Reflection on Mind Mapping

Challenge:

A vaccine for a rare disease was approved and launched in the US.  At the time, we were preparing for  an ex-US launch and we were trying to come up with some hypotheses as to why physicians don’t think  to vaccinate for this particular condition (I am intentionally keeping the disease blinded due to  confidentiality reasons with my company).  We were confused as to why the physicians didn’t vaccinate  because prior market researched showed that doctors found the condition to be rare, but still extremely  important.  We felt there was a disconnect between what doctors were telling us and what they were  doing.  We needed to understand this disconnect because in the ex-US, there was a competitor already  in the marketplace for 2 years so we were already behind in terms of coming to the market.  We felt  that we needed to understand our customers at a deeper level in order to make any kind of inroad into  a market that was already established by this one competitor.  In particular, we were thinking of  developing a public awareness campaign through social media, but we felt we needed to find that right  message to resonate with the public in the ex-US markets.

Selection:

Mind mapping is a good way to reflect the current state of affairs as you focus on the “What Is” stage.  It  helps you to organize your data as you look for patterns/themes and insights on a particular topic.  We  chose to use mind mapping as a way to sift through all the prior market research that we had as we  assembled a diverse group of stakeholders all together in one room.  We were trying to understand the  current state of vaccination (in the form of the physicians’ behaviors) vs. their attitudes toward the rare  condition.  As we saw a disconnect in how doctors thought of this rare condition (e.g., they saw it as  extremely important to vaccinate for), yet vaccination rates for this condition was actually quite low.   We did not understand why they would say it was important and then not vaccinate for it.  Mind  mapping allowed us to cull through all the data and try to make sense of what it was telling us.  It was  exactly the right fit for what we were trying to do during our “What Is” stage.

Application:

For our mind mapping exercise, we prepared a 25 minute presentation that showcased all the data and  market research that we had collected over the past 2 years.  We had a room full of diverse stakeholders  and gave each of them some colorful post-it notes.  We told them to write down useful pieces of data  they felt were important to our question of “if physicians think this rare condition is very important to  vaccinate for, why are the vaccinate rates for this condition so low.”  What is the disconnect between  their attitude and their behavior?  Each stakeholder was asked to write down 10-20 data points/themes  that stood out to them as they heard the presentation on individual post-it notes and stick them on a  wall.  After everybody put their post-it notes on the wall – we began to try to cluster similar/reoccurring  themes to make sense of the data that was put on the wall.  Several themes began to emerge.  Around  each theme, we made a heading to describe it loosely.  At the end of the session, we had several themes  that began to emerge.

Insight:

After looking at all of the themes, we began to see that physicians were so busy trying to accomplish so  many other topics with their adolescent patients during their annual physical visit, that they were time

constrained.  It wasn’t that they don’t see vaccination as important, but they have so many other  equally important topics to discuss with them that they run out of time.  Also, adolescent vaccinations  are not as common (with the exception of HPV), that there isn’t a well-organized vaccination schedule  like there is for infants.  It just simply gets deprioritized because many adolescents just skip their annual  physical because they aren’t sick.  Also, when adolescents do get sick, the doctor focuses on their  immediate symptoms and isn’t thinking about what vaccines the kids need at a sick visit.  Mind mapping  helped us to better understand the physicians competing priorities and it helped us to organize multiple  market research findings to make sense of the current state.  We uncovered multiple factors that went  into an annual vaccination visit that we had not realized beforehand.  It is clear from this exercise that  design thinking really is a deep exploration into the lives and problems of the people we are seeking to  understand (e.g., in my case, the physicians).  Once we knew what the problem was, we could start to  formulate a way to address it.

Approach:

Now that we have a better understanding of the problem, we can now move to brainstorm solutions.   To be honest, I think we used the right tool from the beginning.  We needed to genuinely understand  our current state – before the mind mapping exercise, we had a lot of disparate data and we had some  thoughts around what we thought the problem was, but we didn’t know for sure.  The mind mapping  exercise forced us to take a deeper dive into our data to make sense of what it was really telling us.  This  is something that we had not done before – we had not tried to make a synopsis of all the data so our  picture was incomplete.  Mind mapping forced us to get organized.  As a tool, mind mapping met us  where we were which was confused!  It helped us to deconstruct the issues affecting our physicians so  that we could then start to address the issues.  It also helped us to understand that there were several  issues affecting the physician, not just one thing.  By shedding light on those issues, we knew what we  needed to focus on as we sought to brainstorm how to fix those issues as we continued to apply design  thinking to our challenge.


