Reflection – Visualization – VW

Challenge:  My organization was exploring an opportunity to come up with an insurance value  proposition for a niche segment of customers (let’s call this segment as ‘Segment A’). For  this purpose it was important to understand the status quo in terms of our current product  portfolio, historical performance, opportunity size, competitor offerings and current level of  engagement with ‘Segment A’. Also throughout the new product development journey  there were numbers of stakeholders involved and a comprehensive tool was needed to  convince and seek their buy-in    Selection:  I selected ‘Visualization’ as a tool as it would help me empathize with the customer and get  closer to them for understanding their explicit & implicit needs. Guidance provided by Ms.  Angela Myer in ‘Week 1’ course inspired me to use this tool as I could relate to its  application throughout the entire design process. It would also enable me to present and  help the audience in visual thinking of our value proposition thereby making them believe in  the business case.    Application:  Visualization as a tool was applied in following aspects of the problem solving:  a. Easy to Understand Graphs & Charts:  Existing products which were catering to ‘Segment A’ were taken up for performance  analysis in terms of Avg. volumes, Avg. ticket size (in terms of dollar value), Customer  demographics, perceived value and opportunity size (in terms of dollar value) for a new  product.    b. Customer Journey Mapping:  As – Is customer journey was understood by drawing a step by step flow chart comprising of  the complete insurance buying journey for ‘Segment A’. This flow chart helped us to  understand the buying experience, existing product feature appeal, customer views on the  bottlenecks due to back office processes as well as decision points during the buying  journey.     c. Exploring the ‘What – If’ for Product Contour:  One of the important stages where visualization made an impact was in exploring the  product structure, pricing and the associated customer buying journey. A storyboard was  also developed to visualize the ‘To – be’ buying journey.    Insight:  Visualization is indeed a powerful tool. It creates a wave of energy in a meeting room and  charges up the discussion through White-boarding or Flip-charting. Some of the insights I  gathered are:

a. Visualization in whatever format needs to be preserved (I used flip charts and white

board photos) till the end of project as it will help the stakeholders recollect the  context under which certain decisions were made throughout the design process

b. Visual thinking in a group requires the ambience of the room / meeting space to be

comfortable and colourful. Preferably the set up should be non-formal where  opinion put forward by each of the group member is considered equal and given the  same important as the other person irrespective of their designation or role in the  organization. This helps the team members to express themselves completely and  their creativity is triggered whole heartedly. Adding colours through elements like  colourful markers, sketch pens, post its adds a touch of creativity and cheerfulness to  the visual thinking process.

Approach (Futuristic):  I would explore different means of doing visualization (depending on the need and  audience) which were not used in the current project. Some of those things include  customer photography on the field (Branch Offices), customer behaviour videos, customer  call recordings and conversation mapping and Agent – Customer interaction map using stick  figures etc. By trying various tools, I think I should be able to develop a toolbox which would  help in all the projects going forward.


Reflection – Visualization – VW Challenge : My organization was exploring an opportunity to come up with an insurance value proposition for a niche segment of customers ( let ’s call this segment as ‘ Segment A ’ ) . For this purpose it was important to understand the status quo in terms of our current product portfolio , historical performance , opportunity size , competitor offerings and current level of engagement with ‘ Segment A ’ . Also throughout the new product development journey there were numbers of stakeholders involved and a comprehensive tool was needed to convince and seek their buy - in Selection : I selected ‘ Visualization ’ as a tool as it would help me empathize with the customer and get closer to them for understanding their explicit & implicit needs . Guidance provided by Ms. Angela Myer in ‘ Week 1 ’ course inspired me to use this tool as I could relate to its application throughout the entire design process . It would also enable me to present and help the audience in visual thinking of our value proposition thereby making them believe in the business case . Application : Visualization as a tool was applied in following aspects of the problem solving : a. Easy to Understand Graphs & Charts : Existing products which were catering to ‘ Segment A ’ were taken up for performance analysis in terms of Avg . volumes , Avg . ticket size ( in terms of dollar value ) , Customer demographics , perceived value and opportunity size ( in terms of dollar value ) for a new product . b. Customer Journey Mapping : As – Is customer journey was understood by drawing a step by step flow chart comprising of the complete insurance buying journey for ‘ Segment A ’ . This flow chart helped us to understand the buying experience , existing product feature appeal , customer views on the bottlenecks due to back office processes as well as decision points during the buying journey . c. Exploring the ‘ What – If ’ for Product Contour : One of the important stages where visualization made an impact was in exploring the product structure , pricing and the associated customer buying journey . A storyboard was also developed to visualize the ‘ To – be ’ buying journey . Insight : Visualization is indeed a powerful tool . It creates a wave of energy in a meeting room and charges up the discussion through White - boarding or Flip - charting . Some of the insights I gathered are : a. Visualization in whatever format needs to be preserved ( I used flip charts and white board photos ) till the end of project as it will help the stakeholders recollect the context under which certain decisions were made throughout the design process b. Visual thinking in a group requires the ambience of the room / meeting space to be comfortable and colourful . Preferably the set up should be non - formal where opinion put forward by each of the group member is considered equal and given the same important as the other person irrespective of their designation or role in the organization . This helps the team members to express themselves completely and their creativity is triggered whole heartedly . Adding colours through elements like colourful markers , sketch pens , post its adds a touch of creativity and cheerfulness to the visual thinking process . Approach ( Futuristic ): I would explore different means of doing visualization ( depending on the need and audience ) which were not used in the current project . Some of those things include customer photography on the field ( Branch Offices ) , customer behaviour videos , customer call recordings and conversation mapping and Agent – Customer interaction map using stick figures etc . By trying various tools , I think I should be able to develop a toolbox which would help in all the projects going forward .