Tool experimented :

1. Visualization

Challenge:

I work for a French company that evolves in a very complicated market that suffered a complete  disruption in the last 6 years. Our paradigm has completely changed while our customers are  now expecting that we deliver our traditional approach to the market and products, but at the  same time new digital based products. (We are delivering a service to corporate customers and  cities).

Amongst many challenges, we were asked to develop “smart city “ oriented services and  products. It was a completely new subject for our company. We had no idea of what type of  service was possible to deliver and of course no idea of any business model ? The situation was  particularly tensed and employee were really concerned by the urgency of the situation.   Internally, our employees are coming from very diverse experiences and expertise, but we had a  poor knowledge in terms of digital services or products which was a big problem in our situation.

I was stuck on inefficient conversations to align on our customers’ needs with colleagues unable  to understand each other (top management, logistics, IT, legal…).

My challenge was to define a first target and design as quickly as possible an MVP of our  solution. That’s why I decided to use design thinking to foster our ability to innovate and design  valuable products to our customers and citizens

Selection:

I have studied many options to select a good tool to generate ideas and especially define our  customers’ problem related to smart city. During the “what is” phase we get a lot of data and  empathized with different people: cities officials, citizens, entrepreneurs… but it was impossible to  formulate a good trigger question to move forward.

Then I came back to visualization tools that we really much valued in Ali Hartl’s

presentation during the course, when she talked about inductive reasoning. Deep diving on this  subject I discovered many different ways to draw and work collaboratively around a diagram to  better understand a problem and define the question that was supposed to be solved by our  future prototype. I particularly liked to read Jeff Knapp book “Design Sprint” which is rich of ideas

and insights in terms of visualization. That’s how I decided to work on what I called a “problem  landscape map “ to work with a team and converge on an agreed question to answer.

I designed a poster separated into 4 parts identified by a specific title:

Part 1 : How can we transform insights from citizens into problems ? : The purpose of this part

was to draw a diagram of situations (based on insights form interviews) and to link them with an  explanation of a supposed problem

Part 2 : Root causes of the problem

The purpose here was to draw a tree and its roots to highlight the situations and context leading  to the problem

Part 3 : Problem prioritization

The target here was to to draw a podium to classify and order the most impactful problems

Part 4 : Agreed question / Challenge

The purpose was to draw a target with the selected question in the center of it

Application:

I worked with my project team (7 people) + 3 interviewees

First round (60 min) :

1/ Individual work : I asked my teammates to present to the group the 3 most interesting insights  they have remembered form “what is” stage, and to propose a single definition of a problem.  They had to stick post-its and to link them by drawing a diagram explaining the problem  underneath an insight.

2/ Collective vote : I asked everybody to vote for the most interesting problem. In the end we  aligned on 5 problems

Second round (60 min) :

1/ Crazy eight: I used a tool described by Dawid Lisowska consisting in imagining 8 versions of a  problem by drawing 8 small drawings on the same sheet of paper (by folding it 8 times)

2/ Root cause drawing : I asked attendees to draw a situation describing root causes : for  example why are we stuck on traffic jam in our cities ?

Third round (60 min) :

1/ Pitching problems : I asked every stakeholder to present his or her problem and to convince  everybody that it was the most important to solve

2/ Vote : We voted to select the most important problem

Fourth round (60 min) :

1/ We brainstormed and voted for the most consistent question to solve. As a group we selected :  How may we enjoy our time stuck on traffic jam ?

2/ We presented the question to citizens who had (or not) participated to interviews and invited  them to our next workshop to work on “what if” ?

Insight:

In terms of design thinking process first, visualization is a very powerful tool. It really helps when  it is really hard to put words on a particular situation. It is incredibly useful to understand, with a

much broader view, a situation that our users or customers can face. It is a key enabler also to  facilitate collective sessions as it helps engaging people. It has been a fun and efficient moment  together.

In terms of overcoming my challenge, it has been a success. While we started with no idea of  what we could offer to the market, we performed several sessions using visualization and it  helped us shape a service that we are now close from selling to our customers. Visualization is  really key to speak a common language with everybody. When sometime, we cannot  communicate because we don’t understand each other (because we don’t have the same  background, culture or experience), everybody is happy to work by drawing.

In terms of team building, it has been an enabler to our team spirit and our customer satisfaction  orientation.

Approach :

I have two takeaways and improvement ideas:

1/ When I will work with different people using visualization I will take the time to introduce the  exercise with an “icebreaker” or perhaps by doing some story telling. It will foster collaboration  and help people break the fears they could have by drawing like a kid… in a very serious  professional life. During my workshop, I was with some executives who had some difficulties to  play the game in the beginning. But when they felt that the outcome could be great they became  more and more supportive to the exercise

2/ I will shorten the duration of the workshop. Drawing can be really intensive. I felt that people  were very tired in the end. And that’s one of the feedbacks I get when we did a short  retrospective in the end of the session.

I think that next time I will try to make the workshop in 2 hours. That’s also a kind of  experimentation of design thinking, when you are challenged to adapt your technics and  approach to get the maximum value of people’s insights.