Reflection on Mind Mapping Challenge : A vaccine for a rare disease was approved and launched in the US . At the time , we were preparing for an ex - US launch and we were trying to come up with some hypotheses as to why physicians do n’t think to vaccinate for this particular condition ( I am intentionally keeping the disease blinded due to confidentiality reasons with my company ) . We were confused as to why the physicians did n’t vaccinate because prior market researched showed that doctors found the condition to be rare , but still extremely important . We felt there was a disconnect between what doctors were telling us and what they were doing . We needed to understand this disconnect because in the ex - US , there was a competitor already in the marketplace for 2 years so we were already behind in terms of coming to the market . We felt that we needed to understand our customers at a deeper level in order to make any kind of inroad into a market that was already established by this one competitor . In particular , we were thinking of developing a public awareness campaign through social media , but we felt we needed to find that right message to resonate with the public in the ex - US markets . Selection : Mind mapping is a good way to reflect the current state of affairs as you focus on the “ What Is ” stage . It helps you to organize your data as you look for patterns / themes and insights on a particular topic . We chose to use mind mapping as a way to sift through all the prior market research that we had as we assembled a diverse group of stakeholders all together in one room . We were trying to understand the current state of vaccination ( in the form of the physicians ’ behaviors ) vs. their attitudes toward the rare condition . As we saw a disconnect in how doctors thought of this rare condition ( e.g. , they saw it as extremely important to vaccinate for ) , yet vaccination rates for this condition was actually quite low . We did not understand why they would say it was important and then not vaccinate for it . Mind mapping allowed us to cull through all the data and try to make sense of what it was telling us . It was exactly the right fit for what we were trying to do during our “ What Is ” stage . Application : For our mind mapping exercise , we prepared a 25 minute presentation that showcased all the data and market research that we had collected over the past 2 years . We had a room full of diverse stakeholders and gave each of them some colorful post - it notes . We told them to write down useful pieces of data they felt were important to our question of “ if physicians think this rare condition is very important to vaccinate for , why are the vaccinate rates for this condition so low . ” What is the disconnect between their attitude and their behavior ? Each stakeholder was asked to write down 10 - 20 data points / themes that stood out to them as they heard the presentation on individual post - it notes and stick them on a wall . After everybody put their post - it notes on the wall – we began to try to cluster similar / reoccurring themes to make sense of the data that was put on the wall . Several themes began to emerge . Around each theme , we made a heading to describe it loosely . At the end of the session , we had several themes that began to emerge . Insight : After looking at all of the themes , we began to see that physicians were so busy trying to accomplish so many other topics with their adolescent patients during their annual physical visit , that they were time constrained . It was n’t that they do n’t see vaccination as important , but they have so many other equally important topics to discuss with them that they run out of time . Also , adolescent vaccinations are not as common ( with the exception of HPV ) , that there is n’t a well - organized vaccination schedule like there is for infants . It just simply gets deprioritized because many adolescents just skip their annual physical because they are n’t sick . Also , when adolescents do get sick , the doctor focuses on their immediate symptoms and is n’t thinking about what vaccines the kids need at a sick visit . Mind mapping helped us to better understand the physicians competing priorities and it helped us to organize multiple market research findings to make sense of the current state . We uncovered multiple factors that went into an annual vaccination visit that we had not realized beforehand . It is clear from this exercise that design thinking really is a deep exploration into the lives and problems of the people we are seeking to understand ( e.g. , in my case , the physicians ) . Once we knew what the problem was , we could start to formulate a way to address it . Approach : Now that we have a better understanding of the problem , we can now move to brainstorm solutions . To be honest , I think we used the right tool from the beginning . We needed to genuinely understand our current state – before the mind mapping exercise , we had a lot of disparate data and we had some thoughts around what we thought the problem was , but we did n’t know for sure . The mind mapping exercise forced us to take a deeper dive into our data to make sense of what it was really telling us . This is something that we had not done before – we had not tried to make a synopsis of all the data so our picture was incomplete . Mind mapping forced us to get organized . As a tool , mind mapping met us where we were which was confused ! It helped us to deconstruct the issues affecting our physicians so that we could then start to address the issues . It also helped us to understand that there were several issues affecting the physician , not just one thing . By shedding light on those issues , we knew what we needed to focus on as we sought to brainstorm how to fix those issues as we continued to apply design thinking to our challenge .