Reflection on Visualisation

Sk Rana

Challenge    I work in a Fintech company and provide specialised services to the financial institutions. My stakeholders  are increasing facing challenges from their customers and increasing competition from their competitors.  On top, the increasing regulatory requirements are adding to their woes. The complexity of their problems  are overwhelming for me many times and bringing them together for a consensus is very challenging. I  work to provide an innovative solution to their complex problems. Many times I meet a diverse group of  stakeholders with a complex problem and a variety of wish lists and it becomes difficult to arrive at a  shared understanding of their problem and the possible solution. In my current problem I was challenged  to select only the functionalities which will enhance the user experience in using the financial tool while  increasing the operational efficiencies and meeting the key performance indicators.     Selection    In the kick-off meeting I user PowerPoint presentation and did not have a good experience in engaging  the participants. Many participants seemed to be un-interested with the bullet points. Incidentally I was  attending the course of Lobina and found the usage of the tool visualisation suitable for my kind of  problem to engage a large number of stakeholders. I followed the presentation of Angela Myer and came  to know the benefits of using the tool. As I use big room planning sessions with many stakeholders, I  selected visualisation tools to help my stakeholders define the scope and boundaries, the key elements  and their inter-relations and finally agree on the list of problems to solve. Visualisation is important in my  problem area to unlock the creative side of the brain of the stakeholders and to think in a nonverbal way  to visually understand the problems.     Therefore, I decided to use the visualisation tools more in my subsequent workshops to connect with my  customers and have a common understanding of the problem and eventually build consensus.      Application     For the next workshop my target was to decide on the list of functionalities to work on and set a priority to  them while getting consensus from the majority stakeholders. I started with gathering information  available with my company and gathered further information by conducting interviews with the pilot  stakeholders who intend to be the main users of the new service to be introduced to solve the problem.  Before the workshop, I used visualisation tool to create graphical representation of the problem with the  help of pictures and icons of real-life examples. I divided the participants into 4 groups with each group  having maximum 5 members with similar area of interests. For each such group, based on their problem  domain and interest area, I created big posters with the visual depiction of the problem. I had designated  work areas for each group. During the workshop I gave each of them their poster and I found out that they  were instantly connected with the posters and got engaged in discussing the problem. I challenged them  with key questions to identify the missing elements in the picture, identify the entities and their  relationships in the problem domain and encouraged them to directly update the picture and provide  comments with sticky notes.    While the groups were working and I was facilitating, I used the main common wall visible to all and  started drawing the big picture of the problem with more details and used the key elements of the  feedback from each group in the big picture. I also took photos, printed them and pasted them in the big  picture. In the next session with the stakeholders, I asked each of them to vote on prioritizing the list of

issues with the help of sticky notes and that way I built consensus on the list of issues to solve and their  priority.           Insight & Approach     With the highly encouraging results of using the visualisation tools in the workshop, I decided to use the  tool more often in the subsequent workshops. The visualisation tool helped my stakeholders listen to  each other, find patterns and make connections and build consensus. Once the problem space was  decided, I will organize additional workshops to engage the participants to visualize the future solution to  solve the problem and to create possibilities for them to create values for their end users.     Visualisation tools are rightly described as “the mother of all design tools” by Liedtka & Ogilvie as they are  used in every stage of a Design Thinking process. With my first workshops where visualisation were used,  I learnt that visualisation helped spark idea generation. I observed that the groups could build on top of  each other’s ideas by seeing what other groups are drawing, adding elements to their drawing or simply  discussing the sketches.  The revised graphic or the big picture I created on the common wall helped  them reinforcing the understanding of the problem. Each group could see their inputs in the big picture.  The usage of sketches and pictures helped unlocking their brain and helped them think in a non-verbal  way and be creative in sharing their perspectives and develop shared insights of the problem space. That  way with their shared insights I could build consensus.  The visualisation helped them listen to each other,  stimulate their thought process and encouraged them to draw their insights. The visualisation helped the  participants in applying the skills of listening, thinking and drawing to learn from each other and work  together in having shared insights in understanding the problem complexity, visualising the solution and  create new possibilities.    With the insights gained by using visualisation, I am now planning to use this important design thinking  tool in other areas of customer engagements like ideation, testing with pilots, sales and marketing  brainstorming sessions. I am strongly inclined to use the drawings created with the joint sessions with the  stakeholders to display them in my office areas to encourage other teams to apply visualisation in their  problem areas.


