Visualization tool (Module 1)

Challenge and selection:

One of the most powerful tools in the design thinking process is the Visualization tool

because it allows us to think in a non verb way and materialize our ideas and feedback

through symbols, colors, drawings, photos and so on. It’s a core component of the way we

communicate, capture and share information with the stakeholders relevant to our project. I

used this tool in the development of new entrepreneurship. In the “what” stage we identify

the main problem in most small and medium companies in Lima, Peru which was a low

efficiency of the storage capacity of this companies. Most of them, spent lots of money in

storage and couldn’t manage it properly. In 4 small focus groups, we applied this tool to

gather together all sorts of information and insights of our stakeholders to satisfy their

needs, materialized our concept better and start the process of building a prototype and

scale of our service.

Application:

In a meeting with our potential customers, we divided them into 5 groups of 4. Each group

shared a common characteristic according to the industry they were in, for example,

technological devices, clothes, etc. We created a straw man and gave them to each group.

Each group had a white board where they put the drawing and with material we gave them

they started to visualize and materialize our concept. Our main goal was to enrich us of

information and insights to have a more solid concept and to improve the quality of the

service that we were offering which was to be an ally to those companies and managers of

their inventories. The materials we decided to give were photographs, markers, drawings,

supply chain and storage documents and information related to their industry. We decided to

give them a straw man because the straw itself didn’t reveal any information that could be

biased and in peruvian small companies usually have only 1 or 2 employees which are in

charge of every single task in their company. Therefore, this straw man represented their

company and theirselves.

Then, we asked them respond the following questions through symbols and drawing with the

materials and information we gave them previously. 1. Which is the most evident problem

that do not allows you to grow? 2. Which aspects of this problems are unique to your

industry? 3. Which are solutions/ideas/insights are key for you to become a well-functioning

company? 4. Which characteristic would you really value in a service the fully manages your

inventory? We gave them 30 minutes to complete this activity. While one participant of the

group explained their results, a member of this project collected all the insights and new

information. After the session, we could ground our concept and adapt it to needs of every

industry.

Insight and approach:

As I explained before, this tool is very powerful because it allows to obtain value information

while that it’s still in our minds and helps us think and more creative way. It is very important

to not deviate from the main problem while reviewing the insights and also it’s very essential

to choose wisely which insight has more potential in the process of design thinking. One of

the most relevant insights was the capacity of removing their assets in any time and very

rapidly. Also, the assurance of security was very valued. Finally, this companies believed

that the pricing should depend on the volume of their assets and not on the area, which was

also proven right by our accounting area that assured that the most cost-efficient pricing

method was a volume-based.

We believe that this tool was ideal for the stage of the process of design thinking that we

were at. It helped us determine our service and what we were offering to our potential

customers. It was a great tool that paved the way for continuing in this creative process and

finalizing with a strong prototype and possibly a scale service in the future.


Visualization tool ( Module 1 ) Challenge and selection : One of the most powerful tools in the design thinking process is the Visualization tool because it allows us to think in a non verb way and materialize our ideas and feedback through symbols , colors , drawings , photos and so on . It ’s a core component of the way we communicate , capture and share information with the stakeholders relevant to our project . I used this tool in the development of new entrepreneurship . In the “ what ” stage we identify the main problem in most small and medium companies in Lima , Peru which was a low efficiency of the storage capacity of this companies . Most of them , spent lots of money in storage and could n’t manage it properly . In 4 small focus groups , we applied this tool to gather together all sorts of information and insights of our stakeholders to satisfy their needs , materialized our concept better and start the process of building a prototype and scale of our service . Application : In a meeting with our potential customers , we divided them into 5 groups of 4 . Each group shared a common characteristic according to the industry they were in , for example , technological devices , clothes , etc . We created a straw man and gave them to each group . Each group had a white board where they put the drawing and with material we gave them they started to visualize and materialize our concept . Our main goal was to enrich us of information and insights to have a more solid concept and to improve the quality of the service that we were offering which was to be an ally to those companies and managers of their inventories . The materials we decided to give were photographs , markers , drawings , supply chain and storage documents and information related to their industry . We decided to give them a straw man because the straw itself did n’t reveal any information that could be biased and in peruvian small companies usually have only 1 or 2 employees which are in charge of every single task in their company . Therefore , this straw man represented their company and theirselves . Then , we asked them respond the following questions through symbols and drawing with the materials and information we gave them previously . 1 . Which is the most evident problem that do not allows you to grow ? 2 . Which aspects of this problems are unique to your industry ? 3 . Which are solutions / ideas / insights are key for you to become a well - functioning company ? 4 . Which characteristic would you really value in a service the fully manages your inventory ? We gave them 30 minutes to complete this activity . While one participant of the group explained their results , a member of this project collected all the insights and new information . After the session , we could ground our concept and adapt it to needs of every industry . Insight and approach : As I explained before , this tool is very powerful because it allows to obtain value information while that it ’s still in our minds and helps us think and more creative way . It is very important to not deviate from the main problem while reviewing the insights and also it ’s very essential to choose wisely which insight has more potential in the process of design thinking . One of the most relevant insights was the capacity of removing their assets in any time and very rapidly . Also , the assurance of security was very valued . Finally , this companies believed that the pricing should depend on the volume of their assets and not on the area , which was also proven right by our accounting area that assured that the most cost - efficient pricing method was a volume - based . We believe that this tool was ideal for the stage of the process of design thinking that we were at . It helped us determine our service and what we were offering to our potential customers . It was a great tool that paved the way for continuing in this creative process and finalizing with a strong prototype and possibly a scale service in the future .