Example Reflection by Carolina Romero – Storytelling

Design Thinking as problem identifier in Data Science

September 2008

Challenge and Selection

The Design Thinking tool I used for my challenge was Storytelling. I preferred to use this one in order  to help my customer to understand their own needs and bring them different solutions to develop in a  Data Science project. The main problem at the moment we wanted to gather the information in order  to offer them a technical solution was that since the business is very wide they didn't know which is  the best approach we could develop, and since this kind of projects are not common in their industry  they didn't want to waste this opportunity. I proposed them a Design Thinking workshop to help them  think which is the best solution we could offer them based on their own experience using storytelling  as the main resource. As it said in the video “Storytelling Tool” Put the human beings and their  experience front and center. Take the listener along on their own journey.

Application:

In order to apply storytelling in this gathering information meeting I used a Customer Journey Map  (CJM). First I explain what Design Thinking is about, how a CJM works and then I started to tell them  the story I had prepared showing them through emojis, which represents emotions, how the imaginary  actor (which could be anyone of them) was feeling with every phase of the whole solution (I did it  about three times). The whole picture showed different scenarios and what they learned from the  story was that sometimes we don't need a perfect or magical solution, but we can develop a solution  (or solutions) and prototype them and then we can work on some of the phases (parts of the whole  solution) to enhance it instead of building a whole new solution if it doesn’t fill our expectations.

To make this message logic and achieve the goal of the meeting I made them fill a survey first with  the possible solutions they could identify and then with the sensations they felt in every one of the  phases studied for each solution. With the example of the story given before they had a clear vision  of what they had to do and they felt engaged at the moment they were proposing new grasps.

Insight:

The insight I gained was that I could make a team of technical stakeholders think outside of the box,  by applying a Design Thinking tool effectively and not by being boring and ‘professor like’ but by telling  stories that the people can identify themselves quickly and propose their own solutions by themselves,  that also affected me and my thoughts regarding how powerful are the stories we can tell and no  matter what the level of expertise of each stakeholder if you can deliver a clear message, it works.

Approach:

Since the story I was telling was created (with a beginning an argument and a conclusion) for next  time I would use a real story instead of one created by me in order to engage more and let the  stakeholders know that there are success stories along the way.


Example Reflection by Carolina Romero – Storytelling Design Thinking as problem identifier in Data Science September 2008 Challenge and Selection The Design Thinking tool I used for my challenge was Storytelling . I preferred to use this one in order to help my customer to understand their own needs and bring them different solutions to develop in a Data Science project . The main problem at the moment we wanted to gather the information in order to offer them a technical solution was that since the business is very wide they did n't know which is the best approach we could develop , and since this kind of projects are not common in their industry they did n't want to waste this opportunity . I proposed them a Design Thinking workshop to help them think which is the best solution we could offer them based on their own experience using storytelling as the main resource . As it said in the video “ Storytelling Tool ” Put the human beings and their experience front and center . Take the listener along on their own journey . Application : In order to apply storytelling in this gathering information meeting I used a Customer Journey Map ( CJM ) . First I explain what Design Thinking is about , how a CJM works and then I started to tell them the story I had prepared showing them through emojis , which represents emotions , how the imaginary actor ( which could be anyone of them ) was feeling with every phase of the whole solution ( I did it about three times ) . The whole picture showed different scenarios and what they learned from the story was that sometimes we do n't need a perfect or magical solution , but we can develop a solution ( or solutions ) and prototype them and then we can work on some of the phases ( parts of the whole solution ) to enhance it instead of building a whole new solution if it does n’t fill our expectations . To make this message logic and achieve the goal of the meeting I made them fill a survey first with the possible solutions they could identify and then with the sensations they felt in every one of the phases studied for each solution . With the example of the story given before they had a clear vision of what they had to do and they felt engaged at the moment they were proposing new grasps . Insight : The insight I gained was that I could make a team of technical stakeholders think outside of the box , by applying a Design Thinking tool effectively and not by being boring and ‘ professor like ’ but by telling stories that the people can identify themselves quickly and propose their own solutions by themselves , that also affected me and my thoughts regarding how powerful are the stories we can tell and no matter what the level of expertise of each stakeholder if you can deliver a clear message , it works . Approach : Since the story I was telling was created ( with a beginning an argument and a conclusion ) for next time I would use a real story instead of one created by me in order to engage more and let the stakeholders know that there are success stories along the way .