Tool experimented : 1 . Visualization Challenge : I work for a French company that evolves in a very complicated market that suffered a complete disruption in the last 6 years . Our paradigm has completely changed while our customers are now expecting that we deliver our traditional approach to the market and products , but at the same time new digital based products . ( We are delivering a service to corporate customers and cities ) . Amongst many challenges , we were asked to develop “ smart city “ oriented services and products . It was a completely new subject for our company . We had no idea of what type of service was possible to deliver and of course no idea of any business model ? The situation was particularly tensed and employee were really concerned by the urgency of the situation . Internally , our employees are coming from very diverse experiences and expertise , but we had a poor knowledge in terms of digital services or products which was a big problem in our situation . I was stuck on inefficient conversations to align on our customers ’ needs with colleagues unable to understand each other ( top management , logistics , IT , legal … ) . My challenge was to define a first target and design as quickly as possible an MVP of our solution . That ’s why I decided to use design thinking to foster our ability to innovate and design valuable products to our customers and citizens Selection : I have studied many options to select a good tool to generate ideas and especially define our customers ’ problem related to smart city . During the “ what is ” phase we get a lot of data and empathized with different people : cities officials , citizens , entrepreneurs … but it was impossible to formulate a good trigger question to move forward . Then I came back to visualization tools that we really much valued in Ali Hartl ’s presentation during the course , when she talked about inductive reasoning . Deep diving on this subject I discovered many different ways to draw and work collaboratively around a diagram to better understand a problem and define the question that was supposed to be solved by our future prototype . I particularly liked to read Jeff Knapp book “ Design Sprint ” which is rich of ideas and insights in terms of visualization . That ’s how I decided to work on what I called a “ problem landscape map “ to work with a team and converge on an agreed question to answer . I designed a poster separated into 4 parts identified by a specific title : Part 1 : How can we transform insights from citizens into problems ? : The purpose of this part was to draw a diagram of situations ( based on insights form interviews ) and to link them with an explanation of a supposed problem Part 2 : Root causes of the problem The purpose here was to draw a tree and its roots to highlight the situations and context leading to the problem Part 3 : Problem prioritization The target here was to to draw a podium to classify and order the most impactful problems Part 4 : Agreed question / Challenge The purpose was to draw a target with the selected question in the center of it Application : I worked with my project team ( 7 people ) + 3 interviewees First round ( 60 min ) : 1/ Individual work : I asked my teammates to present to the group the 3 most interesting insights they have remembered form “ what is ” stage , and to propose a single definition of a problem . They had to stick post - its and to link them by drawing a diagram explaining the problem underneath an insight . 2/ Collective vote : I asked everybody to vote for the most interesting problem . In the end we aligned on 5 problems Second round ( 60 min ) : 1/ Crazy eight : I used a tool described by Dawid Lisowska consisting in imagining 8 versions of a problem by drawing 8 small drawings on the same sheet of paper ( by folding it 8 times ) 2/ Root cause drawing : I asked attendees to draw a situation describing root causes : for example why are we stuck on traffic jam in our cities ? Third round ( 60 min ) : 1/ Pitching problems : I asked every stakeholder to present his or her problem and to convince everybody that it was the most important to solve 2/ Vote : We voted to select the most important problem Fourth round ( 60 min ) : 1/ We brainstormed and voted for the most consistent question to solve . As a group we selected : How may we enjoy our time stuck on traffic jam ? 2/ We presented the question to citizens who had ( or not ) participated to interviews and invited them to our next workshop to work on “ what if ” ? Insight : In terms of design thinking process first , visualization is a very powerful tool . It really helps when it is really hard to put words on a particular situation . It is incredibly useful to understand , with a much broader view , a situation that our users or customers can face . It is a key enabler also to facilitate collective sessions as it helps engaging people . It has been a fun and efficient moment together . In terms of overcoming my challenge , it has been a success . While we started with no idea of what we could offer to the market , we performed several sessions using visualization and it helped us shape a service that we are now close from selling to our customers . Visualization is really key to speak a common language with everybody . When sometime , we can not communicate because we do n’t understand each other ( because we do n’t have the same background , culture or experience ) , everybody is happy to work by drawing . In terms of team building , it has been an enabler to our team spirit and our customer satisfaction orientation . Approach : I have two takeaways and improvement ideas : 1/ When I will work with different people using visualization I will take the time to introduce the exercise with an “ icebreaker ” or perhaps by doing some story telling . It will foster collaboration and help people break the fears they could have by drawing like a kid … in a very serious professional life . During my workshop , I was with some executives who had some difficulties to play the game in the beginning . But when they felt that the outcome could be great they became more and more supportive to the exercise 2/ I will shorten the duration of the workshop . Drawing can be really intensive . I felt that people were very tired in the end . And that ’s one of the feedbacks I get when we did a short retrospective in the end of the session . I think that next time I will try to make the workshop in 2 hours . That ’s also a kind of experimentation of design thinking , when you are challenged to adapt your technics and approach to get the maximum value of people ’s insights .