Reflection on Visualisation Sk Rana Challenge I work in a Fintech company and provide specialised services to the financial institutions . My stakeholders are increasing facing challenges from their customers and increasing competition from their competitors . On top , the increasing regulatory requirements are adding to their woes . The complexity of their problems are overwhelming for me many times and bringing them together for a consensus is very challenging . I work to provide an innovative solution to their complex problems . Many times I meet a diverse group of stakeholders with a complex problem and a variety of wish lists and it becomes difficult to arrive at a shared understanding of their problem and the possible solution . In my current problem I was challenged to select only the functionalities which will enhance the user experience in using the financial tool while increasing the operational efficiencies and meeting the key performance indicators . Selection In the kick - off meeting I user PowerPoint presentation and did not have a good experience in engaging the participants . Many participants seemed to be un - interested with the bullet points . Incidentally I was attending the course of Lobina and found the usage of the tool visualisation suitable for my kind of problem to engage a large number of stakeholders . I followed the presentation of Angela Myer and came to know the benefits of using the tool . As I use big room planning sessions with many stakeholders , I selected visualisation tools to help my stakeholders define the scope and boundaries , the key elements and their inter - relations and finally agree on the list of problems to solve . Visualisation is important in my problem area to unlock the creative side of the brain of the stakeholders and to think in a nonverbal way to visually understand the problems . Therefore , I decided to use the visualisation tools more in my subsequent workshops to connect with my customers and have a common understanding of the problem and eventually build consensus . Application For the next workshop my target was to decide on the list of functionalities to work on and set a priority to them while getting consensus from the majority stakeholders . I started with gathering information available with my company and gathered further information by conducting interviews with the pilot stakeholders who intend to be the main users of the new service to be introduced to solve the problem . Before the workshop , I used visualisation tool to create graphical representation of the problem with the help of pictures and icons of real - life examples . I divided the participants into 4 groups with each group having maximum 5 members with similar area of interests . For each such group , based on their problem domain and interest area , I created big posters with the visual depiction of the problem . I had designated work areas for each group . During the workshop I gave each of them their poster and I found out that they were instantly connected with the posters and got engaged in discussing the problem . I challenged them with key questions to identify the missing elements in the picture , identify the entities and their relationships in the problem domain and encouraged them to directly update the picture and provide comments with sticky notes . While the groups were working and I was facilitating , I used the main common wall visible to all and started drawing the big picture of the problem with more details and used the key elements of the feedback from each group in the big picture . I also took photos , printed them and pasted them in the big picture . In the next session with the stakeholders , I asked each of them to vote on prioritizing the list of issues with the help of sticky notes and that way I built consensus on the list of issues to solve and their priority . Insight & Approach With the highly encouraging results of using the visualisation tools in the workshop , I decided to use the tool more often in the subsequent workshops . The visualisation tool helped my stakeholders listen to each other , find patterns and make connections and build consensus . Once the problem space was decided , I will organize additional workshops to engage the participants to visualize the future solution to solve the problem and to create possibilities for them to create values for their end users . Visualisation tools are rightly described as “ the mother of all design tools ” by Liedtka & Ogilvie as they are used in every stage of a Design Thinking process . With my first workshops where visualisation were used , I learnt that visualisation helped spark idea generation . I observed that the groups could build on top of each other ’s ideas by seeing what other groups are drawing , adding elements to their drawing or simply discussing the sketches . The revised graphic or the big picture I created on the common wall helped them reinforcing the understanding of the problem . Each group could see their inputs in the big picture . The usage of sketches and pictures helped unlocking their brain and helped them think in a non - verbal way and be creative in sharing their perspectives and develop shared insights of the problem space . That way with their shared insights I could build consensus . The visualisation helped them listen to each other , stimulate their thought process and encouraged them to draw their insights . The visualisation helped the participants in applying the skills of listening , thinking and drawing to learn from each other and work together in having shared insights in understanding the problem complexity , visualising the solution and create new possibilities . With the insights gained by using visualisation , I am now planning to use this important design thinking tool in other areas of customer engagements like ideation , testing with pilots , sales and marketing brainstorming sessions . I am strongly inclined to use the drawings created with the joint sessions with the stakeholders to display them in my office areas to encourage other teams to apply visualisation in their problem areas .