Example Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge & Selection

Mind mapping has been a great tool in the design thinking process that I have used in my current  working space to drive online fixed acquisitions. The mind mapping tool moves all data and  information into insights before the proceeding into the “what if’ phase. It is an engaging alternative  that is creatively visualizes what is happening in the minds of all stakeholders involved. As a team we  were tasked to assist a business in being able to improve their online fixed acquisitions to be able to  see a significant improvement in metrics through the sales funnel. We used the “what is” phase of  the design thinking process to understand the current state of the company through doing “inside  out” and “outside in” research which involve all stakeholders who participate in the numbers of the  sales funnel. In doing this research, the mind mapping tool was of great assistance in being able to  discover insights within and outside the business as we brought large amounts of data together to  interpret and analyse the challenges closely. Ultimately, our goal in this phase was to seek as much  information as possible to understand the problems faced on their current website i.e. where and  why there are customer drop offs on the site and to seek improvement components for the future  website.

Application

Through the inside out phase, we gathered the main internal stakeholders of the business to attend  workshops where we discovered insights and ideas but asking questions related to challenges that  they are currently experiencing through internal operations and on their current website. Each  stakeholder was given a pack of sticky notes to write down their issues or concerns as one or two  words and place them on a white board under levels of importance, insights and patterns. The more  challenges arose, the better we were able to map these sticky notes or rather issues experienced  under categories onto the whiteboard. One of the prevalent concerns of the business was their  current website and the functioning of the website and its components as well as customer  satisfaction being one of the major challenges for them. The team could then gather research in  understanding aspects of the website such as SEO through Google analytics. Stakeholders also  emphasized that the brand should be easily accessible online but remaining customer centric.

Insight & Approach

By using the mind mapping tool to design thinking, we found that different ideas mentioned in these  workshops created visual representations of where the business currently stands, established goals  and provided a direction into the “what if” phase. These workshops involved physical engagement of  stakeholders writing down their ideas and sentiments and grouping them onto white boards. This  showcased which concepts were connected and created patterns for us to work with – placing us all  under one common mind or understanding of the challenge at hand. It also gave us room to create  ‘quick-wins’ in the “what if’ phase for the current site and mapping out possible future and more  complex requirements for simple and scalable solutions for the future website. All in all, this process  assisted in being able to create customer user journey’s that are simple, easily accessible and in  return generating sales for the business. Some of the main insights that we discovered were around  asking the questions: is it customer centric, is it simple, is it scalable, how does it add value and how  do we measure it. By using mind mapping and sticky notes we were able to use the answers to these  questions as insights through the remainder of the design thinking process. Especially in preparation  of the what if phase, we needed to understand the expectations of all stakeholders for their business  and their brand and be able to carry it out to the end. Mind mapping is an effective tool to also

discover what appeals to stakeholders. By gathering information and data using the mind mapping  tool, we can easily categorize what customers’ expectations are and highlight the points which drive  them to brand loyalty or drive them away from it. By doing research on the business’s customers, we  discovered that customers are not being attended to quickly and this created a cause for concern.  Further research was then done to discover what points of access and channels of communication  that customers had with the business, where their challenges were and being able to leverage these  in the coming design thinking processes to leverage these issues. Creating brand loyalty and  customer satisfaction all through mind mapping. This is a tool that I will continually make use of  when gathering insights but will also make more use of visualization as a design thinking tool i.e.  using visual aids on sticky notes to map out possible flows or user journey’s rather than just the use  of one or two words.


Example Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge & Selection Mind mapping has been a great tool in the design thinking process that I have used in my current working space to drive online fixed acquisitions . The mind mapping tool moves all data and information into insights before the proceeding into the “ what if ’ phase . It is an engaging alternative that is creatively visualizes what is happening in the minds of all stakeholders involved . As a team we were tasked to assist a business in being able to improve their online fixed acquisitions to be able to see a significant improvement in metrics through the sales funnel . We used the “ what is ” phase of the design thinking process to understand the current state of the company through doing “ inside out ” and “ outside in ” research which involve all stakeholders who participate in the numbers of the sales funnel . In doing this research , the mind mapping tool was of great assistance in being able to discover insights within and outside the business as we brought large amounts of data together to interpret and analyse the challenges closely . Ultimately , our goal in this phase was to seek as much information as possible to understand the problems faced on their current website i.e. where and why there are customer drop offs on the site and to seek improvement components for the future website . Application Through the inside out phase , we gathered the main internal stakeholders of the business to attend workshops where we discovered insights and ideas but asking questions related to challenges that they are currently experiencing through internal operations and on their current website . Each stakeholder was given a pack of sticky notes to write down their issues or concerns as one or two words and place them on a white board under levels of importance , insights and patterns . The more challenges arose , the better we were able to map these sticky notes or rather issues experienced under categories onto the whiteboard . One of the prevalent concerns of the business was their current website and the functioning of the website and its components as well as customer satisfaction being one of the major challenges for them . The team could then gather research in understanding aspects of the website such as SEO through Google analytics . Stakeholders also emphasized that the brand should be easily accessible online but remaining customer centric . Insight & Approach By using the mind mapping tool to design thinking , we found that different ideas mentioned in these workshops created visual representations of where the business currently stands , established goals and provided a direction into the “ what if ” phase . These workshops involved physical engagement of stakeholders writing down their ideas and sentiments and grouping them onto white boards . This showcased which concepts were connected and created patterns for us to work with – placing us all under one common mind or understanding of the challenge at hand . It also gave us room to create ‘ quick - wins ’ in the “ what if ’ phase for the current site and mapping out possible future and more complex requirements for simple and scalable solutions for the future website . All in all , this process assisted in being able to create customer user journey ’s that are simple , easily accessible and in return generating sales for the business . Some of the main insights that we discovered were around asking the questions : is it customer centric , is it simple , is it scalable , how does it add value and how do we measure it . By using mind mapping and sticky notes we were able to use the answers to these questions as insights through the remainder of the design thinking process . Especially in preparation of the what if phase , we needed to understand the expectations of all stakeholders for their business and their brand and be able to carry it out to the end . Mind mapping is an effective tool to also discover what appeals to stakeholders . By gathering information and data using the mind mapping tool , we can easily categorize what customers ’ expectations are and highlight the points which drive them to brand loyalty or drive them away from it . By doing research on the business ’s customers , we discovered that customers are not being attended to quickly and this created a cause for concern . Further research was then done to discover what points of access and channels of communication that customers had with the business , where their challenges were and being able to leverage these in the coming design thinking processes to leverage these issues . Creating brand loyalty and customer satisfaction all through mind mapping . This is a tool that I will continually make use of when gathering insights but will also make more use of visualization as a design thinking tool i.e. using visual aids on sticky notes to map out possible flows or user journey ’s rather than just the use of one or two words .