Reﬂections- Visualisation

Challenge and Selection

The tool I used was the tool of Storytelling. The process of Storytelling is used to get an insight  into the User mindset, develop empathy and access their thinking process. Being a product  manager from the B2B sector, it is very important to develop User personas and try to start  thinking in their mindsets. User needs are often very varied and hence talking to as many  customers as possible helps in trying to imagine the diverse possibilities that may arise. These  observations can then be looped back into this process of story telling and creating eﬀective user  stories and accurate personas. Thus, storytelling serves as a method to reach Users and hence  relate to the audience and understand their lifestyles.

Application

The process starts by trying to bring in all the stakeholders together and try to ascertain the true  meaning and audience of the product. If existing products or competitors are present, these are  studied and looked into in detail, thus helping us to gain insight and knowledge into the sector  and the customers. This forms the round of preliminary research necessary to proceed to the next  step of the process.

If time permits, I get in touch with the business team and try to organise User interviews with  potential clients to understand their needs and use-cases. These inputs are then looped into the  storytelling process. Otherwise, I collaborate with UI/UX and Designers to ascertain these user  personas ﬁrst. User Personas are ﬁrst created. These would involve the various stakeholders in the workﬂow of  the Product. Looking internally in your own ﬁrm for similar stakeholders is also a practice We  follow as it saves time and gives us much faster inputs to loop back in. Once We identify such  personas, the following questions are considered- • A header for the User Persona • Demographic proﬁle • End goals • A Day in the life of that individual Challenges a User might face are also considered here while deﬁning the persona. This can be  very useful in deﬁning and prioritising diﬀerent User roles and permissions for a product.

Once the User personas are determined, ﬁctional User journeys are created about how the above  personas would be using the product. This User journeys form the backbone of how the User  Experience surrounding the product should be and a well-written User Journey makes a writing a  Product Requirements Document much easier.

Insights and Approach

Storytelling is great approach to truly get into the shoes of the Customer and understand their use  cases end to end. Conducting this exercise has great results and provided a robust start for new  product modules. Especially when deﬁning new features, it’s great to have these possible ﬁctional  users as a ﬁrst step of validation before taking to customers or spending design resources to  come up with preliminary screens or interactions.

This process is also very useful in my growth as a PM as well, improving my empathy for Users as  well as my design thinking.

Visualisation is also a great tool to achieve the above and also works great in conjunction with the  above. Collaborative eﬀorts always yield results in these cases and hence the whole process has  greatly improved my eﬀorts towards design thinking and achieving a greater empathy towards my  Users. I also try to use the above concepts in my day to day life for smaller problems which might  arise.


Reﬂections- Visualisation Challenge and Selection The tool I used was the tool of Storytelling . The process of Storytelling is used to get an insight into the User mindset , develop empathy and access their thinking process . Being a product manager from the B2B sector , it is very important to develop User personas and try to start thinking in their mindsets . User needs are often very varied and hence talking to as many customers as possible helps in trying to imagine the diverse possibilities that may arise . These observations can then be looped back into this process of story telling and creating eﬀective user stories and accurate personas . Thus , storytelling serves as a method to reach Users and hence relate to the audience and understand their lifestyles . Application The process starts by trying to bring in all the stakeholders together and try to ascertain the true meaning and audience of the product . If existing products or competitors are present , these are studied and looked into in detail , thus helping us to gain insight and knowledge into the sector and the customers . This forms the round of preliminary research necessary to proceed to the next step of the process . If time permits , I get in touch with the business team and try to organise User interviews with potential clients to understand their needs and use - cases . These inputs are then looped into the storytelling process . Otherwise , I collaborate with UI / UX and Designers to ascertain these user personas ﬁrst . User Personas are ﬁrst created . These would involve the various stakeholders in the workﬂow of the Product . Looking internally in your own ﬁrm for similar stakeholders is also a practice We follow as it saves time and gives us much faster inputs to loop back in . Once We identify such personas , the following questions are considered- • A header for the User Persona • Demographic proﬁle • End goals • A Day in the life of that individual Challenges a User might face are also considered here while deﬁning the persona . This can be very useful in deﬁning and prioritising diﬀerent User roles and permissions for a product . Once the User personas are determined , ﬁctional User journeys are created about how the above personas would be using the product . This User journeys form the backbone of how the User Experience surrounding the product should be and a well - written User Journey makes a writing a Product Requirements Document much easier . Insights and Approach Storytelling is great approach to truly get into the shoes of the Customer and understand their use cases end to end . Conducting this exercise has great results and provided a robust start for new product modules . Especially when deﬁning new features , it ’s great to have these possible ﬁctional users as a ﬁrst step of validation before taking to customers or spending design resources to come up with preliminary screens or interactions . This process is also very useful in my growth as a PM as well , improving my empathy for Users as well as my design thinking . Visualisation is also a great tool to achieve the above and also works great in conjunction with the above . Collaborative eﬀorts always yield results in these cases and hence the whole process has greatly improved my eﬀorts towards design thinking and achieving a greater empathy towards my Users . I also try to use the above concepts in my day to day life for smaller problems which might arise .