Mind Mapping

Challenge & Selection    Some years ago I was part of a small team of students participating in a one-day design competition  in our school. The brief was to design an immediate response solution that a community can utilize  in times of natural calamity. Before designing this product, our team needed to identify insights about  what people need and how they react in times of disaster. We would need to gather stories from  people in the locality and organize information and take away insights to inform our design. ​To do  this, our team used the concept of mind mapping. Mind mapping records and organizes all our  data, differentiates and relates them to each other and helps uncover useful insights that we  may not have seen otherwise.    Application    To begin, my team and I went around the local area interviewing people regarding their experience  with calamity; what they did and what thoughts they had prior to, during, and after the disaster.  Different people talked about different things; anxiety during the event, the destruction of their  homes, loss of family members, etc. We recorded these stories and transcribed them.    We each took time to read through the stories, looking at our data as individual entries and as a  collective while jotting down remarkable points on post-its. After this, we stuck the post-its to the  wall. Focusing on seeing the similarities and differences and figuring out how they relate to each  other, we gradually organize the post-its into groups. We ended up organizing them into distinct  personas based on how our respondents relate to other people during a natural disaster. We created  an illustration and description for each persona and ended up choosing one persona to design for:  The Guardian, an altruistic and responsive citizen who will do what they can to keep their family and  community members out of harm’s way. We designed for them a waterproof, reflective bag that  contains, among other basic rescue equipment, a tent with printed resources and instructions on  how to aid affected people immediately after a disaster.    Insight & Approach    By using the mind mapping tool, my team was able to identify the different personas that we could  create our disaster relief product for. This is significant because we discovered that it would be  impactful to design for the persona that positively and actively responds to the needs of the whole  community during a calamity. Moreover, in our case, designing one product for one persona that can  effectively and efficiently aid them in helping others is better than designing a one-size-fits-all  solution that costs more and that everyone in the community needs to learn to use. In the end, we  designed a tool that strengthens the Guardian, and in turn protects the community better.      Were it not for the mind mapping tool, my team and I probably would not have come up with the  different personas we did, nor analyzed and understood our collected data as deeply. With this tool  we were able to design and prototype a product informed by people’s stories. If I were to change

something about our mind mapping strategy, it would be to interview people belonging to our  “Guardian” persona and doing another round of mind mapping to gain a much deeper understanding  of their needs.    I now use mind mapping all the time and consider it essential when coming up with solutions for all  sorts of problems I might come across, as this tool spans across multiple fields. It helps me see my  data in a more profound way and opens up the opportunity for more sophisticated and impactful  solutions.


Mind Mapping Challenge & Selection Some years ago I was part of a small team of students participating in a one - day design competition in our school . The brief was to design an immediate response solution that a community can utilize in times of natural calamity . Before designing this product , our team needed to identify insights about what people need and how they react in times of disaster . We would need to gather stories from people in the locality and organize information and take away insights to inform our design . ​To do this , our team used the concept of mind mapping . Mind mapping records and organizes all our data , differentiates and relates them to each other and helps uncover useful insights that we may not have seen otherwise . Application To begin , my team and I went around the local area interviewing people regarding their experience with calamity ; what they did and what thoughts they had prior to , during , and after the disaster . Different people talked about different things ; anxiety during the event , the destruction of their homes , loss of family members , etc . We recorded these stories and transcribed them . We each took time to read through the stories , looking at our data as individual entries and as a collective while jotting down remarkable points on post - its . After this , we stuck the post - its to the wall . Focusing on seeing the similarities and differences and figuring out how they relate to each other , we gradually organize the post - its into groups . We ended up organizing them into distinct personas based on how our respondents relate to other people during a natural disaster . We created an illustration and description for each persona and ended up choosing one persona to design for : The Guardian , an altruistic and responsive citizen who will do what they can to keep their family and community members out of harm ’s way . We designed for them a waterproof , reflective bag that contains , among other basic rescue equipment , a tent with printed resources and instructions on how to aid affected people immediately after a disaster . Insight & Approach By using the mind mapping tool , my team was able to identify the different personas that we could create our disaster relief product for . This is significant because we discovered that it would be impactful to design for the persona that positively and actively responds to the needs of the whole community during a calamity . Moreover , in our case , designing one product for one persona that can effectively and efficiently aid them in helping others is better than designing a one - size - fits - all solution that costs more and that everyone in the community needs to learn to use . In the end , we designed a tool that strengthens the Guardian , and in turn protects the community better . Were it not for the mind mapping tool , my team and I probably would not have come up with the different personas we did , nor analyzed and understood our collected data as deeply . With this tool we were able to design and prototype a product informed by people ’s stories . If I were to change something about our mind mapping strategy , it would be to interview people belonging to our “ Guardian ” persona and doing another round of mind mapping to gain a much deeper understanding of their needs . I now use mind mapping all the time and consider it essential when coming up with solutions for all sorts of problems I might come across , as this tool spans across multiple fields . It helps me see my data in a more profound way and opens up the opportunity for more sophisticated and impactful solutions .