Mohamed Smith (agood@gmail.com)

Visualization

Challenge (WHAT)  The challenge I have selected for the visualization tool is the bank account opening  experience for small medium enterprises (SME’s) in the United Arab Emirates  (UAE). SME’s have made it clear that they struggle to open a bank account in order  for their business to operate & incorporate in the UAE. This is due to the extreme  amount of paperwork, financial history & requirements that are unrealistic for SME’s.  We (a bank in the UAE) had the opportunity to collaborate with the UAE government,  regulators & the team responsible for a “digital shift” federal initiative.       Selection (WHY)  Visualization, as described by Denise Gomez, is a method or tool of thinking visually  which allows a multitude of people, or their brains, to be on “the same page”. A way  for everybody to be able to relate to & understand the problem, idea or solution the  same way. Visualization removes the ambiguity & imagination our brains do naturally  when in discussion or when reading words by replacing it with pictures, diagrams or  drawings.     For this reason, visualization was used throughout this project and throughout the  design thinking process. With a number of different stakeholders, expertise & a  range of understanding of the problem, visualization was seen as the best way to  achieve mutual understanding and also a way of expediting meetings, explanations  and ideating.       Application (HOW)  As mentioned, visualization was used throughout the project from discovery or the  “What is” phase of Liedtka’s process (whiteboarding, stakeholder mapping & process  mapping) to final concept (wireframing, storyboarding etc.). For the purpose of this  document, I have selected an example where visualization was extremely beneficial  - “digitising paper forms into a web application”.    I was tasked with evaluating the current process of account creation, with multiple  forms and documents to be submitted by the applicant. After a full evaluation I  presented my findings to all stakeholders by showing them a complete application,  around 5cm thick worth of documents and a simple user journey between the sales  rep & customer. I also identified the required fields of information required, mapped  this out and shared it in the form of a colour coded visual diagram. Not only did this  highlight the number of times duplicate information was asked from the customer but  also the amount of “non mandatory” information. Having a full view of the stack of  documents, customer journey & the diagram made the project team realise how  tedious and unfriendly the customer experience was.

Mohamed Smith (agood@gmail.com)

Insight  By using visualization, the biggest insight was duplication of activities required of the  customer. This insight allowed us to do two things. One – Eradicating the need for  the customer to submit information more than once. Two – to remove any “non  mandatory” data input, simplifying the ask from the customer from 153 fields of  information to 30. Furthermore, we were able to challenge regulators to remove  some fields as they had a good understanding of the current poor customer  experience.        Approach   A key learning from my approach was that visualization is an excellent way of  gaining mutual understanding across a mixture of stakeholders from process, tech,  business and decision makers - just to name a few. I would certainly think twice  about the level of detail of visualization that is required in the What Is phase. I made  the mistake of going to the extreme of drawing wireframes of the web application to  illustrate that the initial customer data input, if accurate, can be used multiple times  without the need of any further customer input. This did really help my argument in  taking a user centred approach, but at this point the realisation of the current poor  experience was enough. The time taken to draw & map out the wireframes could  have been spent better during the What wows phase.     **No diagrams or images were attached due to confidentiality agreement


Mohamed Smith ( agood@gmail.com ) Visualization Challenge ( WHAT ) The challenge I have selected for the visualization tool is the bank account opening experience for small medium enterprises ( SME ’s ) in the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) . SME ’s have made it clear that they struggle to open a bank account in order for their business to operate & incorporate in the UAE . This is due to the extreme amount of paperwork , financial history & requirements that are unrealistic for SME ’s . We ( a bank in the UAE ) had the opportunity to collaborate with the UAE government , regulators & the team responsible for a “ digital shift ” federal initiative . Selection ( WHY ) Visualization , as described by Denise Gomez , is a method or tool of thinking visually which allows a multitude of people , or their brains , to be on “ the same page ” . A way for everybody to be able to relate to & understand the problem , idea or solution the same way . Visualization removes the ambiguity & imagination our brains do naturally when in discussion or when reading words by replacing it with pictures , diagrams or drawings . For this reason , visualization was used throughout this project and throughout the design thinking process . With a number of different stakeholders , expertise & a range of understanding of the problem , visualization was seen as the best way to achieve mutual understanding and also a way of expediting meetings , explanations and ideating . Application ( HOW ) As mentioned , visualization was used throughout the project from discovery or the “ What is ” phase of Liedtka ’s process ( whiteboarding , stakeholder mapping & process mapping ) to final concept ( wireframing , storyboarding etc . ) . For the purpose of this document , I have selected an example where visualization was extremely beneficial - “ digitising paper forms into a web application ” . I was tasked with evaluating the current process of account creation , with multiple forms and documents to be submitted by the applicant . After a full evaluation I presented my findings to all stakeholders by showing them a complete application , around 5 cm thick worth of documents and a simple user journey between the sales rep & customer . I also identified the required fields of information required , mapped this out and shared it in the form of a colour coded visual diagram . Not only did this highlight the number of times duplicate information was asked from the customer but also the amount of “ non mandatory ” information . Having a full view of the stack of documents , customer journey & the diagram made the project team realise how tedious and unfriendly the customer experience was . Mohamed Smith ( agood@gmail.com ) Insight By using visualization , the biggest insight was duplication of activities required of the customer . This insight allowed us to do two things . One – Eradicating the need for the customer to submit information more than once . Two – to remove any “ non mandatory ” data input , simplifying the ask from the customer from 153 fields of information to 30 . Furthermore , we were able to challenge regulators to remove some fields as they had a good understanding of the current poor customer experience . Approach A key learning from my approach was that visualization is an excellent way of gaining mutual understanding across a mixture of stakeholders from process , tech , business and decision makers - just to name a few . I would certainly think twice about the level of detail of visualization that is required in the What Is phase . I made the mistake of going to the extreme of drawing wireframes of the web application to illustrate that the initial customer data input , if accurate , can be used multiple times without the need of any further customer input . This did really help my argument in taking a user centred approach , but at this point the realisation of the current poor experience was enough . The time taken to draw & map out the wireframes could have been spent better during the What wows phase . * * No diagrams or images were attached due to confidentiality agreement