VISUALIZATION

Challenge and selection

I work in the central office of the institutional training department of non-profit NGO

whose purpose is to promote personal responsibility and social awareness in order to achieve  a model of a just, equal and sustainable society. We have branches in fifty countries on six  continents, with very different cultures and socio-economic conditions. Some branches have  been up and running for over fifty years, and others have been opened only recently. The  central office is responsible for creating products that are regularly distributed national offices,  and for providing annual training sessions for national managers. Each local office has its own  teachers and adapts the contents they receive to local needs.

Some countries have small offices with a maximum or one or two people who are

responsible for promoting institutional training. This training is given to managers, employees  and also to volunteers who collaborate in the different initiatives that the institution promotes  to fulfill its mission. This formation needs to be up to date, in order to effectively face the  challenges presented in the social environment. These challenges concern not only concrete  issues that need to be faced, but also effective communication with different types of   audiences.

Data has been collected, in personal interviews, with the people in charge of offices in

the smaller countries, to better understand their difficulties and their training needs. The  trainers of these smaller locations are convinced and highly motivated regarding the value of  their role. However, they manifest the following pain points in their ability to provide up-to- date training:

- They have little time to devote to development and study because they often carry out  various roles in local offices and are not just in charge of training;

- Because of staffing shortages, it is not possible to ramp up the intensity and frequency of the  activity, and thus the cyclical training gets stretched out over a longer period than desirable.

- Because of staffing shortages, the teachers have to cover many different areas and thus do  not manage to specialize in a specific area, which would permit them to stay up to date in that  field.

The institutional training departments have recently been reorganized on a global level, so that  the smaller offices with less experience and resources have access to advice and support from  more developed national departments. By sharing human resources, the teachers in small  offices will be freed up to specialize in specific areas. However, the problem of being up-to- date remains. We call it the “Up-To-Date Issue”. We have planned to use the visualization tool  to arrive at a shared concept of updated training and from there obtain the design criteria for a  tool that offers content and methodology to small local office trainers that can use frequently.

Application

In the central institutional training department we decided to carry out a workshop to

align our team around a shared characterization of the Up-To-Date Issue, using some  visualization techniques. To do this, each team member has individually thought about the  components of the problem. We've shared them as a group and we've listed the following:  update scopes, resources, times, and frequency.

Then, in four groups, we prepared a slide for each component, characterized by one

image and several phrases (from four to eight). The group discussion led us to identify and  keep the most relevant ones. Afterwards, we selected four representatives from the smallest  local offices and each group drew a storyboard of what those four people would say about  they would find most helpful, according to the features we defined.

Insight & Approach

The use of visualization through the slides of a broad and difficult-to-define concept, of

which each person has a different notion, has allowed us to reach common criteria and  objectives about what it means to be updated. At this point, we are a little stuck, because we  have still not reached a common and objective definition.

The use of storyboards helped us to think empathically, putting ourselves in the place

of the end users we intend to reach, in order to establish preliminary design criteria for the  tool we wish to design. We have articulated the tool according to the Management Project  Aid, summarized in the following aspects: purpose of the design, perceptions of users, physical  attributes, functional attributes, and constraints.


VISUALIZATION Challenge and selection I work in the central office of the institutional training department of non - profit NGO whose purpose is to promote personal responsibility and social awareness in order to achieve a model of a just , equal and sustainable society . We have branches in fifty countries on six continents , with very different cultures and socio - economic conditions . Some branches have been up and running for over fifty years , and others have been opened only recently . The central office is responsible for creating products that are regularly distributed national offices , and for providing annual training sessions for national managers . Each local office has its own teachers and adapts the contents they receive to local needs . Some countries have small offices with a maximum or one or two people who are responsible for promoting institutional training . This training is given to managers , employees and also to volunteers who collaborate in the different initiatives that the institution promotes to fulfill its mission . This formation needs to be up to date , in order to effectively face the challenges presented in the social environment . These challenges concern not only concrete issues that need to be faced , but also effective communication with different types of audiences . Data has been collected , in personal interviews , with the people in charge of offices in the smaller countries , to better understand their difficulties and their training needs . The trainers of these smaller locations are convinced and highly motivated regarding the value of their role . However , they manifest the following pain points in their ability to provide up - to- date training : - They have little time to devote to development and study because they often carry out various roles in local offices and are not just in charge of training ; - Because of staffing shortages , it is not possible to ramp up the intensity and frequency of the activity , and thus the cyclical training gets stretched out over a longer period than desirable . - Because of staffing shortages , the teachers have to cover many different areas and thus do not manage to specialize in a specific area , which would permit them to stay up to date in that field . The institutional training departments have recently been reorganized on a global level , so that the smaller offices with less experience and resources have access to advice and support from more developed national departments . By sharing human resources , the teachers in small offices will be freed up to specialize in specific areas . However , the problem of being up - to- date remains . We call it the “ Up - To - Date Issue ” . We have planned to use the visualization tool to arrive at a shared concept of updated training and from there obtain the design criteria for a tool that offers content and methodology to small local office trainers that can use frequently . Application In the central institutional training department we decided to carry out a workshop to align our team around a shared characterization of the Up - To - Date Issue , using some visualization techniques . To do this , each team member has individually thought about the components of the problem . We 've shared them as a group and we 've listed the following : update scopes , resources , times , and frequency . Then , in four groups , we prepared a slide for each component , characterized by one image and several phrases ( from four to eight ) . The group discussion led us to identify and keep the most relevant ones . Afterwards , we selected four representatives from the smallest local offices and each group drew a storyboard of what those four people would say about they would find most helpful , according to the features we defined . Insight & Approach The use of visualization through the slides of a broad and difficult - to - define concept , of which each person has a different notion , has allowed us to reach common criteria and objectives about what it means to be updated . At this point , we are a little stuck , because we have still not reached a common and objective definition . The use of storyboards helped us to think empathically , putting ourselves in the place of the end users we intend to reach , in order to establish preliminary design criteria for the tool we wish to design . We have articulated the tool according to the Management Project Aid , summarized in the following aspects : purpose of the design , perceptions of users , physical attributes , functional attributes , and constraints .