Assignment Reflection – Visualisation | Aline Lima

Assignment Reflection – Visualisation |

Design Thinking for Innovation, BTECH)students)

Reflection – Visualisation

Challenge

One of my key assignments this year is an internal communications project I am currently running. The  project is nearing completion.

My campaign goals were as follows :

(a) to raise awareness among employees about social impact driven through our financial inclusion  programme Mein Pragati (I am progress)

(b) to create a platform so that social impact, whether at an individual or corporate level, becomes a  conversation starter, raising social consciousness and discourse about it.

Selection

The tools that I use most often are visualization and storytelling depending on the platform or medium I  have for awareness and recall. For instance, if it is an event or a presentation, I use story-telling. But for  a cause-based, campaign-specific internal communication, I use visualization.

To accurately depict the foundation’s journey, I referred to the 5Ws and 1H framework to form a set of  questions that would shape the narrative. The idea was to develop a visual story that all employees,  even those without context to our programme could comprehend.

I interviewed various stakeholders. Firstly, our employees, to understand what social impact means to  them. Based on 30 discussions, I created employee personas. I also spoke with my business leader to  understand what she’d like to convey as we were celebrating the foundation’s fifth anniversary. Finally, I  reached out to various external agencies to collaborate with, for ideation, and implementation, to  achieve our goals.

Based on these discussions, I identified three key associations with social impact. Firstly, a sense of  legacy, resulting from achieving milestones related to behavior change. Secondly, giving back as a  meaningful use of time and resources, over and above achieving business goals. Thirdly, gaining new  perspectives through social work.  I created an infographic style PPT for my reference; and mapped the  associations with the personas. For a common understanding, I would share this document with the  agency selected to implement the campaign.

I was not looking for traditional ideas to convey our milestones and achievements, as corporate social  responsibility (CSR) tends to be boxed in with visuals of disadvantaged families. Besides, the response to  my previous documentary films which served as testimonials for Mein Pragati, was polarized by global  and domestic offices. Employees from global offices were touched, and happy to be associated with  such a cause. In contrast, employees from domestic offices in India were indifferent. To me, this was  alarming because 50% of our workforce volunteer in our second programme, CRISIL RE, driving financial  literacy in our urban centres.

The agency I selected, proposed a unique approach, one which met my needs for visual stories with high  recall. We would depict our journey and key milestones through offline installations such as a Lego wall,  wall decal, the intranet, and traditional online emailers. The visuals would be aligned with the messages  my company wanted to communicate and the social impact associations we identified as relevant.

Assignment Reflection – Visualisation | Aline Lima

Assignment Reflection – Visualisation |

Design Thinking for Innovation, BTECH)students)

Application

The visual stories went through multiple iterations mostly, because an artistic Lego wall was a first for  the agency as well as me.

At the outset, I convinced the agency to send across a rough hand sketch with stick figures, based on key  messages I drafted. This hand sketch helped me get a buy in from my internal stakeholders, such as my  business leaders, before we could sign on the agency as a vendor. That done, we set out to develop  authentic character sketches, to represent our beneficiaries, and our field force. I shared pictures of our  training sessions, our beneficiaries, their houses and surroundings with the agencies and insisted on  replicating these references for authenticity.

After the second iteration for my review, I created a set of questions to guide the designers, such as: (1)  What are we conveying through the artwork? (2) Is our message obvious at a glance or does a person  need an explanation to understand the visual depiction? (3) What are the cultural and real life  references that should be incorporated so that every character depiction, and every frame at a glance,  are identifiable with Mein Pragati? (4) Is the journey and outcome through Mein Pragati clearly  depicted?

I would send out soft copies of the creatives to my internal stakeholders, before meeting them with  posters of these sketches, for their notes and comments. The personas and associations along with our  campaign goal were always the basis for reviewing documentation. After my discussions, I would scan a  copy of the artwork with specific comments and proposed changes, and share this with the agency to  address. This was for our first objective, of raising awareness about Mein Pragati.

For our second objective of making social impact a conversation starter, and raising discourse about  social impact, we decided to proceed with photo stories based on candid conversations with our  employees. The photo stories would highlight an employee as the person next door, who was taking a  small step which had a big impact on someone he or she encountered.

Insight and approach

As we began sending out emails, we saw fatigue set in after the second email. Hence, we created a  visual flipbook, which had our cartoon vector characters narrating our journey. We used line art to  depict the stories. The book looks like a short graphic novel, and has been widely appreciated. We  changed our approach to reduce the number of emails sent to employees and avoid losing their  attention midway through the mailer series.

As regards the Lego wall, we initially wanted all characters to be depicted using Lego bricks. However,  when the characters were distorted and looked nothing like the cartoon vector designs despite the  artists' best efforts, I recommended that we use sunboard cutouts for the characters. I now realise the  importance of giving artists time to etch the characters on a demo Lego set before putting up the wall.  This would have saved their time and rework efforts, as we would have understood the artists’  constraints, and decided to use sunboard cutouts for the characters, early on.

I also realise the importance of mind mapping before creating each visual photo story. We didn’t do this,  causing multiple iterations in finalising the copy for the photo stories.


