Reflection on the Mind Mapping Tool

A- Challenge

During the IT Management review of Q3-2012 it was reported that in the Dev Ops survey the 39.6%  of the users answered “No” in “Are the application requirements and usability met?” on new released  business applications. By Having the goal of less than 10% the gap of 26.9% needs to be corrected.

To address this a problem-solving exercise has been performed, the data gathered from this exercise  revealed that during application requirements process the following issues are shown: A-Incomplete  User Requirements 36%, B-Lack of user understanding of the system requirements 24%, C-Unrealistic  System Expectations 15%, D-Changing Requirements and Specifications 10%, E- Poor or no Project   Planning 8% and F- System no longer required 7%.

Based on the data analysis it was determined that by improving the user’s requirement gathering  process 85% of the found issues can be corrected. To innovate and try something different from the  regular user requirement gathering tools I suggested to learn about Design Thinking and see if any of  the tools can improve the user requirement gathering.

B- Selection

Based on Week’s 3 video Mind Mapping tool from professor Marian Moore it was found the potential  use of Mind Mapping to improve the gathering of user requirements for business applications. Since  mind mapping is powerful graphical tool used to unlock the full potential of the brain and achieve  clearer thinking of ideas, including the tool in the process will prove more beneficial because by the  use of  cortical skill like words, images, numbers, logic, colors the end user will be able to transmit all  the ideas and toughs about what he requires from the application additionally in this way, we go  through all the extensions of the specific requirements, relations, use case, reports, interactions  identify potential technology usage risks that we would not be able to gather see with a regular user  interview tool.

C- Application

For the first usage of the Mind Mapping tool for User Requirement gathering the following process  was designed, for this first iteration the team was confirmed by the application requester, two end  users, the lead software developer and the operational excellence technician, they all met in two  sessions of 1.5 hours which is the average time of the user interview sessions.

1- Planning the thinking framework: During the first session the team began with a central idea

which contained the problem trying to solve with the application. In the framework the initial  branches of A- Current process, B- Current Process Output, C- New Process Proposal, D- New  Process output, E-UI/UX Requirements, F- Expected Improvement, G- Project Cost Saving  and  H- Integration with other systems were identified and critical for the mind map.

2- Understanding, brainstorm, ideas and information collection: During this step of session one

the team started providing information off the current process and how the current output  does not provide the end user the needed results. Next the team started brainstorming and  generating ideas on how the new process should be and the expected outcome from the  process, on this step all the team provided input and agreed on the new process and outcome.  Also, during this process the new proposal was challenged and compared against the current  process, from this exercise seven gaps were identified from which five where addressed and  corrected within the new process and the two remaining were not corrected because they  were not critical for the process and there is another process control that will correct this if  found. Once the agreement of the new process was made the team started brainstorming on  what the UX/IU should be, at this point the end user and the developers had sufficient insight  on what was needed from the application to develop the interfaces that will be best for them  to use.  At this point the first session concluded, with all the data the development team was  ready to start the application design.

3- Product planning: During the second session the team started working on the product

backlog and confirmed the user stories created were aligned with the New process proposal,  new process output and the UX/UI requirements. Once the team approved the user cases  and confirmed the end user the requirements the project moved to the normal scrum  software development process.

D- Insight:

What I have learned from utilizing Mind Mapping for user requirement gathering is that it made the  interaction with the user more fluid that the user interview. Based on the problem solving data it  appears that the selection of mind mapping for this process was a good one, on this first iteration  we were able to connect better with the customer, understand their current process, what the  current outcome is, and their real expectation and from the development end we are able to  effectively show the end user our ideas for their application before we even write the first line of  code or design the first screen.

I also believe that thinking outside of the box in changing the process of User Interview to mind  mapping has break the model of the team to try something new that can help us improve the  solutions we provide to our customers.

For next steps we are planning of redesigning the whole Dev Ops service of the department, since  the inclusion of the mind mapping tool improved our process, I think that we can use the whole  Design thinking process to redesign the entire service, this will help us to exceed our customers  expectation and deliver our brand promise.

E- Approach:

In regards to the application of the tool I think that the selection of the Mind mapping tool for user  requirement gathering was the correct one, currently is in process to be incorporated in our Dev ops  procedures. As of things that we will do differently on the next exercise are the following:

1- We will create a mind mapping bootcamp training on which moderators or leads have a good

understanding of the tool and to better guide the conversation to have the team focused.

2- Use of a digital tool for mind mapping since the beginning of the process, while using the white

board was good during the process branches or ideas that weren’t that critical to the project  were poorly written which in some cases leaded to confusion.

3- We will create a framework that compiles all the critical thinking areas for the process, the initial

eight branches worked fine but during the session we found out that some were not as critical  and others needed to be added. The idea will be to do a mind mapping to get this right.


