Challenge and selection

I work as a business consultant, and we often aim to utilize design tools in our work. Our challenge is  helping a customer in the construction business, in a strategy process, looking into how they can take  better advantage of technology and when solving challenges. This means involving stakeholders from  different parts of the customer’s organization, all having different perspectives and opinions. The  directors really want to modernize and digitally transform the organization. Several attempts have  been made before, but there is no consensus or common understanding of challenges. Further,  concept development is also a key activity.

There will be several users involved and a high level of uncertainty. To be able to get a common  understanding of different issues, as well as concepts to test, visualization as a design thinking tool  will be useful. It will help participants in workshops unlock different parts of their brain and  communicate in a different way than what they are used to. This will contribute to making different  people from different departments and business levels better understand each other, as they often  use a different conceptual apparatus.

Application

We will start the process by inviting 5-6 participants from within one department into a workshop  using whiteboards. As preparation, we will have read through existing material such as procedural  documents, internal reviews, and other relevant items. The main purpose of the workshop will be to  illustrate what they see as different challenges and areas for improvement. They will be asked to  draw up and diagram different situations which can illustrate the challenges. If useful, we will have a  large swim-lane diagram drawn on a big sheet of paper ready to be used. The session will be held for  2 hours, with individual drawings first, then sharing, then group work and a gathering to sum up in  the end.

We will do the same workshop with another department as well, before inviting everyone to a  common gathering, where first each group will look at the other group’s work. They will do these  tasks 1) Add elements you think are missing (using drawings and illustrations on sticky notes in order  to preserve the original), 2)  Write down questions where you lack understanding 3) Highlight  patterns you see. They will have 1 hour doing this. Eventually everyone will come together, and the  goal will be to agree on some categories of challenges (pattern finding), before making a  prioritization.

From here we will host another workshop focusing on developing concepts to aid in these chosen  challenges. Due to Covid19, this might be held online, using Miro or perhaps PowerPoint, as it easily  gives you boxes, arrows and even icons for easier visualization. We will use the same approach,  focusing on one challenge at a time, with individual visualization first, then moving into groups, and  coming all together in the end to agree on which concepts to go for.

Lastly, we will create an overview of the new insights and agreements that has come from the  workshops, and send it out together with the results from each individual department’s workshop,  the common workshop, and also the visualized concepts up for prioritization by the management  group, which might eventually go into prototyping and testing.

Insight

In this kind of work done earlier, the participants realized they had been talking about some of the  same challenges and concepts many times before, without realizing it, because they were not able to  communicate it in a way that made the receiver truly understand what they were saying. I have  realized that one of the most important values from work like this is happening along the way, not  only the results in the end. With participants from different departments, they often use somewhat  different terms, and by having people drawing and using diagrams while talking, they can get what  they have in mind communicated across much better.

Approach

Something I would do next time is do begin with a short crash course in visualization, showing the  participants easy ways and different building blocks they can use, such as stick figures, arrows, and  boxes. Thus, putting an even greater emphasis on the fact that it is not about making pretty  drawings, but thinking visually and getting a point across. So, making people more comfortable in the  beginning, perhaps having some warmup exercises which can also work as ice breakers. For instance,  asking everyone to draw their last holiday, using stick figures, boxes, and arrows.


Challenge and selection I work as a business consultant , and we often aim to utilize design tools in our work . Our challenge is helping a customer in the construction business , in a strategy process , looking into how they can take better advantage of technology and when solving challenges . This means involving stakeholders from different parts of the customer ’s organization , all having different perspectives and opinions . The directors really want to modernize and digitally transform the organization . Several attempts have been made before , but there is no consensus or common understanding of challenges . Further , concept development is also a key activity . There will be several users involved and a high level of uncertainty . To be able to get a common understanding of different issues , as well as concepts to test , visualization as a design thinking tool will be useful . It will help participants in workshops unlock different parts of their brain and communicate in a different way than what they are used to . This will contribute to making different people from different departments and business levels better understand each other , as they often use a different conceptual apparatus . Application We will start the process by inviting 5 - 6 participants from within one department into a workshop using whiteboards . As preparation , we will have read through existing material such as procedural documents , internal reviews , and other relevant items . The main purpose of the workshop will be to illustrate what they see as different challenges and areas for improvement . They will be asked to draw up and diagram different situations which can illustrate the challenges . If useful , we will have a large swim - lane diagram drawn on a big sheet of paper ready to be used . The session will be held for 2 hours , with individual drawings first , then sharing , then group work and a gathering to sum up in the end . We will do the same workshop with another department as well , before inviting everyone to a common gathering , where first each group will look at the other group ’s work . They will do these tasks 1 ) Add elements you think are missing ( using drawings and illustrations on sticky notes in order to preserve the original ) , 2 ) Write down questions where you lack understanding 3 ) Highlight patterns you see . They will have 1 hour doing this . Eventually everyone will come together , and the goal will be to agree on some categories of challenges ( pattern finding ) , before making a prioritization . From here we will host another workshop focusing on developing concepts to aid in these chosen challenges . Due to Covid19 , this might be held online , using Miro or perhaps PowerPoint , as it easily gives you boxes , arrows and even icons for easier visualization . We will use the same approach , focusing on one challenge at a time , with individual visualization first , then moving into groups , and coming all together in the end to agree on which concepts to go for . Lastly , we will create an overview of the new insights and agreements that has come from the workshops , and send it out together with the results from each individual department ’s workshop , the common workshop , and also the visualized concepts up for prioritization by the management group , which might eventually go into prototyping and testing . Insight In this kind of work done earlier , the participants realized they had been talking about some of the same challenges and concepts many times before , without realizing it , because they were not able to communicate it in a way that made the receiver truly understand what they were saying . I have realized that one of the most important values from work like this is happening along the way , not only the results in the end . With participants from different departments , they often use somewhat different terms , and by having people drawing and using diagrams while talking , they can get what they have in mind communicated across much better . Approach Something I would do next time is do begin with a short crash course in visualization , showing the participants easy ways and different building blocks they can use , such as stick figures , arrows , and boxes . Thus , putting an even greater emphasis on the fact that it is not about making pretty drawings , but thinking visually and getting a point across . So , making people more comfortable in the beginning , perhaps having some warmup exercises which can also work as ice breakers . For instance , asking everyone to draw their last holiday , using stick figures , boxes , and arrows .