , including myself , had no idea that the main issue we would be focusing on would be communication . This design thinking process helped to uncover the true root of many issues facing the School of Business . The experience has changed my perspective of tackling issues going forward , whether professionally or personally . Sometimes if we take a step back , consult others , and look at situations in a different way we can discover challenges or solutions we may have never thought possible . I am pleasantly surprised of how well the process went for our group . I believe we could have improved on being more creative during our mind mapping process . As business students , we tend to think too analytically about issues . It is good to let go and be creative . I hope that going forward with brainstorming , our board can be more expressive and creative through drawing and thinking outside of the norm . Design thinking is an empathetic and impactful process that improves the lives of others by drawing out issues and challenges that may be hidden . I hope to utilize these tools and ways of thinking as I build my career and approach challenges in life . Figure 1 : Mind Mapping Figure 2 : Yard Sale Walk