Reflection on the Mind Mapping Tool A- Challenge During the IT Management review of Q3 - 2012 it was reported that in the Dev Ops survey the 39.6 % of the users answered “ No ” in “ Are the application requirements and usability met ? ” on new released business applications . By Having the goal of less than 10 % the gap of 26.9 % needs to be corrected . To address this a problem - solving exercise has been performed , the data gathered from this exercise revealed that during application requirements process the following issues are shown : A - Incomplete User Requirements 36 % , B - Lack of user understanding of the system requirements 24 % , C - Unrealistic System Expectations 15 % , D - Changing Requirements and Specifications 10 % , E- Poor or no Project Planning 8 % and F- System no longer required 7 % . Based on the data analysis it was determined that by improving the user ’s requirement gathering process 85 % of the found issues can be corrected . To innovate and try something different from the regular user requirement gathering tools I suggested to learn about Design Thinking and see if any of the tools can improve the user requirement gathering . B- Selection Based on Week ’s 3 video Mind Mapping tool from professor Marian Moore it was found the potential use of Mind Mapping to improve the gathering of user requirements for business applications . Since mind mapping is powerful graphical tool used to unlock the full potential of the brain and achieve clearer thinking of ideas , including the tool in the process will prove more beneficial because by the use of cortical skill like words , images , numbers , logic , colors the end user will be able to transmit all the ideas and toughs about what he requires from the application additionally in this way , we go through all the extensions of the specific requirements , relations , use case , reports , interactions identify potential technology usage risks that we would not be able to gather see with a regular user interview tool . C- Application For the first usage of the Mind Mapping tool for User Requirement gathering the following process was designed , for this first iteration the team was confirmed by the application requester , two end users , the lead software developer and the operational excellence technician , they all met in two sessions of 1.5 hours which is the average time of the user interview sessions . 1- Planning the thinking framework : During the first session the team began with a central idea which contained the problem trying to solve with the application . In the framework the initial branches of A- Current process , B- Current Process Output , C- New Process Proposal , D- New Process output , E - UI / UX Requirements , F- Expected Improvement , G- Project Cost Saving and H- Integration with other systems were identified and critical for the mind map . 2- Understanding , brainstorm , ideas and information collection : During this step of session one the team started providing information off the current process and how the current output does not provide the end user the needed results . Next the team started brainstorming and generating ideas on how the new process should be and the expected outcome from the process , on this step all the team provided input and agreed on the new process and outcome . Also , during this process the new proposal was challenged and compared against the current process , from this exercise seven gaps were identified from which five where addressed and corrected within the new process and the two remaining were not corrected because they were not critical for the process and there is another process control that will correct this if found . Once the agreement of the new process was made the team started brainstorming on what the UX / IU should be , at this point the end user and the developers had sufficient insight on what was needed from the application to develop the interfaces that will be best for them to use . At this point the first session concluded , with all the data the development team was ready to start the application design . 3- Product planning : During the second session the team started working on the product backlog and confirmed the user stories created were aligned with the New process proposal , new process output and the UX / UI requirements . Once the team approved the user cases and confirmed the end user the requirements the project moved to the normal scrum software development process . D- Insight : What I have learned from utilizing Mind Mapping for user requirement gathering is that it made the interaction with the user more fluid that the user interview . Based on the problem solving data it appears that the selection of mind mapping for this process was a good one , on this first iteration we were able to connect better with the customer , understand their current process , what the current outcome is , and their real expectation and from the development end we are able to effectively show the end user our ideas for their application before we even write the first line of code or design the first screen . I also believe that thinking outside of the box in changing the process of User Interview to mind mapping has break the model of the team to try something new that can help us improve the solutions we provide to our customers . For next steps we are planning of redesigning the whole Dev Ops service of the department , since the inclusion of the mind mapping tool improved our process , I think that we can use the whole Design thinking process to redesign the entire service , this will help us to exceed our customers expectation and deliver our brand promise . E- Approach : In regards to the application of the tool I think that the selection of the Mind mapping tool for user requirement gathering was the correct one , currently is in process to be incorporated in our Dev ops procedures . As of things that we will do differently on the next exercise are the following : 1- We will create a mind mapping bootcamp training on which moderators or leads have a good understanding of the tool and to better guide the conversation to have the team focused . 2- Use of a digital tool for mind mapping since the beginning of the process , while using the white board was good during the process branches or ideas that were n’t that critical to the project were poorly written which in some cases leaded to confusion . 3- We will create a framework that compiles all the critical thinking areas for the process , the initial eight branches worked fine but during the session we found out that some were not as critical and others needed to be added . The idea will be to do a mind mapping to get this right .