Reﬂec%on - Mind Mapping

Challenge

Lately I did an online course about User Experience Design. Part of the course was this assignment: design  an airline website with focus on the booking process, an online experience that is fast, easy and intuiAve  based on a deep understanding of their target users.   This was my ﬁrst hands on experience with design thinking. First, I did a lot of user/customer research to get  an understanding of the problems customers experience during the process of booking a ﬂight. I learned  about the user goals and idenAﬁed issues that users regularly come across in airline websites. It was a mix  of quanAtaAve and qualitaAve research, it was good research, it was a lot, but it looked like a mess! I had to  ﬁnd a soluAon for this, something that could organise this mess.

Selec%on

Through analysing the data gathered during the research stage, I could beJer understand and arAculate the  problems to solve for the customer. I chose mind mapping as tool for organising the type of unstructured  data I got from my research. It is fast, easy, cheap and as a bonus it harnesses the power of collaboraAon to  organise the data quickly and build consensus. When you have a lot of unstructured data, mind mapping is  perfect to idenAfy paJers and themes (the same ﬁndings) in diﬀerent research methods.

“A perfect formula/on of a problem is already half its solu/on.” David Hilbert - MathemaAcian

Applica%on

In the video lecture of week 3 ‘Mind Mapping Tool’, Mia Castillo gives the example of the yard sale where  you invite some shoppers or gallery-goers to aJend the sale or view the gallery. How she describes this  process is similar to how I did my mind mapping session.

To do the mind mapping session, I invited two helpers. Before we came together I shared all the research I  had done in the previous step. The helpers got enough Ame to (acAvely) read/watch/look at all the research  and to take notes on their own. Then we got together and I gave each helper post-it notes and a pen. They  had to write one observaAon per post-it. This was done in silence and took about 30 minutes.   We placed all the post-it notes on the wall and started to make groups. We discussed, the groups were  vague in the beginning, but we improved them and ﬁnally gave them names. The whole session took about  one hour.

Insight

Thanks to the mind mapping session I had clear groups that corresponded to (mostly) negaAve experiences  that needed to be addresses during the design of the airline website. My raw research data had gone from  highly unstructured to relaAvely structured and acAonable insights emerged. I had 11 areas I could make  improvements to the success of my website.   As a bonus, I had collaborated. I had a shared understanding with my helpers, everybody could speak.

Approach

I would select the same tool, but I would deﬁnitely invite more people to do it with. This was only an  exercise from a course, but I can’t wait to apply this tool on a real project with colleagues or stakeholders  involved in the process. It gives not only insights in the approach to the design, but also it gets people oﬀ

their seats and everybody is involved and has a voice. Not only designers understand this, stakeholders  o[en prefer to see the bigger picture.


Reﬂec%on - Mind Mapping Challenge Lately I did an online course about User Experience Design . Part of the course was this assignment : design an airline website with focus on the booking process , an online experience that is fast , easy and intuiAve based on a deep understanding of their target users . This was my ﬁrst hands on experience with design thinking . First , I did a lot of user / customer research to get an understanding of the problems customers experience during the process of booking a ﬂight . I learned about the user goals and idenAﬁed issues that users regularly come across in airline websites . It was a mix of quanAtaAve and qualitaAve research , it was good research , it was a lot , but it looked like a mess ! I had to ﬁnd a soluAon for this , something that could organise this mess . Selec%on Through analysing the data gathered during the research stage , I could beJer understand and arAculate the problems to solve for the customer . I chose mind mapping as tool for organising the type of unstructured data I got from my research . It is fast , easy , cheap and as a bonus it harnesses the power of collaboraAon to organise the data quickly and build consensus . When you have a lot of unstructured data , mind mapping is perfect to idenAfy paJers and themes ( the same ﬁndings ) in diﬀerent research methods . “ A perfect formula / on of a problem is already half its solu / on . ” David Hilbert - MathemaAcian Applica%on In the video lecture of week 3 ‘ Mind Mapping Tool ’ , Mia Castillo gives the example of the yard sale where you invite some shoppers or gallery - goers to aJend the sale or view the gallery . How she describes this process is similar to how I did my mind mapping session . To do the mind mapping session , I invited two helpers . Before we came together I shared all the research I had done in the previous step . The helpers got enough Ame to ( acAvely ) read / watch / look at all the research and to take notes on their own . Then we got together and I gave each helper post - it notes and a pen . They had to write one observaAon per post - it . This was done in silence and took about 30 minutes . We placed all the post - it notes on the wall and started to make groups . We discussed , the groups were vague in the beginning , but we improved them and ﬁnally gave them names . The whole session took about one hour . Insight Thanks to the mind mapping session I had clear groups that corresponded to ( mostly ) negaAve experiences that needed to be addresses during the design of the airline website . My raw research data had gone from highly unstructured to relaAvely structured and acAonable insights emerged . I had 11 areas I could make improvements to the success of my website . As a bonus , I had collaborated . I had a shared understanding with my helpers , everybody could speak . Approach I would select the same tool , but I would deﬁnitely invite more people to do it with . This was only an exercise from a course , but I ca n’t wait to apply this tool on a real project with colleagues or stakeholders involved in the process . It gives not only insights in the approach to the design , but also it gets people oﬀ their seats and everybody is involved and has a voice . Not only designers understand this , stakeholders o[en prefer to see the bigger picture .