Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge & Selection

The challenge that we faced was that exhibited by the staff of the health service, whom were one of  our clients. With the many different roles and responsibilities within the health service, we wanted  to create a product or tool that they could all use in order to increase the efficiency of their everyday  patient diagnosing tasks. An additional complexity that we (the company) had, was that we were  creating an all-in-one tool/technology product which we aimed to test out in the health service.  There were various components within this tool, and we were confident that every member of the  health service would find something useful in there, but we had no real assurance that they would  indeed find it useful, or even use the tool.

In order to determine whether or not we were thinking on the right level regarding the problems the  medical staff face on a day to day basis, we carried out the process of mind mapping. The goal was  to determine exactly the problems faced by the medical staff, and to draw some sort of structure  that we could then begin to tailor our solution around. This would help increase the tools usefulness  and applicability to the medical staff’s problems. Mind mapping involves bringing together key  stakeholders and having them visually depict (via post-it notes, drawings, scribbles of some kind)  problems which are currently being faced, barriers that currently exist, mentalities that present  amongst staff, etc. The process of mind mapping really helped us as a company understand the  “what-is”, the problems that the staff were facing currently, and allowed us to draw some form of a  structure around these problems, which increased our ability to tailor our tool/solution to be able to  meet these needs of the various clusters within the health service.

Application

The process of mind mapping was carried out by bringing many different key stakeholders into a  room for a full day workshop. This including senior clinicians who diagnose patients every day, senior  finance decision makers who are aware of the monetary limitations regarding changing the existing  technology used by clinicians, IT specialists who would be able to provide a clearer picture on the IT  limitations regarding a new proposed solution. All in all there were approximately 15 people present  in the workshop.

The workshop began by thanking each of the stakeholders for their time and then to remind them  why they were all there, and the problem that we (as a company) were trying to solve within the  health service. This gave context to each of the stakeholders and would help guide them in their  thinking for the remainder of the workshop. We then broke everyone up into 2 separate groups of 6- 7 people, with members of the company standing back and observing the discussions as they were  occurring. Each group was asked to draw or write on the walls (not actually on the walls themselves  but on a whiteboard material we had places on the walls) the problems that they currently were  having in their everyday diagnosis of patients. After approximately 15-20 minutes of discussions, we  asked both teams to relay the information to the full group to see if there was a general consensus,  and also to allow discussion on any discrepancies or disagreements on the problem definitions. After  this discussion we (the company) identified several provisional clusters that seemed present in both  groups and we asked for feedback and agreement on these clusters. At this stage we had already  gained a lot of additional knowledge on the current state of the health service and problems they  face everyday.

Prior to attending the workshop, based on the limited knowledge we had of the issues that were  likely going to arise during the workshop, we drew up a diagram or simulation of the existing system,

as we saw it. This contained details including, key members of staff, key facilities, key decisions that  had to be made daily etc. During the workshop, we showed this diagram to the key stakeholders and  after drawing this up on the wall for them, we then broke them into groups again and asked them to  label (using post-its) any comments or criticisms they had with our view on the problem. This level of  feedback allowed us to greatly alter our simulation model and increased its usefulness moving into  the next stage of the process, the “what-if” stage.

Insight & Approach

What I have learned from conducting this mind-mapping exercise is that it was the single most  useful part of the design thinking process for me personally, in allowing me to understand the  problems faced by the key stakeholders and my general understanding of the current state of affairs  for each of the clinicians. I believe every member from the company that was present during the  workshop would all agree that this mind mapping exercise allowed us all to have a shared insight  into the problem and would, along with the visual mind maps generated, greatly help us to identify  potential what-if scenarios moving forward. This would allow us to tailor our software solution to  potentially meet the needs of the health care professionals.

Moving forward in my career, this exercise has made me greatly appreciate the process of mind  mapping, and the need to carry out this exercise as early as possible in the lifespan of a project.  Retrospectively I believe that the company drawing up a potential solution to a problem they do not  fully understand, prior to the mind mapping exercise is an inefficient management of resources, and  I would be keen to push mind mapping as an exercise to carry out much earlier, in any projects I am  involved in moving forward. Within healthcare, for such a complex problem, I would actually aim to  hold several mind mapping exercises, with each workshop building on the shared understanding and  learning gained from the previous workshop. Furthermore, moving forward, and looking again at the  healthcare problem, I believe in order to strengthen the benefit gained from the mind mapping  exercise, we should also carry out ethnographys, from each of the senior clinical stakeholders prior  to the mind mapping exercise, and then ask for general feedback from the group in the workshop.  This would allow us as a company to gain a better understand of current problems sooner, and  would help us prepare better for a mind mapping workshop.


Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge & Selection The challenge that we faced was that exhibited by the staff of the health service , whom were one of our clients . With the many different roles and responsibilities within the health service , we wanted to create a product or tool that they could all use in order to increase the efficiency of their everyday patient diagnosing tasks . An additional complexity that we ( the company ) had , was that we were creating an all - in - one tool / technology product which we aimed to test out in the health service . There were various components within this tool , and we were confident that every member of the health service would find something useful in there , but we had no real assurance that they would indeed find it useful , or even use the tool . In order to determine whether or not we were thinking on the right level regarding the problems the medical staff face on a day to day basis , we carried out the process of mind mapping . The goal was to determine exactly the problems faced by the medical staff , and to draw some sort of structure that we could then begin to tailor our solution around . This would help increase the tools usefulness and applicability to the medical staff ’s problems . Mind mapping involves bringing together key stakeholders and having them visually depict ( via post - it notes , drawings , scribbles of some kind ) problems which are currently being faced , barriers that currently exist , mentalities that present amongst staff , etc . The process of mind mapping really helped us as a company understand the “ what - is ” , the problems that the staff were facing currently , and allowed us to draw some form of a structure around these problems , which increased our ability to tailor our tool / solution to be able to meet these needs of the various clusters within the health service . Application The process of mind mapping was carried out by bringing many different key stakeholders into a room for a full day workshop . This including senior clinicians who diagnose patients every day , senior finance decision makers who are aware of the monetary limitations regarding changing the existing technology used by clinicians , IT specialists who would be able to provide a clearer picture on the IT limitations regarding a new proposed solution . All in all there were approximately 15 people present in the workshop . The workshop began by thanking each of the stakeholders for their time and then to remind them why they were all there , and the problem that we ( as a company ) were trying to solve within the health service . This gave context to each of the stakeholders and would help guide them in their thinking for the remainder of the workshop . We then broke everyone up into 2 separate groups of 6- 7 people , with members of the company standing back and observing the discussions as they were occurring . Each group was asked to draw or write on the walls ( not actually on the walls themselves but on a whiteboard material we had places on the walls ) the problems that they currently were having in their everyday diagnosis of patients . After approximately 15 - 20 minutes of discussions , we asked both teams to relay the information to the full group to see if there was a general consensus , and also to allow discussion on any discrepancies or disagreements on the problem definitions . After this discussion we ( the company ) identified several provisional clusters that seemed present in both groups and we asked for feedback and agreement on these clusters . At this stage we had already gained a lot of additional knowledge on the current state of the health service and problems they face everyday . Prior to attending the workshop , based on the limited knowledge we had of the issues that were likely going to arise during the workshop , we drew up a diagram or simulation of the existing system , as we saw it . This contained details including , key members of staff , key facilities , key decisions that had to be made daily etc . During the workshop , we showed this diagram to the key stakeholders and after drawing this up on the wall for them , we then broke them into groups again and asked them to label ( using post - its ) any comments or criticisms they had with our view on the problem . This level of feedback allowed us to greatly alter our simulation model and increased its usefulness moving into the next stage of the process , the “ what - if ” stage . Insight & Approach What I have learned from conducting this mind - mapping exercise is that it was the single most useful part of the design thinking process for me personally , in allowing me to understand the problems faced by the key stakeholders and my general understanding of the current state of affairs for each of the clinicians . I believe every member from the company that was present during the workshop would all agree that this mind mapping exercise allowed us all to have a shared insight into the problem and would , along with the visual mind maps generated , greatly help us to identify potential what - if scenarios moving forward . This would allow us to tailor our software solution to potentially meet the needs of the health care professionals . Moving forward in my career , this exercise has made me greatly appreciate the process of mind mapping , and the need to carry out this exercise as early as possible in the lifespan of a project . Retrospectively I believe that the company drawing up a potential solution to a problem they do not fully understand , prior to the mind mapping exercise is an inefficient management of resources , and I would be keen to push mind mapping as an exercise to carry out much earlier , in any projects I am involved in moving forward . Within healthcare , for such a complex problem , I would actually aim to hold several mind mapping exercises , with each workshop building on the shared understanding and learning gained from the previous workshop . Furthermore , moving forward , and looking again at the healthcare problem , I believe in order to strengthen the benefit gained from the mind mapping exercise , we should also carry out ethnographys , from each of the senior clinical stakeholders prior to the mind mapping exercise , and then ask for general feedback from the group in the workshop . This would allow us as a company to gain a better understand of current problems sooner , and would help us prepare better for a mind mapping workshop .