Design Thinking Assignment: Reflection: Visualisation

Challenge:

Deliver an effective IT escalations service for a global company with 24/7 operations, 365 days a year.

My team provides first level IT support, handling in excess of 20,000 IT interactions per month, and even  though SLA’s are consistently achieved, are at or above Gartner identified targets, including customer  satisfaction at good or excellent, consistently over 90%, this does not change the end user experience being  considered poor based upon escalated tickets which account for around 2.5% of the ticket volume on a  monthly basis.    Escalations used to be handled via a mail box, we then automated this service via our ticket  management toolset – to ‘improve it’, and thus increased our ‘end users’ ability to easily create an  escalation, but not our ability to effectively manage these, solve or stop escalations being needed at all.  We  are very focussed on improving the process to improve our end users experience.

Selection:

I chose Visualisation, to try and capture the sentiment and understanding of the issues that we are facing.  I  wanted to provide a foundation document that could be used to then identify and engage with stakeholders  to determine the project approach, scale and scope of issues, to start my ‘What is’.   I was seeking to provide  a representation that everyone who comes in to contact with this process, in one way or another could  recognise our ‘current reality’, as it is referred to in ‘Designing for Growth’ – and used simple drawings to  show the ‘end user’ as a person – so that we all understood who we are trying to help – (as pointed out in  the Visualisation video – a picture shows exactly what you are trying to describe) and thus seeking to move  the conversation beyond the numbers / statistics that surround this service.

Application:

I prepared a briefing deck to use to generate discussion around the challenge – seeking to identify all that we  know about the current situation.  One of the slides is below – seeking to capture what is happening and  how people are feeling.  There is an analytical element to the activity – however all this data hadn’t to date  solved the problem, so whilst acknowledging it exists, and is available to inform – I wanted to ensure that  the key stakeholders for the ‘What is?’ stage understood that there were issues not being surfaced by data  alone – hence the ‘visual’ approach.

This deck will be used to scope the project – and achieve an agreed starting point from which we can then  confirm that we have enough information to identify the right opportunities and success criteria and to

Mellissa Lustri – March 2017

complete the Design Brief.  Initial people I have shared it with have confirmed that it identifies the people  nature of the issue far more than the graphs and data previously used.  It will then continue to be developed  and grow with the project, as persona’s are developed for each of the key participants, through to the  Learning Launch.

Insight:

In preparing the tools to underpin the stakeholder sessions to commence this project it became very clear to  me that this wasn’t about improving the Escalations ‘process’ – and it wasn’t just about improving the  service to assist our end users – everyone was impacted negatively by the need for such a process and then  by its failure, when needed, to deliver the required results.  I was reminded of ‘The Good Kitchen’ from  Week one of the course – the risk of narrowing the question before you start the research and thus missing  the entire point of how things can be improved.

I then recalled an interaction with a friend many years ago, who worked in a ‘Lost Luggage’ office for an  airline – and expressed: “of course we lose luggage… if we didn’t then we wouldn’t need a lost luggage  office…”.  The escalations challenge isn’t to build a better process; it is so much more than that.  We need to  go back to the very beginning, why do people need to raise a ticket at all, let alone escalate?

Most importantly I was reminded that we had lost sight of the people, and how unhappy everyone involved  with the ‘escalation process’ was.  We had no empathy for the people we are supposed to be ‘supporting’  nor the support teams.  We use terms that describe roles, ‘end user’, ‘agent’, ‘resolver’ – and this hides the  reality of how our people - all of our people – are feeling…  This highlighted to me the importance of creating  persona’s for all the ‘players’ in an IT support ticket activity.

Separately I found the process of approaching a challenge with a design thinking, human centred focus,  refreshing, invigorating and stimulating.  In using visualisation techniques I was also energised by the  challenge and the approach and new ideas (solutions – I tried to note down separately to review later)  started popping in to my head.

Approach:

Design Thinking is gaining great traction in my workplace, with people undertaking training in various  locations across the Globe, however in my location, and my area of responsibility I have very few locally  based colleagues.  I therefore prepared my project deck, with initial visual concepts, the current state, in  isolation.  Though the current challenges of this process are discussed very regularly and impact on my daily  activities – I feel that even in this initial ‘baselining’ of our ‘reality’ – if I could have prepared this tool, this  deck, with a few colleagues that it would have been a much more effective tool before it was issued for it’s  first iteration.

In future, if I cannot work with colleagues in person in developing a tool such as this to start a process, I will  utilise technology, such as a Webex, to hold a meeting with a virtual whiteboard that we all can collaborate  and draw out the breadth of the current state – and thus – the opportunity.  I believe the conscious effort to  engage more and solution less (until the time is right) will bring amazing improvements and opportunities in  my organisation.