Assignment Reflection – Visualisation | Aline Lima Assignment Reflection – Visualisation | Design Thinking for Innovation , BTECH)students ) Reflection – Visualisation Challenge One of my key assignments this year is an internal communications project I am currently running . The project is nearing completion . My campaign goals were as follows : ( a ) to raise awareness among employees about social impact driven through our financial inclusion programme Mein Pragati ( I am progress ) ( b ) to create a platform so that social impact , whether at an individual or corporate level , becomes a conversation starter , raising social consciousness and discourse about it . Selection The tools that I use most often are visualization and storytelling depending on the platform or medium I have for awareness and recall . For instance , if it is an event or a presentation , I use story - telling . But for a cause - based , campaign - specific internal communication , I use visualization . To accurately depict the foundation ’s journey , I referred to the 5Ws and 1H framework to form a set of questions that would shape the narrative . The idea was to develop a visual story that all employees , even those without context to our programme could comprehend . I interviewed various stakeholders . Firstly , our employees , to understand what social impact means to them . Based on 30 discussions , I created employee personas . I also spoke with my business leader to understand what she ’d like to convey as we were celebrating the foundation ’s fifth anniversary . Finally , I reached out to various external agencies to collaborate with , for ideation , and implementation , to achieve our goals . Based on these discussions , I identified three key associations with social impact . Firstly , a sense of legacy , resulting from achieving milestones related to behavior change . Secondly , giving back as a meaningful use of time and resources , over and above achieving business goals . Thirdly , gaining new perspectives through social work . I created an infographic style PPT for my reference ; and mapped the associations with the personas . For a common understanding , I would share this document with the agency selected to implement the campaign . I was not looking for traditional ideas to convey our milestones and achievements , as corporate social responsibility ( CSR ) tends to be boxed in with visuals of disadvantaged families . Besides , the response to my previous documentary films which served as testimonials for Mein Pragati , was polarized by global and domestic offices . Employees from global offices were touched , and happy to be associated with such a cause . In contrast , employees from domestic offices in India were indifferent . To me , this was alarming because 50 % of our workforce volunteer in our second programme , CRISIL RE , driving financial literacy in our urban centres . The agency I selected , proposed a unique approach , one which met my needs for visual stories with high recall . We would depict our journey and key milestones through offline installations such as a Lego wall , wall decal , the intranet , and traditional online emailers . The visuals would be aligned with the messages my company wanted to communicate and the social impact associations we identified as relevant . Assignment Reflection – Visualisation | Aline Lima Assignment Reflection – Visualisation | Design Thinking for Innovation , BTECH)students ) Application The visual stories went through multiple iterations mostly , because an artistic Lego wall was a first for the agency as well as me . At the outset , I convinced the agency to send across a rough hand sketch with stick figures , based on key messages I drafted . This hand sketch helped me get a buy in from my internal stakeholders , such as my business leaders , before we could sign on the agency as a vendor . That done , we set out to develop authentic character sketches , to represent our beneficiaries , and our field force . I shared pictures of our training sessions , our beneficiaries , their houses and surroundings with the agencies and insisted on replicating these references for authenticity . After the second iteration for my review , I created a set of questions to guide the designers , such as : ( 1 ) What are we conveying through the artwork ? ( 2 ) Is our message obvious at a glance or does a person need an explanation to understand the visual depiction ? ( 3 ) What are the cultural and real life references that should be incorporated so that every character depiction , and every frame at a glance , are identifiable with Mein Pragati ? ( 4 ) Is the journey and outcome through Mein Pragati clearly depicted ? I would send out soft copies of the creatives to my internal stakeholders , before meeting them with posters of these sketches , for their notes and comments . The personas and associations along with our campaign goal were always the basis for reviewing documentation . After my discussions , I would scan a copy of the artwork with specific comments and proposed changes , and share this with the agency to address . This was for our first objective , of raising awareness about Mein Pragati . For our second objective of making social impact a conversation starter , and raising discourse about social impact , we decided to proceed with photo stories based on candid conversations with our employees . The photo stories would highlight an employee as the person next door , who was taking a small step which had a big impact on someone he or she encountered . Insight and approach As we began sending out emails , we saw fatigue set in after the second email . Hence , we created a visual flipbook , which had our cartoon vector characters narrating our journey . We used line art to depict the stories . The book looks like a short graphic novel , and has been widely appreciated . We changed our approach to reduce the number of emails sent to employees and avoid losing their attention midway through the mailer series . As regards the Lego wall , we initially wanted all characters to be depicted using Lego bricks . However , when the characters were distorted and looked nothing like the cartoon vector designs despite the artists ' best efforts , I recommended that we use sunboard cutouts for the characters . I now realise the importance of giving artists time to etch the characters on a demo Lego set before putting up the wall . This would have saved their time and rework efforts , as we would have understood the artists ’ constraints , and decided to use sunboard cutouts for the characters , early on . I also realise the importance of mind mapping before creating each visual photo story . We did n’t do this , causing multiple iterations in finalising the copy for the photo stories .