Design Thinking Assignment : Reflection : Visualisation Challenge : Deliver an effective IT escalations service for a global company with 24/7 operations , 365 days a year . My team provides first level IT support , handling in excess of 20,000 IT interactions per month , and even though SLA ’s are consistently achieved , are at or above Gartner identified targets , including customer satisfaction at good or excellent , consistently over 90 % , this does not change the end user experience being considered poor based upon escalated tickets which account for around 2.5 % of the ticket volume on a monthly basis . Escalations used to be handled via a mail box , we then automated this service via our ticket management toolset – to ‘ improve it ’ , and thus increased our ‘ end users ’ ability to easily create an escalation , but not our ability to effectively manage these , solve or stop escalations being needed at all . We are very focussed on improving the process to improve our end users experience . Selection : I chose Visualisation , to try and capture the sentiment and understanding of the issues that we are facing . I wanted to provide a foundation document that could be used to then identify and engage with stakeholders to determine the project approach , scale and scope of issues , to start my ‘ What is ’ . I was seeking to provide a representation that everyone who comes in to contact with this process , in one way or another could recognise our ‘ current reality ’ , as it is referred to in ‘ Designing for Growth ’ – and used simple drawings to show the ‘ end user ’ as a person – so that we all understood who we are trying to help – ( as pointed out in the Visualisation video – a picture shows exactly what you are trying to describe ) and thus seeking to move the conversation beyond the numbers / statistics that surround this service . Application : I prepared a briefing deck to use to generate discussion around the challenge – seeking to identify all that we know about the current situation . One of the slides is below – seeking to capture what is happening and how people are feeling . There is an analytical element to the activity – however all this data had n’t to date solved the problem , so whilst acknowledging it exists , and is available to inform – I wanted to ensure that the key stakeholders for the ‘ What is ? ’ stage understood that there were issues not being surfaced by data alone – hence the ‘ visual ’ approach . This deck will be used to scope the project – and achieve an agreed starting point from which we can then confirm that we have enough information to identify the right opportunities and success criteria and to Mellissa Lustri – March 2017 complete the Design Brief . Initial people I have shared it with have confirmed that it identifies the people nature of the issue far more than the graphs and data previously used . It will then continue to be developed and grow with the project , as persona ’s are developed for each of the key participants , through to the Learning Launch . Insight : In preparing the tools to underpin the stakeholder sessions to commence this project it became very clear to me that this was n’t about improving the Escalations ‘ process ’ – and it was n’t just about improving the service to assist our end users – everyone was impacted negatively by the need for such a process and then by its failure , when needed , to deliver the required results . I was reminded of ‘ The Good Kitchen ’ from Week one of the course – the risk of narrowing the question before you start the research and thus missing the entire point of how things can be improved . I then recalled an interaction with a friend many years ago , who worked in a ‘ Lost Luggage ’ office for an airline – and expressed : “ of course we lose luggage … if we did n’t then we would n’t need a lost luggage office … ” . The escalations challenge is n’t to build a better process ; it is so much more than that . We need to go back to the very beginning , why do people need to raise a ticket at all , let alone escalate ? Most importantly I was reminded that we had lost sight of the people , and how unhappy everyone involved with the ‘ escalation process ’ was . We had no empathy for the people we are supposed to be ‘ supporting ’ nor the support teams . We use terms that describe roles , ‘ end user ’ , ‘ agent ’ , ‘ resolver ’ – and this hides the reality of how our people - all of our people – are feeling … This highlighted to me the importance of creating persona ’s for all the ‘ players ’ in an IT support ticket activity . Separately I found the process of approaching a challenge with a design thinking , human centred focus , refreshing , invigorating and stimulating . In using visualisation techniques I was also energised by the challenge and the approach and new ideas ( solutions – I tried to note down separately to review later ) started popping in to my head . Approach : Design Thinking is gaining great traction in my workplace , with people undertaking training in various locations across the Globe , however in my location , and my area of responsibility I have very few locally based colleagues . I therefore prepared my project deck , with initial visual concepts , the current state , in isolation . Though the current challenges of this process are discussed very regularly and impact on my daily activities – I feel that even in this initial ‘ baselining ’ of our ‘ reality ’ – if I could have prepared this tool , this deck , with a few colleagues that it would have been a much more effective tool before it was issued for it ’s first iteration . In future , if I can not work with colleagues in person in developing a tool such as this to start a process , I will utilise technology , such as a Webex , to hold a meeting with a virtual whiteboard that we all can collaborate and draw out the breadth of the current state – and thus – the opportunity . I believe the conscious effort to engage more and solution less ( until the time is right ) will bring amazing improvements and opportunities in my organisation .